Therapists you may want to meet
You can name a therapist in your request or ask intake to help you choose. These profiles describe experience, not current openings. Intake confirms fit, age range, scheduling and access to a particular treatment.
Esha Dev
LSWWorks with adults on identity, belonging, family dynamics and life transitions, including adult children of immigrants and people from multicultural backgrounds.
Christine Meusz
LSWWorks with teens and young adults on identity exploration, life stressors and acculturation, drawing on psychodynamic, existential and creative approaches.
Karla Martin González
LAPCOffers multicultural, LGBTQ+-affirming psychodynamic and psychoanalytic work in English and Spanish, with attention to language, belonging and recurring relationship patterns.
What identity exploration therapy is
Identity exploration is a focus for therapy rather than one specific technique. It can include your values, relationships, cultural background, gender and sexuality, work, family roles, spirituality and the ways these overlap. It may be the main reason you seek therapy or part of work on anxiety, depression or trauma.
One influential framework comes from psychologist James Marcia. It describes four identity statuses: diffusion, with little exploration or commitment; foreclosure, with commitments made without much exploration; moratorium, with active exploration and unsettled commitments; and achievement, with commitments made after exploration. These are ways of thinking about a process, not diagnoses or steps everyone must complete in order.
You may find some of that language useful, or none of it. The starting point is your experience: which choices feel like yours, which expectations you want to keep, and where you would like more room to decide.
Sources: Marcia: Development and validation of ego-identity status (1966) · Identity formation in adulthood: longitudinal study from age 27 to 50
When identity becomes the question
Identity questions can surface at different points in life. Research following adults into midlife has found both continuity and change; there is no age by which you must have every part of yourself settled.
Source: Identity formation in adulthood: longitudinal study from age 27 to 50
Quarter-life questions
You may have finished school, started working and checked the boxes you were expected to check, yet feel unsure that the path fits. A career or relationship can feel chosen for you. You might feel locked into a direction you no longer want, or locked out of opportunities you hoped would be available. Therapy can help you separate what matters to you from what is practical, expected or currently out of reach.
Midlife identity shifts
Questions can return in your forties, fifties or later: Who am I beyond my career? What do I want from the next part of my life? Why do choices that once fit now feel unfamiliar? You can explore those questions without treating midlife as a crisis everyone must have.
After divorce, job loss or the end of a role
When a marriage ends, a career changes, children leave home or a parent dies, daily routines and your place in other people’s lives can change together. You may wonder who you are without being a partner, caregiver or the person building toward a particular goal. Therapy can make room for the loss and help you consider what you want to carry forward.
Support through life transitions
Racial and cultural identity
For some Philadelphians, identity includes moving between cultures, languages and expectations. Code-switching can be useful in one setting and tiring in another. First-generation Americans, immigrants and people from multicultural backgrounds may want space to discuss belonging, loyalty, racism or the parts of themselves that feel difficult to explain.
William Cross and Janet Helms developed influential frameworks for thinking about racial identity and awareness. These frameworks can open a conversation; they do not tell us what you believe or what your history has been. Research has linked engagement with more than one culture to positive adjustment, but it does not prescribe a single right way to belong. Your own relationship to each culture matters.
Sources: Nguyen and Benet-Martínez: Biculturalism and Adjustment · Cross: Shades of Black — Diversity in African American Identity · Janet Helms: White People Have a Race, Too
Gender and sexual identity exploration
Questions about gender or sexual orientation may have been with you for years or may be newer. You can explore them without choosing a label, disclosing to other people or reaching a particular conclusion. Our LGBTQIA+ affirming care page explains more about how these conversations can be supported.
Source: APA guidelines for psychological practice with sexual minority persons
Reconsidering a religion or faith tradition
A faith tradition can hold community, daily practices, a moral framework and answers to important questions. Reconsidering it can bring grief, relief, anxiety or uncertainty about relationships and belonging. You may want to leave, remain, return or understand your beliefs differently. Your therapist can help you explore what matters without choosing a spiritual direction for you.
Exploring identity through relationships
Our approach is grounded in relational psychodynamic therapy. We pay attention to how relationships, culture, experiences and current circumstances influence your sense of self. Early relationships may be relevant, but they are not the only place to look.
Psychoanalyst Donald Winnicott used the terms “true self” and “false self” to describe a tension between spontaneous experience and adapting to others’ expectations. This is a historical theory, not a diagnosis. If it resonates, it can offer language for times when you feel you are performing a role or agreeing before you know what you want.
In sessions, that might mean noticing what you hesitate to say, when you expect disapproval, or how you respond when your therapist understands something differently. You can question an interpretation, disagree or ask for a different approach. The aim is to understand your experience and make choices with more awareness of your own needs.
Attachment patterns can also be relevant to how you experience closeness, boundaries and belonging. We can explore those connections without assuming that every identity question comes from childhood or that attachment explains your whole identity.
Source: Winnicott: Ego Distortion in Terms of True and False Self
What to expect in therapy
The first session is a chance to talk about what is happening, what you want help with and whether the therapist feels like a useful fit. You can ask questions, decide what to share and say when an interpretation or approach does not fit your experience.
Early conversations can focus on what “lost” or disconnected feels like for you, which parts of your life still feel familiar, and what you would like to understand. Your therapist may draw on existential, narrative, Internal Family Systems or other parts work, and multicultural approaches when these fit your needs. Ask how a proposed approach relates to your goals.
