Health at Every Size® Healthcare Provider Listing

Paulina Agrawal
(she/her)
Mental Health Counselor
Real Talk Therapy
Hudson,
New York,
United States
Contact Me:
Make an Appointment:
Takes Insurance
Sliding Scale Available
In-Network Insurance Companies:
- Wellfleet
Specialties & Areas of Focus:
- OCD- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- depression
- grief
- Trauma and PTSD
- Couples Therapy
- Relationship Issues
- Family Conflict
- Identity Exploration
- Depression
- Sexuality
Modalities & Theoretical Lenses:
- Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy
- Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy
- Emotion-Focused Therapy
Age Groups Served:
- Teens (13-18 years old)
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
- Teens (13-18 years old)
- Adults (18 years old and up)
- Older Adults (65+ years old)
Additional Populations Served & Allied Groups:
- LGBTQIA+
- Transgender
- Nonbinary
- Performers
- Fat Liberation
- Bisexual
- Pansexual
- Sex Worker Allied
- Kink Allied
- Sex Positive
- Non-Monogamy
- Perfectionists
- People Pleasers
- Artists
Languages Services Offered In:
- English
- English
My Philosophy of Care
My approach is respectful and considerate of a client's individual history, presentation, and desires.
I work with clients using a range of modalities (listed above) through a relational, compassionate, and person-centered approach. I show up as my deeply flawed, compassionate self in sessions. I cannot ask for my clients to show up fully if I do not model the same.
As a queer, small-fat, Jewish woman, I enjoy working with folks who have shared identities or can relate to identity themes such as identity development, sexual trauma, religious oppression, size discrimination, and, ultimately, the search for one's true nature.
My approach to healthcare is inclusive. I understand health to be highly individualistic, and not at all an indicator of one's moral value nor is it something one must strive for to determine their worth. All clients are deserving of deep respect, regardless of size or ability.
I have had many deeply stigmatizing experiences with healthcare professionals. I take being a Health at Every Size Provider with the utmost seriousness. It is not only my role to provide a safe, non-discriminatory space for clients, but to assist them in unpacking internalized anti-fat bias, racism, sexism, anti-gay sentiments, and the like.
To be a HAES provider is to be a confidante and a safe space, but also an advocate and a steward of a broader message of inclusivity.
About Me & My Practice
I work in private practice in New York City, both virtually and in-person. Prior to becoming a therapist, I had a modest career as a musical theatre performer and director. Though life has led me toward a different career path, I attribute the arts with fostering the compassion and curiosity necessary to work effectively with clients.
I am trained in AEDP, EFT, and ERP, and enjoy working with clients through an emotion-focused, relational, and social justice-oriented lens.
My devotion to the principles of HAES emerged from my own stigmatizing experiences with medical professionals, and how affirming it was to find providers who were aligned with the HAES principles. Fatness bred, in me, a certain hypervigilance wherein I was persistently scanning my environment for "safe" people- people who would treat me with respect and humanity regardless of size. Upon finding them, I knew it was my deepest desire to become somebody with whom people felt safe.
However, I recognize that I am not at all among the most marginalized. I am small-fat, I am cisgender, and I am white. My advocacy is one of action, but it is (perhaps more importantly) one of listening. Listening to and affirming the experiences of those most marginalized among our community, and respectfully taking their lead.
I have been working through a Health at Every Size lens since my career's inception. My practice is comprised primarily of folks who hold both fat and queer identities.
Accessibility Considerations
I work primarily virtually, but I do travel into the city on occasion to see clients who would like to connect in person. I cannot speak directly to my in-person office space as it changes each time- I rent space from friends in the industry. However, no client is required to meet in person and the majority of my sessions are conducted via a HIPAA-protected zoom link.