Climb To New Heights
With
Specialized Psychological Solutions, PLLC
Specialized Psychological Solutions, PLLC is a CBT-oriented therapy practice welcoming adults 18+ experiencing anxiety, panic, or stress. Dr. Kesselman provides a unique specialty utilizing Virtual Reality therapy and Biofeedback to compliment traditional Cognitive Therapy. Clients often find these innovative and interactive approaches lead to improvement in fewer sessions, with sustained, lasting outcomes. Dr. Kesselman emphasizes a collaborative, engaging, challenging but supportive, therapeutic environment.
Sessions are conveniently offered in-person at our Southborough, MA office or virtually.
Schedule a complimentary 10-minute consultation using the button below, or call our office at 508-205-9444.
Schedule a Consultation
Therapy Enhanced by Virtual Reality and Biofeedback
Virtual Reality (VR) and Biofeedback enhance your therapy experience by creating safe and immersive environments for exposure, strengthening stress reduction and relaxation skills, and performance improvement.
Virtual Reality Therapy
XRHealth, a cutting-edge therapeutic VR platform, allows the client to simulate environments for treatment of trauma, phobias, anxiety/stress and more. This enhances the therapy experience by creating a safe, immersive environment allowing the client to confront discomfort in a gradual and controlled manner through planned exposures until ready to conquer real-world experiences (such as heights, driving, flying, blood, social situations, or other specific fears or traumatic experiences).
Biofeedback
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Exposure for Anxiety
Utilize gradual, controlled exposures for phobias, social anxiety, panic, OCD, and trauma triggers — all within a safe, adjustable virtual environment.
Stress Reduction and Relaxation
Engage in guided breathing exercises, biofeedback-assisted relaxation techniques, and immersive mindfulness scenes to effectively reduce stress and enhance self-awareness.
Performance Improvement
Simulate challenging real-world situations like difficult conversations, public speaking engagements, job interviews, athletics, or academics/test taking. Build confidence and prepare for real-world application.
Our Practice Pillars
Cultivating Adaptive Thinking
We help you understand the profound connections between your experiences, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through evidence-based therapeutic approaches.
Enhancing Emotional Self-Regulation
We improve your mental and physiological coping mechanisms using cognitive strategies, breathing exercises, relaxation, imagery, and mindfulness techniques.
Alleviating Physical Discomfort
We train you to reduce muscular tension and hyperarousal, helping to shift attention away from chronic pain or discomfort.
Use of Technology
Our approach blends CT with optional VR modules and biofeedback to enhance the experience. If VR is not comfortable, we use effective non-VR methods.
What We Treat
Anxiety
Excessive worry/fear/ nervousness/, difficulty concentrating, avoidance, somatic complaints (general anxiety); intense discomfort in social settings (social anxiety)
Stress and Burnout
Strengthening effective ways of coping with the stress of life and change; managing expectations of self and others
Panic and Agoraphobia
Brief, intense periods of overwhelming fear
Phobias
Intense fear related to specific triggers, such as heights or crowded spaces, specific animals, driving, flying, medical procedures or blood draws, etc
Trauma and Hyperarousal
Healing from painful, threatening or scary events and memories
ADHD
Help for those who have trouble managing emotions or focusing
Chronic Pain, Injury and Health Conditions (Behavioral Medicine)
This specialized area of practice focuses on helping clients who are dealing with medical diagnoses and chronic health conditions. This can include issues like headaches, jaw pain, hypertension, Raynaud's disease, tinnitus, IBS, and other chronic pains and illnesses.
Social Anxiety
Health Anxiety
Performance Improvement
Common Experiences
For over two decades, our practice has empowered clients to live more fulfilling and balanced lives by addressing how stress and anxiety affect your psychological and physical wellbeing.
Many individuals face challenges that can significantly impact their mental health. At Specialized Psychological Solutions, we strive to understand the unique struggles each person experiences and provide personalized support tailored to your specific needs.
Life Challenges
  • Demanding work environments
  • Complex family dynamics
  • Academic pressures
  • Competitive athletic performance expectations
  • Recovery from traumatic events or experiences
  • Navigating other significant life changes and difficult transitions
Treatment Options
Cognitive Therapy
Experience a proven approach that can help you break fee from stress and anxiety. The central concept of Cognitive Therapy asserts that psychological and emotional distress is often shaped by our perceptions of events, no the events themselves. Learn how to more accurately identify and evaluate unhelpful thought patterns, then shifting them to a more healthy and adaptive perspective.
Biofeedback
Biofeedback enhances awareness and control over physiological functions. Sensors monitor metrics like heart rate and muscle tension, providing real-time feedback as you practice relaxation techniques. Complementary breathing, relaxation and mindfulness exercises are taught to help regulate your nervous system and build emotional resilience. This builds body awareness and understanding of your physiological responses during therapy.
