Zarana Upadhyay
Are you...
struggling with people pleasing, procrastinating, and intellectualizing your feelings over experiencing and processing them?
​
Do you tend to lean towards using a substance or harmful habit to “relax” or calm down after a stressful day?
​
Have you noticed that you've become more irritable? Are you having trouble recognizing who you are at times or feel so overwhelmed you're not sure what to work on first?
​
Do you feel like you’re just going through the motions of life until the next weekend, day off from work, or the next vacation you have planned?
​
Are you struggling with addictive habits that have become harder to manage and have been nervous about facing the change you want to make?
​
Zarana may be the therapist for you.
Insurances Accepted
Aetna
Oscar
Optum/United
Oxford
Specialties
Addiction
Anxiety
Depression
Perfectionists & High-Achievers
Multicultural Family Dynamics
Approaches
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Motivational Interviewing
Unconditional Positive Regard
Solution Focused
Problem Solving Therapy
About Zarana
Zarana provides a culturally sensitive, supportive, and compassionate space during therapy to allow you to express your deepest fears, intrusive thoughts, and past traumas. She utilizes a variety of approaches and interventions to make you feel comfortable and understood. She recognizes the fear and shame that may surround your difficulties and concerns. Zarana takes a person-centered approach, focusing on you in the here and now and shows up with you in your desire to change.
​
Some of the most common indicators that we are just trudging through life include having trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, difficulty with motivation, lack of interest or pleasure with activities and hobbies, and feeling disconnected from your mind or body. We often equate these symptoms to external factors, like stress at work or family conflict, rather than the internal factors that impact us, like anxiety, depression, or childhood trauma. Zarana considers all the factors to ensure you are making the positive change you want to see in your life while also processing through the challenges which brought up this difficulty.
​
Zarana enjoys supporting individuals with an array of concerns but specializes in treating individuals with addictions, anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and maladaptive perfectionism. She provides therapy to individuals, families, and couples. Zarana wants clients to walk away from their session feeling like they were able to unpack the baggage they've been carrying around so they can feel lighter physically, mentally, and emotionally.
​
Zarana is the type of therapist to whom you can tell your most difficult stories; she will hold a supportive and calm space while also mirroring your humor and intellect. She will keep you accountable with compassionate efforts and helps clients move the needle within their recovery. Zarana takes her time getting to know you and your family systems to understand your therapeutic goals and determine the best way to collaborate with you to help you live the life you want.
​
Over the past decade, Zarana has worked in private practice and addiction services, including rehabilitation centers, detox facilities, residential care, and outpatient care. She has helped and supported hundreds of clients seeking recovery, finding freedom from the disease of addiction, overcoming their maladaptive perfectionism, and strengthening their mind-body connection. She enjoys supporting individuals who identify as perfectionists and high achievers because she understands the complexities of maintaining unrealistic internal expectations and the constant need to “do more.” Zarana will help you regain control of your life in the healthiest way possible.
​
When Zarana is not working, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, exercising at the gym, hot yoga, hiking, traveling, getting massages and facials, and doing creative activities like arts and crafts.
"I support you with identifying the change points to prevent the negative feedback loop so you do not continue to do the same thing over and over again."
FAQ with Zarana
Accepted Insurances:
Aetna, Oscar, Oxford, and UHC
​
If you are a current or former client of Zarana’s and would like to get in touch to reestablish services, please feel free to email her at zaranau@highergroundw.com.
What is your therapy style:
“In addition to using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing, I strive to make sessions feel as comfortable and conversational as possible. We will catch up on your week, review any new Netflix recommendations we have, and then dive into the deeper stuff. My hope is that you leave each session feeling lighter than the last and feeling like all things are possible in life.”
​
What is different about your therapy approach?
“I don’t believe any one approach can work for every person, which is why I believe in meeting you where you are. Once I have helped you learn tools to regulate your nervous system and you have removed substance use from your life, you will be able to learn and implement positive coping skills that help you think, feel, and act in a way that is more aligned with who you are holistically.”
​
Who do you primarily work with?
I primarily work with clients who are 21 years or older. I also have experience working with couples and families to ensure the growth that occurs in therapy can also be followed up with environmental changes at home to best support your progress.
How do you describe success with a client?
I had a client I worked with in the past who was able to go from dissociating and regressing in age to when her trauma occurred, to being able to utilize grounding techniques daily to regulate her mood to where her symptoms of PTSD were manageable. She was able to return to being the mother and wife she wanted to be for her family.
Another one of my past clients started taking a Medication Assisted Treatment called Vivitrol and came from a difficult and traumatic background. He attended therapy weekly, sometimes twice per week, like clockwork, and took his Vivitrol shot monthly with no relapses or lapses. He was able to gain back control of his life, start working, went back to school, and eventually became a medical assistant. When I left the program, he was already over one year clean and sober and doing so much better than when he first started.
My desire is for the clients I work with to walk away from their session feeling like they were able to unpack the baggage they've been carrying around and can walk away feeling lighter physically, mentally, and emotionally.