Psychoanalytic Therapists in Philadelphia, PA

As a psychoanalyst, I believe that our most fundamental struggles are related to difficulties in our relationships. That's why I think collaboration in therapy is important. I work with clients to help them use their curiosity, talents, and strengths to resolve confusion and achieve understanding and relief. My style is non-judging and genuine so clients feel comfortable talking about parts of their life that are stressful, frustrating, and even painful. In working together, I hope to help clients achieve a better sense of meaning in their lives and satisfaction in their relationships, so that anxiety, depression, shame and guilt ease away.

Before consulting a professional, most people have already addressed their difficulties as well as they can – but they can only deal with what they know. What they typically need help with is the parts of their struggles they are not aware of. The treatments that help most to bring hidden matters to light, and under conscious control, are based on psychoanalytic principles. As a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, I try to understand people from multiple points of view. I work with my patients to help them get as clear and comprehensive a picture as possible.

Each of us comes to psychotherapy for different reasons, and while no two psychotherapy journeys will be alike, we all require the same essential conditions of empathy, acceptance, and supportive encouragement to examine our lives with an attitude of curiosity and a creative vision for change. As a licensed psychologist with a wide-range of training and clinical experience, I am committed to establishing a therapeutic relationship that is dedicated toward understanding the circumstances that have brought you to this point in your life and in drawing upon your strengths and resources for taking your life in a new direction.

I am a licensed psychologist located in Center City and have been treating patients in the Philadelphia area since 2007. I work with individuals, couples, children and families. I have trained in psychodynamic, interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral therapies. My research and practice specialties include personality assessment, eating disorders, and working with family systems. In treatment, I focus on using my understanding of human behavior to help my patients better understand what thoughts and wishes motivate them as well as what fears or anxieties might be getting in their way.

I believe that in order to change anything, we first need to understand and accept it. This is done through talking. I bring an empathetic, worldly, and multidisciplinary approach to help you gain a deeper understanding of who you are and what you want. We all repeat the same patterns through our lives that sometimes prevent us from happiness.Through therapy, we can start to observe those patterns, and then decide how we want to change them.

The desire to be known, and to know oneself, is so very human. Working together, we can make sense of your internal experience as it relates to - and makes contact with - the external world. The therapeutic relationship is unique and collaborative. The deeper answers we seek are in the unconscious, hard to access in everyday, waking life. A safe and reliable space provides the conditions to understand your deepest motivations in starting the work known as therapy. Humor, when appropriate, can expand our perspective.

I strive to work as a partner in a process of discovery and growth. Through careful attention and deep mutual inquiry our work together can help you achieve greater confidence, inner freedom, and genuine happiness.

I see my job as a therapist as providing a particular kind of space. A space that helps people to feel comfortable, and one that helps people to talk. It is through this talking that healing and transformation become possible. I believe that human beings have a natural tendency to move towards growth, maturity, and happiness. Sometimes, however, things happen in life that trip us up. Things get in our way. These obstacles can be diminished, weakened, and removed through the therapeutic process. That's what therapy is; the removal of what stands in the way of our movement towards our goals, desires, and dreams.

Psychotherapy can help you work through emotional issues, resolve relationship problems, improve your family life, and find more satisfaction in your work. Taking the time to explore the underlying reasons that contribute to your symptoms will help you work through emotional conflicts that are holding you back from having a balanced, fulfilling life.

Natalie DiCrescenzo is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and board certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC) who has 11 years of experience treating children, adults, and families struggling with a wide range of circumstances including depression/anxiety, substance abuse, mental illness, trauma, grief and loss, life transitions, adoption/foster care, attachment disorders, behavioral difficulties, and relationship struggles. Natalie has also worked with LGBT and refugee/immigrant communities. Natalie completed her Master of Arts (MA) in Art Therapy and Counseling at Drexel University.

If you feel stuck in a rut, ruminative, or disconnected from your own life, and are seeking an engaged and examined life, psychotherapy can help. I deeply enjoy empowering my patients to know themselves and those around them with greater nuance, depth and honesty. Rather than labeling symptoms in a medicalized, detached way, I work to help patients negotiate complex relationships with themselves and those around them. By identifying patterns and the ways we find ourselves "stuck", psychotherapy can help disentangle these impasses, offering a freer way of being in the world.

Are you feeling stuck or unhappy in terms of a relationship, job, or in life in general? My integrative, solution-based focus is tailored to your specific situation, goals, personality, and comfort level. Together, we can identify and change the obstacles that are preventing you from better pursuing your goals, getting along better with the important people in your life, and feeling more confident and less anxious. My goal is to help you to find new ways of thinking about yourself and others so that you can manage challenges more easily and feel more confident and fulfilled in your life.

Do you feel anxious, lonely, like your life is upside down, like the world does not make sense, or cornered? Do you doubt your choices? Do you wish to find new ways and new answers? Your new path can start here and now! Psychoanalytic therapy means that you are not alone anymore in facing challenges, mending relationships, building strength, and creating the future you deserve. Whether you need help with your career, your romantic partner, your relationships, parenting, or aging parents, Please do not hesitate: call or text at 215-352-5975 or email.

I work in pursuit of a greater understanding of a persons life and mind, everything-feelings, beliefs, memories, dreams and even seemingly irrelevant passing thoughts. Emotional healing takes place in a safe space through the empathic work of a committed relationship between psychotherapist and patient that is radically individualized/fully confidential. My approach is with the concern of relieving immediate symptoms and resolving current life problems. Patients are encouraged to talk as freely as possible in an environment that can enhance their awareness into how they see themselves and the world around them with increased sense of freedom and validation.

People come to therapy for many reasons. Whatever the particulars may be, I have found that there is always a feeling something is not working out. You may be stuck feeling, thinking or acting in certain ways that are preventing you from living a more gratifying life. While medications can be helpful, they are not the full picture. I believe the best thing you can do for yourself is to find someone with whom you can clarify your thoughts and feelings without judgment. Examining problems and working through internal conflicts is how we overcome whatever may be holding us back.

In my practice I offer a welcoming setting and provide a safe space for your suffering or difficulties. When you speak about yourself to someone who is trained to listen and examine the circumstances that motivated your consultation, a change occurs. A psychoanalyst is a person trained to hear what is happening under the surface, and provides a place where you may speak and hear yourself differently. I have been working as a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist for 25 years and I have found that words can hurt, words can make people sick, but words can also save. Talking cures.