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality creates immersive environments that evoke emotional responses similar to real-life situations. This allows us to work safely with scenarios difficult to reproduce in traditional therapy. The XR Health Virtual Reality platform enables gradual, personalized exposure experiences tailored to your specific needs.
Meet Dr. David Kesselman
Education & Credentials
Dr. Kesselman is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) with a private practice in Southborough, MA. He received his Doctorate in Social Work from University of Tennessee/ Knoxville and Masters in Social Work from Boston College. He has advanced training in cognitive therapy, biofeedback and behavioral medicine.
Experience
Dr. Kesselman has over 25+ years of experience in a variety of behavioral health and primary care settings providing clinical services, supervising, mentoring, teaching, program development and curriculum building.
Professional Positions
Dr. Kesselman has held senior clinical and leadership positions at Lifestance Health and UMASS/Health Alliance Hospital. He held the faculty rank of Instructor at UMASS Medical School where he taught and supervised medical students, residents and psychology/clinical social work students on psychological treatment approaches associated with psychiatric and medical diagnoses.
What to Expect
Starting therapy is a courageous step. Understanding the process can help you feel more comfortable as you begin your healing journey with us.
Initial Contact
Schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your needs and determine if we're a good fit for your concerns.
Invitation To The Practice Portal (Headway)
Complete intake paperwork from the comfort of your own home.
First Session
Meet in person or virtually to explore your concerns, the context of your situation, history and therapy goals. Start the process of developing a personalized treatment plan addressing your specific needs and objectives.
Ongoing Sessions
Attend sessions in person or virtually at the agreed upon cadence.
How VR Works
First Session — We discuss goals, history, and possible VR fit. Review risks (e.g., motion sickness) and informed consent.
Second Session — We complete any further assessment and put together a plan tailored Cognitive Therapy+VR roadmap.
In‑Session VR — You are immersed in agreed upon target scenes; intensity of variables can be adjusted in real time. Biofeedback also available.
Potential for Between‑Session VR Practice —Please inquire if interested
Review & Iterate — Track outcomes, refine targets, and step down once goals are met.
Practice Information
Everything you need to know about our office and policies.
Practice Location
Our office is conveniently located at 118 Turnpike Road (Route 9 East), Southborough, easily accessible from Route 9, Route 495, and the Mass Pike.
Cancellation Policy
We require a minimum of 24-hour notice for all cancellations or rescheduling requests. No-shows or cancellations made less than 24 hours in advance may incur a $100 fee. In-person appointments can be converted to teletherapy sessions without additional charges if you are unable to come to the office.
Payment Options and Insurance for Cognitive Therapy
Payment is expected at the time of service, processed conveniently through our Headway portal. We welcome both out-of-network and self-pay clients,. We provide superbills for insurance submission, which may allow for potential reimbursement of 50-80% of costs.
We are in-network with the following insurance providers: Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Massachusetts (HMO & PPO), Point 32 Healthcare (previously Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts), United Healthcare (Optum) and Aetna.
Our private pay rates for psychotherapy are:
Initial assessment $200 (50 min)
Individual sessions $200 (45-50 min) or $175 (30 min)
Form completion $50 per 15-minute increment.
Payment Options for VR and Biofeedback
At Specialized Psychological Solutions, we integrate Virtual Reality (VR) and biofeedback as advanced tools to enhance your therapeutic experience. These modalities involve specialized equipment that extend beyond the scope of traditional insurance coverage.
VR and biofeedback sessions are offered on a private-pay basis. Currently, insurance companies do not cover the use of VR or biofeedback. These services are considered separate from psychotherapy.
Please note if psychotherapy and VR/biofeedback sessions occur on the same day, they are treated as distinct services with separate financial agreements, billing, documentation, and record keeping.
We believe in transparent pricing to help you make informed decisions. We are available to answer any questions about how VR and biofeedback can support your therapeutic goals.
Our private pay rates for Virtual Reality (VR) and Biofeedback are:
$200 for a 45-50 minute session
Hours & Emergency Information
Monday-Thursday: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM (Limited evening sessions available upon request after 5:00 PM)
Friday: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM

Specialized Psychological Solutions is not a crisis facility and does not provide emergency services. If you are experiencing an urgent mental health situation, please contact or call 988 for the crisis hotline. If you are experiencing an emergent mental health crisis or require immediate assistance, please call 911 or proceed to the nearest emergency department.
Contact Us
Address
118 Turnpike Rd.
Suite 200
Southborough, MA 01772
Phone
(508) 205-9444
Email
Davidkesselman@spsma.net
Website
www.spsma.net