When Your Body Is Struggling, You Don’t Have to Struggle Alone
Living with chronic pain or ongoing health concerns can affect far more than your physical body. Therapy offers space to address the emotional, mental, and relational impact of long-term health challenges.
More Than Just Physical Symptoms
Chronic pain and health conditions often change how you move through the world. Daily tasks may take more energy, plans may feel uncertain, and your relationship with your body can become strained or complicated.
Over time, the constant need to manage symptoms, appointments, and limitations can lead to frustration, grief, or a sense of disconnection from yourself. Therapy provides a place to talk about these experiences openly — especially the parts that don’t always get acknowledged in medical settings.
Chronic Pain & Health Issues Can Affect Many Areas of Life
These experiences can show up differently for each person, but common challenges include:
Ongoing physical pain, fatigue, or flare-ups
Anxiety around symptoms, medical tests, or the future
Feelings of grief related to loss of ability, independence, or identity
Difficulty trusting or listening to your body
Strain in relationships due to changing needs or boundaries
Feeling misunderstood, dismissed, or pressured to “push through”
All of these responses are understandable when living with long-term health concerns.
How Therapy Helps With Chronic Pain & Health Challenges
Therapy offers a supportive space to explore the emotional impact of chronic pain and illness while learning ways to relate to your body differently. Together, we focus on reducing emotional strain, increasing awareness of stress responses, and building coping strategies that support both mental and physical well-being.
This work may include processing grief, managing anxiety related to symptoms, and developing tools to navigate flare-ups with less overwhelm. Over time, therapy can help you feel more grounded in your body, more confident in your needs, and less defined by pain or diagnosis.
This Isn’t Just About Pain Levels
Chronic pain and health issues are often shaped by multiple, overlapping factors, including:
• Stress and nervous system dysregulation
• Past medical experiences or trauma
• Emotional responses to loss, uncertainty, or limitation
• Identity shifts related to work, caregiving, or independence
• The ongoing effort of managing symptoms in a world that values productivity
Understanding these layers can help you respond to your body with more compassion rather than self-criticism.
meet your counselors
I'm Erica Oppenheimer
I am a licensed clinical social worker offering therapy for adults who are struggling with anxiety, uncertainty, or a sense of disconnection. Many of the people I work with feel stuck in patterns they can’t fully explain. They may find themselves repeating the same emotional responses or caught in relationships that feel unsatisfying or confusing.
My work is grounded in the belief that symptoms are meaningful. Anxiety, perfectionism, emotional paralysis—these are not just problems to be managed but expressions of something deeper, often rooted in earlier experience or unconscious conflict. In therapy, we create the conditions for those patterns to reveal themselves, so they can be understood and worked through, not just pushed aside.
I offer a space where your thoughts, dreams, and frustrations can be explored freely and seriously. This allows for more lasting change. As we begin to uncover what has remained hidden, many people find that life opens up in new and unexpected ways. The goal is not to become someone else, but to make more sense of who you already are and to find new ways of living that feel more authentic.
LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) (California, New York, Florida)
I'm Priyanka Parikh
Priyanka Parikh is a licensed clinical psychologist with over a decade of experience supporting adults navigating trauma, anxiety, depression, chronic pain, insomnia, and major life transitions. Her clinical foundation was shaped within the Veterans Affairs system, where she worked across primary care mental health, PTSD treatment, residential programs, and integrated medical settings.
Her therapeutic style is collaborative, steady, and clear. Dr. Parikh draws from evidence-based approaches including CBT, CPT, ACT, Motivational Interviewing, and mindfulness-based interventions, offering care that is structured enough to support meaningful change while remaining flexible and responsive to each client.
At Branch Lane, Parikh provides a space where clients feel understood and supported as they work toward greater clarity, resilience, and balance. She is deeply committed to culturally responsive, inclusive care and values the full context of each client’s experiences, identities, and story.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Over 10 years of experience in trauma-informed and integrated care settings
Trilingual in English, Gujarati, and Hindi
I'm Robin Chilton
Robin Chilton is a Licensed Master Social Worker who specializes in supporting women through life transitions, motherhood, and the emotional complexities that often accompany change. She works with individuals experiencing anxiety, mood concerns, trauma, infertility, loss, perinatal and postpartum mood disorders, and the challenges of parenting across stages of life.
Her clinical approach is collaborative, attuned, and grounded in psychodynamic and relational frameworks, while integrating cognitive-behavioral strategies, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing when helpful. Robin views symptoms not simply as problems to fix, but as meaningful signals that invite careful listening and understanding. She strives to create a reflective, safe space where clients can explore their emotional patterns and develop insight.
Robin’s work is informed by extensive experience in early childhood mental health, trauma-informed care, and family systems. She has served as a lead consultant with New York City child welfare services, providing clinical consultation, training, and case guidance. She has also worked in schools and therapeutic programs supporting children, parents, and families navigating grief, behavioral challenges, and stress from developmental and environmental pressures.
Lead consultant for NYC Child Welfare Services
Extensive experience in trauma-informed care and early childhood mental health
Skilled in integrating psychodynamic, relational, and cognitive-behavioral approaches
How to Get Started?
Reach Out for a Consultation
Begin with a brief consultation to share what’s been bringing you to therapy, ask questions, and get a feel for how we work. This conversation is a chance to be heard without judgment and to see whether Branch Lane feels like the right fit for you.
Tell Us More About Your Goals
Once you decide to move forward, you’ll receive a short set of intake forms to help us understand your background, current concerns, and what you’re hoping for from therapy. This information allows us to approach your first session with care and intention.
Begin Therapy
Whether you meet with us online or in person, therapy starts by creating a supportive, collaborative space. Together, we work to understand what’s been contributing to your difficulties and develop an approach that supports clarity, steadiness, and meaningful change over time.
You Don’t Have to Navigate This Alone
If you’re ready to better understand what’s been shaping your experience and explore new ways of relating to yourself and your life, we’re here to help. Therapy at Branch Lane offers a thoughtful, collaborative space to begin this work at a pace that feels right for you.
© Copyright 2026. Branch Lane Psychotherapy. All Rights Reserved.