Welcome to The Schwartz Group. We are a small private practice group in Dupont Circle in Washington, DC. We provide individual psychotherapy to older adolescents and adults of all gender identities. Our specialty areas include, but are not limited to, eating disorders and body image issues, depression, anxiety, relationship and family problems, perfectionism, low self-esteem, prenatal and postnatal issues, transitions, and school and career struggles.
We often see high-achieving college students, young adults, and professionals who feel that their happiness is being hampered in some way. We want to help you to feel better and to achieve a greater sense of well-being.
Deciding to begin therapy can be difficult. Finding a therapist who is the right match for you is essential. We invite you to explore our website to learn more about our practice, philosophy, and background. Feel free to contact us with any questions or to discuss arranging an initial consultation.
Alisa Schwartz, Ph.D.
Alisa is the founder of the practice and has had the privilege of working with a diverse range of clients in various settings for over 20 years. She has worked at day-treatment facilities, college counseling centers, and in private practice. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A., she entered the Ph.D. program in Clinical Psychology at Fordham University. During her graduate studies, she trained at Beth Israel, Bellevue, and St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospitals as well as at New York University’s student counseling center.
After graduating, she became the director of the day-treatment program at the Renfrew Center of New York, which specializes in the treatment of women with eating disorders. At that time, she also opened a private practice in Manhattan. She later became head of the eating disorders team at Columbia University’s student counseling center. After moving to Washington in 2007, she began work as a generalist and an eating disorder specialist at Georgetown University’s student counseling center while also launching a new private practice. Since 2013, she has devoted herself exclusively to working in private practice. She also enjoys providing supervision to therapists. She is passionate about giving talks to groups on developing a healthy relationship with food in various stages of life, maintaining positive body image in adolescence, and developing resiliency in difficult times.
Alisa believes that for therapy to be effective, what is most important is the relationship between the therapist and the patient. To that end, she focuses on creating an environment that feels nurturing, comfortable, and supportive. She takes an active and collaborative approach. Her view is that she is working together with the client to achieve goals in treatment.
Alisa provides integrated therapy. This means that she draws on different theoretical orientations—psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and dialectical-behavioral. She talks with patients about their past and present experiences to help them gain insight into the origins of their current struggles and negative patterns. She also assists patients in learning effective coping skills and making changes in the present. She wants patients to feel like change is happening through therapy, whether that means increased self-understanding, symptom reduction, or finding more fulfillment in life.
* If you are a new patient and interested in treatment please email hello@alisaschwartzgroup.com.
Contact Info:
Email: alisa@alisaschwartzgroup.com
Hailey Sayegh, LPC
Hailey Sayegh is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Washington, D.C, with a master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from The George Washington University. She has worked in a wide range of settings including Pace Counseling Center, a residential hospitalization unit at Rogers Memorial Hospital, and day treatment and intense outpatient levels of care at Renfrew. She has experience working with clients who struggle with depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, low self-esteem, and family and relationship issues
Hailey has been trained in cognitive and dialectical behavior therapies. These forms of treatment focus on the here and now and mastering skills to manage emotions. Hailey also tries to understand how past experiences inform our present. She feels that if we desire change, we must first understand what makes change difficult for us, and why we are reluctant to release our old habits and approaches. It is this combination of techniques and approaches that makes her particularly effective.
Hailey is steeped in a person-centered orientation. She will approach you with curiosity and will work to understand your world and cultural background. She will develop a therapeutic approach that is collaborative and meets you where you are. Whether you are struggling with your mood, a life transition, or seeking to strengthen your relationships, Hailey will help guide you along your path with warmth and acceptance.
Contact Info:
Email: hailey@alisaschwartzgroup.com
Katherine Mancini, LPC, NCC
Katherine “Katie” Mancini is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Washington, DC and a National Certified Counselor (NCC). She earned her master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from The George Washington University and has worked in a variety of settings, including an outpatient mental health agency, university campuses, and independent and residential schools. Katie joined the Schwartz Group in February 2022 after working with clients at Georgetown University, The George Washington University, and Capitol Hill Day School.
Katie uses an integrative therapeutic approach including cognitive-behavioral therapies and attachment-based approaches. She works with clients to cultivate a deeper understanding of how past patterns may be impacting present challenges. Katie actively works with clients to develop coping skills so clients can see change happening over time. Keeping in mind that a safe and trusting environment is a critical foundation for any work together, Katie strives to meet clients with empathy, warmth, and a collaborative approach beginning with the very first session.
