You weren’t imagining it.
Your chronic illness, pain, disability, and medical trauma were dismissed — and it changed everything.
And after so many years of not being believed,
it makes sense that you started doubting yourself too.
You deserve a therapist who understands what it’s like to live in a body
with different rules — and who won’t ask you to prove your pain.
I’m a chronic illness therapist in CT who believes you the first time.
There’s a moment in many chronic illness journeys when the doubt becomes louder than the pain.
Not because the pain is small.
Because the dismissal was enormous — the medical trauma, the disbelief, the way chronic illness, chronic pain, and disability are so often minimized in the healthcare system.
You start to wonder if you imagined it.
You start to rewrite your own history.
You start to shrink inside your own body.
This is what happens when a system teaches you, over and over, that your suffering is inconvenient — especially for people living with long‑term illness, chronic pain conditions, and disabilities that don’t fit medical checkboxes.
But here’s the truth:
Your doubt is not a flaw.
It’s a scar.
And scars tell stories of what you survived — not what you made up.
Holding Hope Counseling Center is a place where your story is taken seriously.
Where your chronic illness, pain, disability, and medical trauma are believed the first time.
Where you can finally receive chronic‑illness‑informed, disability‑affirming therapy in Connecticut.
You Don’t Have to Face Chronic Illness Alone
At Holding Hope Counseling Center, I provide trauma‑informed, disability‑affirming therapy for adults navigating chronic illness, chronic pain, medical trauma, grief, and the quiet overwhelm of being human in a world that demands too much. My work blends clinical expertise with lived experience, creating a space where you can show up exactly as you are — without apology, without minimizing, without pretending.
I honor your nervous system, your pace, and the ways your body has learned to protect you.
Trauma-Informed
Disability-Affirming
Your symptoms are real. Your experience is real. I don’t minimize or question what your body is telling you.
Collaborative
You’re the expert on your lived experience. We build your healing path together — gently and honestly.
Whole‑Person Care
Chronic illness touches everything — identity, relationships, grief, hope. I make space for all of it.
Meet Marah Warhaftig LPC
I’m Marah Warhaftig, a licensed therapist in Connecticut who understands chronic illness from lived experience, not theory. I know what it’s like when your body changes the rules, when the medical system dismisses your pain, and when doubt becomes louder than the symptoms themselves.
I work with adults living with chronic illness, chronic pain, disability, and medical trauma — people who need a therapist who truly gets it. Whether you’re grieving the life you had, navigating a new diagnosis, or trying to rebuild a sense of self, this is a space where your reality is believed the first time.
My role isn’t to fix you. It’s to help you feel seen, supported, and grounded as you build a life that fits the body you have now.
Services
Telehealth Therapy
Support for chronic illness, chronic pain, trauma, grief, anxiety, and identity shifts.
Online Workshops
A monthly online workshop called Chronically Ill Conversations for adults living with chronic medical conditions.
Trainings for Clinicians
Education for mental health professionals on chronic illness, disability, and medical trauma.
Chronically Ill Conversations
An online workshop series for adults with chronic medical conditions
Chronically Ill Conversations is a monthly online gathering for people living with chronic illness, chronic pain, disability, and medical trauma.
We meet on the second Sunday of every month at 3:00-4:30PM EST via Google Meet, creating a steady, predictable space where you can show up exactly as you are — low energy, mid‑flare, camera off, in pajamas. All of you is welcome here.
Each month offers gentle education, real‑life tools, and a community that understands the invisible work your body does every day.
Summer 2026 at a Glance
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Burnt Out Beyond — chronic‑illness burnout and rebuilding without pushing past your limits
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Pacing 101 — a realistic, compassionate approach to energy management
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How Are You, Really? — emotional honesty, masking, and the pressure to appear “fine”
Living With Chronic Illness
Writing for people navigating chronic illness, pain, disability, and medical trauma
