Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Alison Bomba.
Hi Dr. Alison, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After earning my doctorate in clinical psychology in 2007, I began my career as an independent contractor in a group practice in Howard County, MD. I developed my areas of specialty, focusing on providing grief/loss therapy and exposure-based treatments for anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) for clients ages 3-25.
In 2015, I relocated my independent specialty practice to Frederick County, MD. I’ve now worked in private practice for 19 years, and I continue to be driven by the opportunity to empower young people – to help them build resilience, increase distress tolerance, and learn how to process difficult emotions in healthy ways. I truly love my job and love being a part of the Frederick community!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
My choice to be a solopreneur has allowed me to keep things rather straightforward and simple as a business owner. I am able to guarantee the delivery of high quality, evidence-based services coupled with responsive client communication. I enjoy working ‘on’ the business as much as I enjoy working ‘in’ the business.
That being said, work-life integration definitely poses a challenge at times. As a business of one, I not only provide direct client care. I also manage all of the administrative work – returning phone calls, responding to emails, screening potential new clients, bookkeeping, managing social media, networking, and community outreach. While I have efficient systems in place to keep all of this work organized and simplified, the hours add up!
I am also often hired to provide consultations and professional speaking engagements and am actively involved in several community organizations. I’m a proud member of the Rotary Club of Carroll Creek and serve on the Board of Directors for Frederick Health Hospice. I also volunteer as the ‘camp psychologist’ for all Camp Jamie day and overnight camps, a program through Frederick Health Hospice that supports grieving children. Some of my past involvement includes serving as the mental health liaison for the Frederick County Board of Health, participating as a core mentor with Woman to Woman Mentoring, and serving on the Board of Directors for the Mental Health Association of Frederick County. I view my community volunteer work as both a natural extension of my professional role and a meaningful source of personal fulfillment.
Balancing my many responsibilities as a business owner, provider of care, and community volunteer is definitely difficult at times, and prioritization of my own self-care sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. More hours in the day would be helpful!
We’ve been impressed with Alison J. Bomba, Psy.D., LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a licensed psychologist and private practice owner. In my specialty practice, I provide grief and loss therapy as well as exposure-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to treat anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
Since starting my practice in 2007, I’ve dedicated my work to supporting young people struggling with anxiety, OCD, and grief/loss – areas where I focus nearly all of my clinical efforts. By specializing rather than practicing as a ‘general’ child psychologist, I provide more intensive, targeted, and effective therapeutic interventions that help clients achieve meaningful results more quickly while tailoring strategies to each individual’s unique needs. I make a point to stay current with the latest research and regularly attend professional trainings to ensure that the care I provide is evidence-based, highly effective, and of the highest quality.
I provide therapeutic supports and treatments to clients both in person in my downtown Frederick, MD office and via telehealth. In fact, my PSYPACT certification allows me to serve clients via telehealth in many states across the country.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I am a strong advocate for healthy risk-taking! In fact, much of my therapeutic work with clients involves encouraging brave behavior in order to build distress tolerance and resilience. Life is filled with challenges, and anxiety, distress, and loss are all unavoidable. Therefore, it is imperative that we all learn to lean into uncertainty and take healthy risks. Avoidance reinforces anxiety, underscoring the importance of developing the capacity to tolerate distress while engaging in safe but challenging behaviors.
I took a huge risk when I left a group private practice in Howard County, MD where I had been established for nine years in order to open my own independent practice in Frederick, MD where I lived. I had never taken a business course (as they were not offered in psychology programs when I attended graduate school). I was choosing to relocate my practice two counties away in hopes I could be successful. It was quite anxiety provoking, and at the same time I knew I could do it.
Within just a few months of opening my doors in Frederick, my caseload was full with a several month waiting list. Taking this calculated, healthy risk clearly paid off and reinforces the value of leaning into uncertainty.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.drbomba.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dralisonbomba/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drbomba
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonbomba/
