You Can Be Fine All Year, and Then Not Be
Summer is supposed to be the easy part. For a lot of people in their 20s, it's when the thing they've been outrunning finally catches up.

There's a version of summer that everyone around you seems to be living: trips, plans, energy, and going to things. You make it to some of them. You feel okay while you're there. You come home and somehow feel worse than before you left.

That gap between how you're supposed to be doing and how you actually feel is something we hear about constantly from the young adults we work with. Not crisis-level. Not "I need help right now." Just a persistent flatness, a low-grade heaviness, and an inability to actually rest even when you have time off.

You're fine. You're not fine.

Summer can make this worse before it makes it better. The structure falls away. The distraction of work or school disappears. What's left is just you and whatever you've been outrunning since January.

What This Usually Is

The people we work with in this stage are functioning. They're holding jobs, finishing degrees, and maintaining friendships. They're also anxious in ways they've been anxious since high school, burned out from two years of grinding, or somewhere they didn't think they'd be at 24, 26, or 28, and they don't quite have the language for it.

They know the therapy vocabulary: CBT, DBT, rumination, and avoidance. They've maybe done therapy before. It was fine. Or it didn't really help.

I'm not going to tell you BODA is definitely different. I'm going to tell you what's actually different about it and let you decide.

How BODA Is Different

Sessions here don't happen in an office. We work in parks, on trails through hiking or skiing, on the water, and throughout the outdoors. During the summer, that means the Hudson Valley, the Catskills, and greenways around the city.

Walking and talking is not a gimmick. There's a real reason people open up when they're moving, side by side, looking at something other than each other. It lowers the performance anxiety of being in therapy and makes a two-hour session feel much shorter.

The therapeutic modalities are evidence-based. DBT and CBT are the backbone of what we do.

We work on:

• Distress tolerance
  
• Emotion regulation
  
• Managing spiraling thoughts
  
• Building healthier coping skills
  

The difference is that we practice these skills outside, in real-world settings, making it much more likely you'll use them later. Not on a worksheet. In a moment that actually looks like your life.

The Retreat Option

If weekly sessions feel like too much of a commitment, or you'd rather try something more immersive, the Catskills retreats are worth considering.

These retreats typically last three to five nights and can be completed one-on-one or in a small group. Each retreat is built around what you actually need rather than following a rigid curriculum.

Located about two hours north of New York City, the experience combines outdoor adventure, clinical therapy, and meaningful connection in a setting designed to reduce stress and encourage growth.

The groups are intentionally kept small and thoughtfully matched by age, interests, and clinical needs. Many participants leave not only with new coping skills, but with friendships that become part of a lasting support system. That's not a marketing line. It's something we hear from retreat participants again and again.

The End Goal

You can come to BODA for a retreat and nothing else. You can attend a handful of sessions over the summer and see how they feel.

The goal isn't to acquire a therapist forever. The goal is to build skills, gain momentum, and move forward.

We have a clear bias toward helping people need therapy less over time, not more.

If you've been thinking about trying something different, reach out for a free 15-minute consultation. Together, we'll figure out whether BODA is the right fit.

BODA Therapy provides therapy, coaching, and immersive retreats for preteens, adolescents, young adults, and families. Based in New York City and the Catskills.