Evidence-Based Therapy for
Chronic Pain & Emotional Healing in
Arlington, VA
Ben Orlando, LPC
Specializing in Pain Reprocessing Therapy and ISTDP to help you live with less pain and greater emotional resilience.
Where I Came From
At the height of my teaching career, I began to work on my internal self and the discoveries I made changed everything. I became less worried, more confident, more creative, and more connected to my emotions.
That transformation led me to leave academia and become a psychotherapist. Now, I help others in Arlington, Virginia uncover what’s really driving their anxiety, pain, and disconnection, building their inner capacities to create lasting change.
My Services
ISTDP — Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy
Do any of these internal habits sound familiar?
Pleasing. Self-criticism. Self-doubt. Rumination. Worry. Detachment. Depression. Arguing. Avoidance.
These are defense mechanisms, ways we protect ourselves from feelings that once felt too unsafe to experience.
Do you experience anxiety as a racing heart, tight chest, nausea, or tension? Anxiety is the body’s way of saying there’s something inside that needs to be felt.
ISTDP helps us understand how these mechanisms and anxieties work together, so you can face what’s been avoided and finally feel free.
It’s not about quick fixes, but it is about efficiency. Many people find that they make more progress in a few months of ISTDP than in years of other therapies, because we’re not treating symptoms; we’re treating their source.
Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT)
When pain lasts a long time, it often stops signaling injury and becomes a habit of the nervous system, an alarm that keeps ringing even after the fire is out.
PRT is a mind-body approach that helps the brain learn that the body is safe. Through gentle awareness, emotional work, and nervous system retraining, pain begins to fade, not because it’s ignored, but because your body learns it doesn’t need to stay on high alert.
This approach has helped many people living with chronic pain in Arlington, VA and beyond experience relief and renewed trust in their bodies.
Process Groups
The art of group therapy lies in bringing the right people together to create an environment for emotional and psychological growth.
Everyone in the room struggles in some way with relationships, with saying how they feel, asking for what they need, or trusting themselves to be seen. In group, you discover how others move forward and where they get stuck.
It’s a real-world laboratory for practicing honesty, connection, and courage. Here, you’ll receive direct feedback and offer it in return, all within a confidential, committed group of people who are learning how to live and relate more fully.
Benefits of Therapy
-
Emotional Clarity
Understand your feelings, identify patterns, and move beyond self-doubt and anxiety.
-
Relational Growth
Improve trust, communication, and intimacy in relationships.
-
Empowerment & Confidence
Build inner capacities to handle challenges with resilience and presence.
Therapy that Helps You Get to the Heart of Things
This isn’t about talking in circles. It’s about slowing down, paying attention to what’s really happening inside you, and learning how to work with it.
I don’t believe in rushing, and I don’t believe in wasting your time. We focus on what truly matters and build the inner skills that help you grow and feel more like yourself again.
A Journey from Teaching Minds to Healing Hearts
I am an author, a former university professor, and a podcast producer. For years, I taught, wrote, and spoke about ideas that inspired other people to think deeply, yet I hadn’t learned to look inward myself.
At the height of that career, I began to explore my internal world. The discoveries I made changed my life. I became less worried, more confident, more creative, and much more in touch with my emotions. What began as curiosity became a transformation so profound that I decided to leave academia and become a psychotherapist.
What I found in that process wasn’t theory, it was reality. I learned how our minds build defenses to protect us from what we fear we can’t handle, and how those defenses quietly shape our relationships, decisions, and sense of self. I also learned that freedom comes when we stop fighting our feelings and begin to face them with compassion and honesty.
I’m not about wasting time. This isn’t about pressure or urgency, it’s about working with focus and sincerity. I know how long I walked in the dark, and I would have wanted someone to help me see what I couldn’t yet face. That’s what I aim to offer now: a space where you can look clearly at what’s holding you back and finally begin to move through it.
As a therapist in Arlington, VA, I practice forms of therapy that get to the heart of the problem, helping you slow down, notice what’s happening inside, and build the capacities to disarm harmful inner habits.
My work is grounded in honesty, curiosity, and care. Therapy with me isn’t about fixing yourself, it’s about uncovering the parts of you that already know how to heal.
Get in Touch
If you’re curious about therapy or wondering whether it might help, reach out.
I offer a free consultation so we can talk about what you’re looking for and what might support you best. You can contact me by email or phone, whichever feels easiest.
Please reach out for a free consultation with me.
Email: ben@benorlandocounseling.com
Phone: 571-721-1950