Colin Christman, LCSW

Colin Christman is an LCSW licensed in Connecticut who centers therapy on understanding what is missing in a person’s life. He explains emotional needs plainly and helps people find clearer answers about who they are and what matters to them. Sessions begin with straightforward questions about current struggles and desired change.

Colin draws on five years of clinical experience, much of it in intensive inpatient and residential settings. He has helped people facing severe behavioral health problems, eating disorders, self-harm, suicidality, and substance use concerns. That background shapes a calm, focused approach in session.

He works with people who have trauma, mood or anxiety disorders, personality-related challenges, and co-occurring conditions. He also supports concerns connected to family dynamics, abandonment, adoption and foster care issues, body image, and chronic illness or pain. Colin aims to link daily behavior to deeper unmet emotional needs.

Colin describes his overall approach as psychodynamic and notes influences from Alfred Adler and Eric Berne. He also has training in Internal Family Systems and trauma-specific interventions. At times sessions may include Emma, his certified emotional support dog.

In practice he focuses on discovering which emotional needs are absent, why they remain unmet, and how that shapes harmful patterns. Work in therapy moves from understanding to testing and changing beliefs so behavior aligns more with a person’s values and goals.

Approaches that focus on underlying needs and trauma

Colin works from psychodynamic ideas that look at patterns and early influences to explain why someone repeats destructive behaviors. This approach helps when people want to understand long-standing relationship patterns, identity questions, or why certain feelings recur.

He also uses Internal Family Systems in some work, which treats different parts of a person’s inner life as distinct voices. That method can help people who feel pulled in conflicting directions or who carry strong self-criticism after trauma.

Choosing a therapeutic approach is a team effort. Colin will talk with each person about goals and preferences, then try methods that fit those needs. That collaborative process can include checking in and adjusting how sessions proceed as work unfolds.

The profile does not specify which online session formats are offered, so confirm current options before booking. In general, remote sessions can make therapy easier to fit into a daily routine, reduce travel time, and let someone join from a quieter space or during a work break. Phone options can be helpful when lower bandwidth or no camera is preferred, while video can support closer face-to-face interaction. Licensed professionals can tailor session length and pacing to match life demands and clinical goals.