Down-to-Earth, Evidence-Based Therapy
Personalized, expert mental health care for healthcare providers, those with medical challenges, and anxious folks. Let’s help you exhale.
Meet Dr. Mark Versella
Hi, I’m Dr. Mark Versella. I’m a licensed clinical psychologist in Philadelphia whose goal is to make mental health care incredibly effective for you without it feeling stuffy, sterile, or mysterious.
I’ve spent 10+ years working throughout the medical system, whether it’s in my current position as faculty at Rutgers - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School training resident physicians, as a primary care-mental health fellow at the Philadelphia VA, or as a collaborating psychologist in primary care, subspecialty outpatient settings and inpatient medicine. Throughout all of that, I’ve been lucky enough to speak to folks from all walks of life looking for mental healthcare for the first time. One of the most consistent things I’ve heard from patients is how unapproachable and daunting going to therapy can seem. In my little corner of the world, I’d like to change that.
More than anything, I want therapy with me to seem like you’re working with a real, three-dimensional person who you can both feel safe with and be confident that they know their stuff. That starts with showing up as me, without pretense or BS. I want you to know me, so you can make the call as to whether I’m the right person to help you. This is a practice where your individual goals and perspectives are honored, that’s open, safe, and inclusive to all people, and where your needs are matched with the best treatments science has to offer.
Ultimately, I want the experience of working with me to provide a sense of relief from what you struggle with, while making the process meaningful and joyful. That feeling of exhaling when you finally go on vacation - the last day of school, the first day at the beach, or just the moment when you can close your laptop for a while - that’s where I want to get you to.
And I don’t want it to take forever! As much as I hope you enjoy working with me week to week, we all live busy lives. I want to make myself obsolete as quickly as I can, and I do that by trying to not just help you get better, but teach you along the way why therapy works the way it does so you can be your own therapist long after we’ve finished working together.
Let’s hang out and make your life better.
What I Do
Big picture, I work primarily with adults, provide individual therapy, and treat a wide range of mental health difficulties. I specialize in taking care of folks who have both medical and mental health challenges, as well as medical professionals, which has grown out of 10+ years training in and leading treatment teams in various medical settings, from primary care offices to inpatient medical and psychiatric units and beyond. I’m also an expert in treating anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
I primarily work with folks in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with a specific focus in the Philadelphia metro area. I’m also able to see people throughout all PsyPact participating states via telehealth video.
I’m an out-of-network provider and do not accept insurance directly. I am easily able to provide paperwork that you can submit to your insurance company for possible reimbursement if you’d like, and would be happy to talk through what that process looks like if I can be at all helpful.
Interested in Working Together?
For what it’s worth, finding the right therapist is both a lot of work and emotionally daunting. In whatever way I can, I’d like to do my best to take a bit of that pressure off. Let’s find a time to chat and talk over what you need, how I can help, and give you the chance to see if I’m the right fit to help you. Here’s how it’ll work:
Fill out the form here or click the link below to reach out in whatever way feels comfortable. Just let me know that you’d like to touch base.
We schedule a phone call where you tell me what you’re hoping to get help with, I tell you a bit about myself, and you can ask me whatever questions would assist you in making the best decision for you.
If you think we’re a good match, we schedule a first session and get right to work. If you’d rather go another direction, I’d happily be a resource to connect you with help elsewhere if you’d like the assistance. No pressure: my mission is to be helpful in whatever way makes sense for you.
