About
Devyn Box, LCSW-S (they/them)
Hi, I’m Devyn!
I’ve always been someone who likes to dig deeper, find patterns, and understand things. One of my favorite games as a kid was “The Un-Game” which is a therapy game that involves deep questions. That should have been a clue where I would end up in my career. I took a several years long professional detour before becoming a therapist, with an undergraduate major in piano performance, working as a piano teacher and accompanist for soloists and churches. It was my own search for healing, and an innate desire to help reduce suffering, that led me to this field.
I am wildly curious about the human experience, what people’s inner worlds look and feel like, and how a safe connection can gradually shift a harsh and scary inner landscape to a soft, cozy place of rest. I’m known for my use of metaphors and my complete lack of a poker face. In session, this means I am engaged, expressive, and intent on understanding you and helping you to feel seen.
Who I Work With
I love doing deep work, and most people who see me are working on excavating deeply entrenched patterns and core wounds, often related to childhood experiences, family dynamics, or identity-based experiences and beliefs (looking especially at my queer, trans, and neurodivergent baddies). The clients I see are looking for relief, long-term, sustained change, and a life untethered to all the ‘stuff’ they have been carrying around. In addition to seeing adults and teens, I also work with kids dealing with anxiety, trauma, and executive dysfunction, and their parents who are struggling with knowing what else they can do to help them.
How I Work
I operate from a relational lens, which means I want you to feel safe, seen, and connected, and know that these dynamics help people to heal more than any specific modality. This connection is the foundation for everything. I work from a trauma-informed approach, and this looks like pacing the work in a way that feels safe for you, being transparent in what we’re doing and why, asking consent for the places we go to in therapy, and honoring that you know yourself better than anyone else. I know how it can feel to be in therapy with a therapist that doesn’t acknowledge the power differential and pushes past boundaries. I also know how profoundly healing it can be to experience therapy with a therapist who is present, attuned, and moves at a pace and proximity that feels safe and supportive. You might be bringing with you some past unhelpful or harmful experiences in therapy, and there is space for that hurt and distrust, and with time, my hope is that you will experience safety in this context.
My approach is very much tailored to individual needs, but generally speaking, I like to co-create a plan for your healing journey, provide enough structure so that it doesn’t feel as if you’re floating around aimlessly, and enough space that you can ease into the hard stuff and into the therapeutic relationship in a way that feels manageable for you. While the people I work with are typically doing slower, deeper work, I also like to strategize with clients on short term relief strategies to help them manage their everyday symptoms. Maybe the source of your anxiety is a domineering father and an authoritarian religious upbringing, but you also need some help for managing the crippling anxiety you experience when your boss gives you feedback, or when you have to ask someone for help. We can work on both at the same time, unpacking the past and strategizing on tools to use in the present moment.
Sessions with kids look like building trust, connection, and regulation through play, and using even more metaphors and examples to explain therapy concepts in a way that makes sense for their brains. There’s usually a lot of laughter and fun, along with the scary stuff, and we approach it all with a keen eye on pacing.
Some modalities I use that may be of special interest are EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and I-CBT (Inferential Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). EMDR is very effective for treatment of trauma, and I also use it for things like anxiety and managing stressors that talk therapy can’t quite get at. I-CBT is a treatment modality for OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and it is my preferred approach, versus ERP (Exposure Response Prevention). If you’d like to know more about the modalities I use, my training, education, or experience, reach out and we can chat!
Outside of Therapy
When I’m not in session, I like to take a deep dive into music, movement, or nature. I spend a good chunk of my free time at the piano, working on some Beethoven, Chopin, and jazz at the moment, or learning cello (apologies to my neighbors). Nothing resets me quite like a long run through the city or a focused weight training session, and I’m currently training for my first marathon. I also try to support my cats’ special interests, and enjoy bird watching with them and trying to cuddle them, with mixed results.
I’d love to connect and learn more about you and how I can support you. Book a free consultation to get started.
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