Today we’d like to introduce you to Shelby Ortega.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Dr. Ortega. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have long held a deep desire to help others. I followed this passion for human service in my early volunteer work as a high school student and later as a college student whose community service moved beyond the campus to the surrounding communities.
I discovered a passion for social justice initiatives and social policy work early on. In this work, and by extension, my academic research and teaching work, I was afforded a great deal of insight. The confluence of these experiences spurred me to develop and lead the Graduate Program in Counseling Psychology at Regis College which launched 2015, nearly four years after I began as a Professor in the Psychology Department. Through this Program development and instruction, I have been able to uphold my passion for mentorship and the role of one-on-one interaction as a means of mobilizing and empowering others towards the kinds of individual and systemic changes that they wanted to inspire and enact in the world for themselves and others. This academic work has shaped me as a practicing Clinical Psychologist and has helped me to enliven my commitment to therapeutic development and change.
Fast forward to today where I have recently launched a second private practice in Historic Downtown Salem, seven years after I opened my first private practice in Cambridge, MA. While it was a risk to open a practice in a community less known to me, I had discovered a deep and sustaining wish to provide service in this diverse and welcoming community. As I approach the one year anniversary of opening my practice this summer, I am so pleased to have found a second practice home that has embraced me and allowed for me to expand my clinical and academic networks.
Has it been a smooth road?
The journey through academic and clinical training was certainly a long one… I completed my Masters in Counseling Psychology at Boston College in 2002 and later completed my Doctorate of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology at Clark University in 2009. I followed this training with several different postgraduate and postdoctoral fellowships through Harvard Medical School and the American Psychoanalytic Association, and ultimately, launched my first private practice with the help of a wonderful training supervisor in 2011.
Beginning a private practice the same year as my first full academic appointment as a professor was certainly challenging as Doctoral Programs rarely, if ever, provide business education in how to launch oneself as a private practitioner. My initial learning curve was quite steep and humbling, and yet, my networks and their supports were significantly helpful. Having colleagues who were open to sharing information and ultimately, clinical referrals, made what could have been a lonely road, one that was populated with supports instead.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Shelby Ortega, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a licensed psychologist with nearly a decade of experience providing psychotherapy and psychological consultation services for adolescents and adults. I am pleased to share the wealth of knowledge I have gained during my time working in the field of community mental health. I have extensive training in multicultural mental health, identity development, adult attachment relationships and intimacy, and psychodynamic therapies.
I offer individual psychotherapy for adolescents and adults, as well as couples therapy, clinical supervision, and consultation services. I enjoy working with people from all walks of life, and make every effort to help those I work with feel welcomed, engaged, supported, and respected. I work to provide a safe therapeutic frame that is inclusive of social and cultural context, and therefore, welcome discussions of issues related to oppression, privilege, and of course, intersectionality of complex identity statuses. My private practice work is enriched by my academic scholarship and teaching experiences. I believe this work is an asset to my role as a practitioner and I work to extend this benefit to the patients I serve.
I serve both the North Shore and Metro Boston areas via my Cambridge and Salem office locations. My approach is one characterized by warmth, humor, and the welcoming of diverse experiences, identities, and perspectives. I believe in tailoring the treatment to the unique needs of my clients and providing a safe space that is equally supportive and challenging.
Presently, I also serve as a Teaching Associate in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and as an Assistant Professor and Clinical Director of the Counseling Psychology Program at Regis College.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I have noted an increase in virtual therapeutic platforms with growing concern for the public’s welfare, as well as the integrity of our profession. It is important to note that many of these virtual therapeutic applications and platforms release themselves of all professional liability and markedly underscore that they do not provide the same therapeutic supports and established safety protocols of our discipline’s professional ethical guidelines.
This is markedly different than the movement towards telemental health as provided by licensed professionals practicing in their designated licensed and ethically-bound field of practice. This requires the utilization of virtual technologies that will be compliant with privacy and protected health standards such as HIPAA. Increasing services for those who cannot make it in to their therapist’s office for a variety of reasons is an initiative whose time has come. Reducing disparities in care is a significant rationale for such services, and allowing therapists to be reimbursed through these services via healthcare insurances at competitive rates is key to the reduction of health disparities in therapeutic utilization. I believe racial and economic health care disparities will be best addressed by efforts such as these in chorus with increased recruitment and retention of diverse professionals.
Contact Info:
- Address: 32 Church Street Suite 2C Salem, MA 01970
875 Massachusetts Avenue Suite 71 Cambridge, MA 02139 - Website: https://www.drshelbyortega.com
- Phone: 617-453-8501
- Email: shelby@drshelbyortega.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dr.ShelbyOrtega/
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/shelby-ortega-salem-ma/104090?zipcode=02139&rec_next=1&p=1
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