Sessions are 53 minutes and usually weekly. You and your therapist can discuss the frequency and length of care, your goals and how the work is going. If you feel worse, stuck or concerned about the work, bring that into the conversation so the plan can be reviewed.
Appointments in Old City and by video
Our office is at 123 Chestnut Street, Suite 304, in Old City, Philadelphia. Visits are by appointment.
Video appointments depend on where you are located during the session and on the clinician's authorization to practice there. Ask intake about Pennsylvania or New Jersey options.
Plan your office visit About telehealth
Getting started
- Tell us what you are looking for. Our adaptive form asks about your concerns, schedule, in-person or video preference, and insurance or self-pay plans.
- Talk through a therapist match. Our intake team reviews your request and follows up about fit, scheduling and payment. You can name a therapist you are interested in or ask us to help you choose.
- Arrange your first appointment. Once a suitable match and appointment time are confirmed, you will receive the information you need to begin.
We aim to reply within 1 to 2 business days. A reply is the start of the conversation; the timing of a match and appointment depends on fit and current availability.
How getting started works Plan your office visit
Costs and insurance for identity exploration
Individual-therapy fees generally range from $130 to $200 per session. Confirm your appointment fee with intake. With insurance, your cost depends on the specific plan, clinician, service and any deductible, copay or coinsurance.
Turning Leaf works with select Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, UnitedHealthcare and Optum plans. The Blue Cross plans listed on our site include Highmark, Capital, Anthem, Anthem New York (formerly Empire), FEP and Horizon NJ. A carrier name alone does not confirm that an appointment is covered. Intake can help check your expected benefits and costs.
Coverage depends on your plan’s requirements, including medical necessity. Seeking support for a life experience or identity question does not by itself establish an insurance-covered diagnosis or guarantee coverage. You can ask intake to help check benefits and discuss self-pay options before scheduling.
Independence Blue Cross, including Keystone Health Plan East, and Cigna are out of network. If your commercial plan has out-of-network benefits, we can provide a superbill on request. Ask your insurer about reimbursement rules and your share of the cost. Pennsylvania VCAP is a separate victim-compensation program; ask intake about using approved assistance for therapy.
We are not accepting new clients enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid, including Medicare Advantage, Pennsylvania Medical Assistance and NJ FamilyCare, even if they wish to pay privately. Please ask your plan for participating therapists. Existing clients whose coverage changes should contact their therapist and intake team.
Plans and coverage details Rates and payment options Pennsylvania VCAP Medicare and Medicaid policy
Frequently Asked Questions
What is identity exploration therapy?
It is therapy focused on your sense of self: values, relationships, cultural background, gender, sexuality, work, spirituality and family roles. At Turning Leaf, we use a relational psychodynamic approach and discuss how your relationships and experiences connect with the questions you bring. Your therapist can help you decide what you want the work to focus on.
Is feeling lost a good enough reason to start therapy?
Yes. You can ask for support when you feel disconnected, uncertain or as though you are going through the motions. You do not need to arrive with a diagnosis. If you plan to use insurance, coverage still depends on your plan’s clinical and benefit requirements; intake can discuss costs and payment options.
How do I know if I am having an identity crisis?
“Identity crisis” describes a period of questioning, rather than a diagnosis you can establish from a checklist. You might feel unsure about decisions, disconnected from familiar roles or uncertain about what matters to you. Persistent emptiness, loss of interest or difficulty functioning also deserve an assessment, because they can have other explanations.
Sources: Marcia: Development and validation of ego-identity status (1966) · NIMH: Depression
Can adults have identity crises?
Adults can revisit questions of identity during career changes, divorce, parenthood, an empty nest, retirement, changes in faith or at other times. Research has documented identity development into midlife. Some people experience a crisis; others experience a gradual shift or ordinary curiosity about what comes next.
Source: Identity formation in adulthood: longitudinal study from age 27 to 50
What is the difference between an identity crisis and depression?
Identity questions concern your sense of self, values or direction. Depression can include persistent low mood or loss of interest, fatigue, changes in sleep or appetite and difficulty with daily life. They can occur together, and neither label explains the other automatically. A clinician can assess the symptoms, their duration and their impact, including whether other health concerns need attention.
Source: NIMH: Depression
Do you work with cultural and racial identity concerns?
Yes. Clinicians on our team describe work with multicultural identities, acculturation, immigrant experiences and questions of belonging. Esha Dev works with adults, including adult children of immigrants; Christine Meusz works with teens and young adults; Karla Martin González offers sessions in English and Spanish. Intake can help you explore a fit based on the experience and perspective you want in a therapist.
What type of therapy helps with identity issues?
Our practice uses relational psychodynamic therapy and may draw on existential, narrative, Internal Family Systems or other parts work, and multicultural approaches. The choice should relate to your goals and preferences. Your therapist can explain what an approach involves, and you can discuss what is or is not useful rather than trying to fit yourself into a theory.
How long does identity exploration therapy take?
There is no fixed timeline. The focus, frequency and length of care depend on what you want help with and how the work is going. You and your therapist can review progress together. If you feel worse, stuck or concerned about the work, bring that into the conversation so the plan can be reviewed.