Rhode Island is small enough that privacy is a real concern, and close enough to its neighbors that an ordinary workday often crosses a border.
Currently accepting new clients
Request a Rhode Island appointmentIn a state this compact, a person waiting for an appointment may be recognized by somebody from work or from church before the hour has even started. That by itself brings people to video: a session taken at home in Cranston or Bristol involves no lobby, no shared waiting room, and no familiar car parked outside a familiar building. We see adults, couples, and families located in Rhode Island for the everyday difficulties that have become hard to manage without guidance.
The other local fact is the commute. A good number of clients live here and work over the line, or the reverse, and that raises a genuine question about when an appointment can be held. Authorization depends on the state you are in at that moment rather than the one on your registration, so a lunchtime session from a desk in another state is not the same as one from your own kitchen. The office will help you choose hours that actually work.
These are the concerns most often brought to us by clients here. Suitability for work by video is something the clinician assesses with you at the start rather than something we assume.
Two partners meeting together can take on the argument that keeps returning, the repair of trust after a breach, or the quiet distance that accumulates when both are working long weeks. Both must be in the state.
Social anxiety has a particular edge in a place this size, because the room you are dreading tends to hold people you will see again next month. Treatment takes the fear on directly and in steps you agree to.
Longstanding self-criticism is examined rather than talked out of existence: where the standard came from, what maintaining it costs you, and what a fairer reckoning of yourself would sound like day to day.
Disordered eating is approached with medical safety first. We coordinate with your physician and are candid about the point at which outpatient therapy alone is not the right level of care for what is happening.
A career change, a return to work after time away, or the accumulated toll of a commuting job are worked through with attention to values, obligations, and finances, not simply to what sounds appealing.
Low mood gets addressed on two tracks at once: restoring the daily structure that has slipped away, and questioning the verdicts depression hands down about you as though they were plain observations.
We maintain a calm, explanatory environment where your treatment is a collaborative discussion. Because the state is small, questions of confidentiality are taken seriously and addressed immediately. Many Rhode Island clients cross a border for work, so we build schedules around where you will physically be rather than just when you are free. Our primary approach includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), carefully tailored for professionals, students, and families managing distinct life transitions. Navigating complex challenges takes time, and we do not offer a quick fix. We frequently evaluate the treatment plan with you to ensure our methods remain effective for your circumstances. By working at a sustainable pace, we help adults and children cultivate durable coping strategies that fit their actual lives.
Dr. Lusk sees Rhode Island clients herself, which means one clinician holds the whole of it: what you said in the first session, what has been tried since, and what the plan is now.
Clinical Director · Bilingual Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Lusk holds the Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT™) granted by the PSYPACT® Commission, which authorizes her to provide telepsychology to clients located in Rhode Island.
Dr. Della S. Lusk earned an A.B. from Smith College and a doctorate in clinical psychology from an APA-accredited program, and she works with clients in English or in Spanish. For clients in this state she offers individual therapy, sessions with both partners of a couple, family meetings, and psychological evaluation, and she has now been in practice for over twenty-five years.
Request an appointmentFull biographies, training, and areas of expertise are listed on our providers page. You can also read Dr. Lusk’s licensure and credentials in full. You are welcome to ask any clinician directly about their qualifications and experience.
Rhode Island participates in PSYPACT®, the interstate compact for telepsychology, and Dr. Lusk's practice with clients here rests on the interjurisdictional authority she was granted by the PSYPACT® Commission. The current roster of participating states is published at psypact.gov. What the compact governs is a psychologist's ability to reach across a state line, which is precisely why the line itself matters so much to people who cross one daily.
So the question before every appointment is only where you will be. Inside Rhode Island, the session is covered. At a workplace in Massachusetts or Connecticut it is another jurisdiction altogether, and whether the hour can proceed depends on that state's standing, which the office is glad to check for you. Tell us if your working pattern changes, and tell us early about a move; continuity may well be possible, and where it is not, a referral is arranged.
Participating jurisdictions are published by the compact commissions and can change. You can review current psychology participation at psypact.gov, find the relevant psychology licensing board through the PSYPACT® board directory, or check counseling privileges at CompactConnect. If you are not sure which applies to you, call (844) 774-7997 and we will confirm before you schedule.
The state's institutions are few and closely clustered: the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island College publicly, with Brown University, Providence College, Bryant University, Roger Williams University, Salve Regina University, and the Rhode Island School of Design alongside them. Students and staff frequently prefer a clinician who has no role in the institution they study or work at.
Sessions run to Providence, Warwick, Cranston, Newport, Bristol, and Kingston. Nobody in this state lives far from a city, but nearness to providers is not the same as an appointment that fits inside a working day, and that is usually why people call us.
In Rhode Island, if the appointment is booked as a Rhode Island session. The psychologist's authority is tied to your physical location while the hour runs, so a session taken from a Massachusetts office is a separate question. Many clients settle it by meeting before work, after work, or on a day they are home. Tell the office your pattern and we will build around it.
Clinical records are confidential, and video removes the waiting room altogether, which is the part clients in this state worry about first. Your clinician will also set out the narrow legal circumstances in which confidentiality has limits, and will ask your permission before communicating with a physician, a school, or anybody else on your behalf.
Let us know as far ahead as you can. Where your new state takes part in the compact, the work can often carry on without a gap, which is one reason we ask about plans at intake. Where it does not, Dr. Lusk will use a session on referral and on summarizing the work, so you are not starting again from nothing.
Yes, with a guardian involved in consent and in setting the goals. With younger children the parent is part of the work rather than an observer of it. With adolescents, the clinician is explicit at the outset about what she keeps private and what a parent hears, because it is that agreement which makes the sessions usable at all.
Call (844) 774-7997, or email info@psychotherapy.com if that is easier. A staff member will ask what you are hoping to address, send the fee agreement, answer any out-of-network questions ahead of time, and offer some times. Nothing clinical gets decided on that call; its purpose is simply to get you to a first appointment.
We accept all major credit and debit cards, and we gladly accept HSA, FSA, and HRA cards so you can use pre-tax dollars toward your care. Our practice generally operates out-of-network. This allows us to protect your privacy, keep care highly personalized, and avoid insurance-mandated session limits.
Our rates are sent in a fee agreement when you schedule an appointment. Please check with your insurance company regarding your out-of-network benefits. As a courtesy, we will submit claims on your behalf upon request, and any reimbursement will be sent directly to the insured. Call (844) 774-7997 or email info@psychotherapy.com if you have questions.
Our services are by appointment only, during normal business hours. Evening, weekend, and early morning appointments are sometimes available for established clients.
Start with the office rather than a form. One conversation usually settles whether we are the right practice, what a first appointment would cover, and which hours suit both your schedule and the requirement that you be in Rhode Island.
We do not offer crisis, walk-in, or inpatient services of any type, and this page is not a substitute for emergency care.
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This page provides general information about telehealth psychotherapy and psychological services. It is not medical or psychological advice, does not create a clinician–client relationship, and does not diagnose or treat any condition. Whether a particular service is appropriate for you is determined with a clinician during a confidential consultation. Telehealth authorization depends on your physical location at the time of each appointment; participating jurisdictions are published at psypact.gov and, for counseling, at CompactConnect. Arizona Behavioral Health Associates, P.C., 710 N Beaver Street, BLDG 4, Flagstaff, AZ 86001-3139 · (844) 774-7997
