Ryan Malphrus, LCSW-C

Ryan Malphrus is a Licensed Certified Clinical Social Worker in the state of Maryland who provides individual psychotherapy with adolescents and adults.

Ryan has worked for over 10 years helping others understand and accept themselves, in order to live a truly meaningful life. Ryan specializes in working with men that have struggled to find help tailored to them. Most treatment has not been adequately developed to deal with men’s issues, as evidenced by the large but silent mental health crisis occurring within many men and boys. Men’s expression is too often misunderstood and even pathologized; Ryan seeks to provide a space for men to explore who they are without fear of judgement.

Though Ryan has vast experience with many therapeutic modalities, his primary orientation is using a Psychodynamic approach— exploring one’s entire life story to best understand present day challenges. Ryan will work with you to identify and remove the barriers that may hold you back from growth. Ryan believes that growth is truly made not only by having insights in therapy, but also through experiencing a new type of relationship in therapy. Ryan’s ideal client is someone who is ready and willing to dive in to the process of exploration and change.

Although Ryan uses a Psychodynamic frame he believes treatment should be individualized and takes from Humanistic, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to ensure treatment is tailored to one’s specific goals and needs.

Ryan believes the relationship between therapist and client is a primary driver for therapeutic change, thus Ryan will be active in asking for feedback and flexible to change to ensure fit. Ryan strives to create an environment in which no thought, feeling, or action is off limits to exploration, because once we understand a problem, the solutions are obvious.

Ryan completed his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at the University of Maryland and received his Master of Social Work from The Catholic University of America. Ryan is licensed in Maryland and is a Board-certified clinical supervisor.


It is astonishing how elements that seem insoluble become soluble when someone listens, how confusions that seem irremediable turn into relatively clear flowing streams when one is heard.” – Carl Rogers