Katie has experience working with clients who struggle with anxiety, life transitions, family and relationship issues, perfectionism, grief and loss, identity development, depression, and academic/career stressors and exploration. Prior to becoming a therapist, Katie worked for many years managing educational programs and supporting undergraduate and graduate students as a career/academic advisor. Katie offers evening sessions and can accommodate students and professionals who have other commitments during the traditional business day.
Contact Info:
Email: katherine@alisaschwartzgroup.com
Kaye Otten, LICSW, LCSW-C
Kaye Otten is a Clinical Social Worker licensed in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Viginia. She received a B.A. in Psychology from Kenyon College and a M.S.W. from the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work.
Kaye has worked in various mental health settings, including school-based programs, psychiatric residential programs, parent coaching programs, and intensive eating disorder treatment programs. She has developed a specialization in the treatment of eating disorders with individuals age ten through late adulthood.
Kaye approaches each individual with a focus on curiosity and collaboration through a trauma-informed lens. She has been trained in many cognitive-based therapies which inform the core of her individual work, such as CBT, ACT and DBT. However, she also considers how each individual is affected by the world around them—such as important relationships, cultural values, personal values, and lived experiences. Kaye tailors a combination of therapeutic approaches to meet the specific needs of each individual and aims to both provide support for each client through any current difficulties and instill skills for the client to better care for themselves.
For her adult eating disorder clients, Kaye supports sustainable behavioral changes while simultaneously exploring underlying needs in order to facilitate lasting change. She is ready to help address a variety of co-occurring anxiety disorders, mood disorders, life transitions and familial stressors. In her work with children and adolescents who have eating disorders, she operates from a family-focused approach through the use of Emotionally Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and Family Based Therapy (FBT). She helps families make the changes needed for the child or adolescent to recover from an eating disorder while fostering healthier parent-child relationships.
Prior to pursuing a career in mental health, Kaye was a professional equestrian. She uses this lived experience to deepen her understanding of the complex relationship between mental health, body image and performance sports when working with athletes.
Contact Info:
Email: kaye@alisaschwartzgroup.com
Individual Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy can help you address a specific problem and achieve greater happiness and satisfaction in your life. We provide both short-term and long-term therapy to older adolescents and adults. The length of the treatment will depend on the needs of the individual. We have experience working with a diverse range of clients and welcome individuals from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Supervision
Alisa provides clinical supervision to therapists who are not yet licensed and want to begin private practice work and clinicians who are further along and want to deepen their skills. She has particular experience helping therapists develop their skills with clients who struggle with food and body image. This supervision focuses on the identification of eating disorders, how to build a team of treatment providers, and skills for helping clients to make changes with their eating disorder symptoms.
Public Speaking
Alisa enjoys speaking to groups about a wide range of topics. She has spoken at schools, community centers, Grand Rounds of Hospitals, and companies about raising young children with healthy body image, maintaining healthy body image in adolescence, the current mental health crisis, and building resiliency in our difficult current times.
Consultation
Alisa will also consult with parents about children they are concerned about and then provide feedback that might involve making changes at home, beginning psychotherapy, and consulting a nutritionist. She will also meet with small groups of parents who might be concerned about their children. There will be an opportunity to both for psychoeducation and lots of individualized questions and answers in a nonjudgmental setting.
Please contact us if you are interested in any of these services.
How long do I need to be in therapy?
We provide both short term and long term therapy. Short term therapy can be for a few sessions and long term therapy can be for years and any amount of time in between. Short term therapy is more appropriate for specific and more targeted issues. We would be happy to talk with you about the type of treatment that is right for you.
How long and frequent are sessions?
Sessions last for 50 minutes. Occasionally arrangements for longer sessions can be made. Typically, sessions are once a week. At times, we will decide to have sessions twice a week. This can be to help someone through a difficult time, to speed up the process of therapy, or to do some more intense work.
Do you accept insurance?
We accept the student health insurance at Georgetown University. We do not participate in any other insurance plans. However, most insurance will provide partial coverage for services with clinicians who are out of network. We provide a monthly receipt that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.
It can be helpful to ask the insurance company the following questions:
- Do I have out of network mental health benefits?
- Do I have deductible?
- How many sessions do I have?
- At what rate am I reimbursed for the sessions?
In addition, flexible spending plans often accept payments to a therapist as qualifying expenses.
The Schwartz Group
1555 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 200
Washington, District of Columbia 20036
Phone: (202) 779-5769
Email:
hello@alisaschwartzgroup.com