Dr. Matthew Free
Psychologist, Co-founder (he/him)
I have dedicated all my academic and professional life to the study and treatment of anxiety. I earned my Ph.D. from OSU, where I spent six years conducting research related to anxiety disorders. While there, I received over four years of clinical training specifically related to anxiety and OCD conditions. In the following years, my practice has continued to focus on anxiety and OCD. I have years of experience providing individual and group therapy, facilitating support groups, and providing consultation to families and loved ones. I am also passionate about training psychologists, counselors, social workers, and students to treat OCD and anxiety. In my free time, I enjoy woodworking, cooking, and having fun with my toddler.
Learn more about Dr. Free below!
Individual therapy:
I strive to foster a warm, validating, empathetic environment in therapy because I believe this helps people feel safe enough to work on challenging aspects of their lives. I invest in getting to know my clients well so that I can form an effective team with them to help them achieve their treatment goals. Some of my clients have mild anxiety or are new to therapy. Others experience very severe symptoms, have participated in residential or intensive programs (e.g., IOP, PHP), or have seen a number of therapists in the past. For mild to moderate anxiety and OCD symptoms, my goal is to help people make rapid progress. For clients with severe anxiety, I am dedicated to doing whatever it takes to help get life back on track, including meeting more than one time per week and providing phone coaching between sessions when needed. Like all of our clinicians at COAC, I only use evidence-based practices that fall under the umbrella of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.
Family Consultation:
I offer consultation to parents and caregivers of young adults (18+) with anxiety or OCD-related disorders who are still living at home. Consultation may include helping parents motivate their adult children to seek treatment or helping parents participate in their child’s treatment in effective ways. Parents often understand that it is not helpful to overly accommodate anxiety/OCD symptoms. At the same time, they do not want to make things worse to by putting their foot down. I can help find a balance. I can also likely help sort out what behaviors are changeable and what it would make more sense to accept. Finally, I can explain all available treatment options (including those not offered at COAC), as well as provide recommendations and referrals if higher levels of care are needed (e.g., IOP, PHP, residential).
Professional consultation:
I am one of the psychologists at COAC (along with Dr. Braun) who provides case consultation to other mental health professionals and hospital staff. Brief, one-time consultation is free. I also offer ongoing consultation for people seeking focused training to enhance their clinical skills to treat anxiety and OCD.