Practitioner record · Checked 7 Oct 2026
Colin Christman has been in practice 5 years and is licensed in Connecticut. Colin lists family conflicts, trauma and abuse and eating disorders among 54 subjects on the BetterHelp roster.
Everything below is either quoted from Colin's own BetterHelp listing, taken from public licensing records, or written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such. Nothing here is an availability promise, a review, or a rating.
01 · Who Colin works with
Colin lists 5 specialisms and 49 further focus areas. Specialisms are the subjects Colin chose to list first, which is the closest a listing gets to “this is my actual practice”.
02 · In Colin's own words
Reproduced in full and unedited - not summarised, not tightened, not rewritten in a house voice.
My name is Colin Christman, and I am licensed in Connecticut as an LCSW. I completed my undergraduate education at Yale University in Political Science and Applied Mathematics. I completed my graduate education at the University of Connecticut.
The bulk of my prior work experience is in intensive care settings (largely inpatient or residential) for severe issues in behavioral health (substance use disorders, self-harm, suicidality, complex trauma, eating disorders, and other behavioral health problems such as gambling disorder, sex addiction, compulsive dishonesty, and kleptomania).
I have significant experience working with co-occurring trauma, behavioral health disorders, personality disorders, and mood or anxiety disorders. Given the complex, florid, and grave nature of many of these disorders, I have experience working within a family context with partners, parents, children, and siblings.
For whom it may be interesting, I have training in Internal Family Systems (IFS) and trauma-specific interventions. I would describe my overall therapeutic approach as psychodynamic, and most consistent with the ideas of Alfred Adler and Eric Berne. At times we may be joined by Emma, a certified emotional support dog.
I believe that most mental illnesses are diseases of absence, not diseases of presence. If you imagine influenza, it's a disease of presence. There's a bad thing present (the viral infection) that produces disease. By contrast, scurvy is a disease of absence. Lacking vitamin C for a prolonged period, the body cannot maintain healthy function.
I believe the role of therapy is to identify what's missing in terms of emotional nutrition (safety, interpersonal connection, a sense of identity, a sense of community, a sense of purpose, a sense of capability, and structure are core examples, though there are others and biomedical possibilities as well).
From there, our goal is to determine why those psychological needs are persistently unmet, and how those unmet needs motivate self-destructive or maladaptive patterns in your life. Often in psychology we discuss cognition and emotion (thoughts and feelings). In truth, thoughts and feelings are only the mechanism by which the brain turns its understanding of what's happening into a behavioral response. Our goal is to use those thoughts and feelings, in the context of your life, to discover underlying beliefs that produce too much negative emotion, too little positive emotion, or behavior that isn't consistent with your values, your goals, or your wellbeing.
But where we start is a lot simpler: Who are you? What matters to you? What's wrong in your life, and what would it mean for things to be right? We're all in the process of trying to become a better version of ourselves. Therapy is the process of challenging and changing beliefs to progress toward a better relationship with others and, most importantly, ourselves.
Colin Christman, on the BetterHelp listing · read 7 Oct 2026
03 · What happens next
Colin practises through BetterHelp, so the route in is BetterHelp's. This is that sequence, written by Maker Therapy from the platform's published process - not a description of Colin's own practice, and not a promise about how quickly anything happens.
BetterHelp opens with a set of questions about what you are dealing with, what you want from therapy, and any preferences on the therapist. You are not booking Colin at this point.
BetterHelp matches algorithmically by default, so asking for Colin is a step you have to take. There is a field for requesting a specific therapist during sign-up, and you can switch afterwards from your account. Starting from a link on this page does not by itself assign you to Colin.
You will be offered somebody else rather than put on a waitlist. Worth knowing, because it is easy to assume a match is the person you asked for.
A first session is typically history and orientation: what brought you, what has been tried, what you want to be different. It is also where the questions in the next section belong.
Changing therapist on BetterHelp does not need a reason. A first session that does not click is common and is not a verdict on therapy. That option existing is the main practical difference between a platform and a private practice.
04 · Before you commit
Built from what Colin actually lists, so they are answerable and specific rather than generic. Maker Therapy's, not Colin's - Colin has not seen them and is under no obligation to answer any of them.
“How do you decide when someone is ready to work on a traumatic memory itself?”
Pacing is the biggest safety question in trauma work. A clear, unhurried answer here matters more than any credential.
“How do you handle the gap between sessions if something comes up?”
On BetterHelp this varies a great deal by therapist. Better to know the rhythm now than to discover it on a bad week.
05 · Practical details
06 · Provenance
Colin's name, credential, state, subjects, approaches and biography are read from BetterHelp's therapist roster, which Maker Therapy re-reads once a day; this page reflects the reading taken on 7 Oct 2026. The licence number and NPI are cross-checked against public registers.
The plain-English method descriptions, the first-session walkthrough and the questions are written by Maker Therapy and labelled as such wherever they appear.
Maker Therapy is not BetterHelp, does not take bookings, and has not met Colin. There are no reviews or ratings on this page because we have no way to verify one. If you start therapy through a link here, we may be paid a commission - it does not change your price and it does not affect who appears here or in what order.
Something on this page wrong or out of date? Report it and it will be checked against the source.
Maker Therapy is user-supported - when you start through our links we may earn a commission from BetterHelp at no extra cost to you.