Maddie Fleischmann, MA
When I was in kindergarten, my school’s librarian taught my class an “adult” word: empathy. She defined empathy as “putting yourself in someone else’s shoes,” elaborating that every person has different kinds of feet. So, even if two people walk the same path, it feels different for each of them. The librarian told us that the only way to understand others’ experiences was to walk in their shoes. This image stuck with my five-year-old self, and I have used empathy as a guide in every aspect of my life since. With time, experience, and knowledge, I have learned that it is impossible to truly walk in someone else’s shoes, but that walking alongside another makes a journey easier.
My path has not been linear or planned, but beautiful, nonetheless. I grew up in metropolitan Atlanta, raised by a warm and loving community of immediate family, extended family, and friends who became family. I then moved to Charlottesville, Virginia to pursue my undergraduate degree at the University of Virginia. While I was a student, national tragedies rocked my sense of safety and directly targeted the identities I held. Amid the darkness, I received an outpouring of support. I vowed then to be in a position to support others so that they could feel heard, cared for, and empowered in the ways I had. To make good on that promise, I continued my education at the University of Virginia, earning a master’s degree in educational psychology and am now pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology. My clinical experience has spanned from community mental health, private practice, nonprofit organizations, and psychological testing centers. I genuinely love working with clients of all ages and backgrounds. My passions lie with clients who are navigating major life transitions, survivors of trauma, and teenagers. I also practice walk-and-talk therapy, meaning I love to take therapy sessions outside and go on walks with my clients.
In the therapeutic setting, my approach is relational and client led. My first goal is always to establish a sense of safety within the first few sessions to allow for more meaningful processing with safety as the foundation. I champion my clients to lead the direction of the sessions, while I help them understand how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors make sense given their contexts. Together, we will use this deep personal knowledge to gain a sense of what is in one’s control and move through life in accordance with one’s values. My therapeutic style draws from psychodynamic theories with techniques from internal family systems, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), humanistic therapy, and some cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Clients describe me as warm, caring, silly, and validating. I have even been told that clients visualize me as a small cheerleader on their shoulder outside of therapy sessions!
My hope is that therapy feels uniquely yours. Our sessions can hopefully be a place for you to unload the pressures within you and leave feeling free, heard, and connected.