Therapists in Upper West Side, New York, NY

I am here to collaborate with you to find the best path forward, whether you're going through a difficult life transition, need to process painful events or trauma, want help managing anxiety or complex emotions, or want to strengthen your relationships with your family, friends, or yourself. Therapy illuminates the patterns we find ourselves in, and also provides ways of coping with the distress resulting from these patterns. Through understanding how our past and present circumstances affect us, we cultivate empathy for ourselves and those around us.

Whether working with you individually or within a family system, my goal is to foster a warm and nonjudgemental space for you to feel heard and free to explore difficult feelings. I specialize in working with children, adolescents, young adults, and families on a variety of issues including anxiety, peer and family conflict, behavioral challenges, mood disorders, and LGBTQ+ related issues. Regardless of what has brought you into treatment, I work closely with you to reduce shame and deepen your understanding of your relationships, behaviors, thoughts and feelings. Such insight is the foundation for change and growth.

Psychotherapy is a transformative journey that can lead to self-discovery and empowerment. I work with children, adolescents, and adults to help with a spectrum of life's challenges, including anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions, issues of self-esteem, emotion dysregulation, and social anxiety. I aim to create a safe space for exploration and growth, fostering an emotional environment that empowers individuals to delve into their thoughts, feelings, and unconscious motivations. I work through a psychodynamic lens, helping to construct a narrative that links the impact of our early experiences to who we are today.

Sometimes life’s everyday challenges are more than we can handle. Small issues that go unchecked often cause the greatest difficulties. My practice serves children, adolescents, adults and couples who need professional support to say how they feel, discover what they want and find needed answers. In a safe space, each individual is encouraged to encounter and express every feeling they are experiencing.

I am a licensed clinical psychologist with over 30 years of experience in both clinic and private practice settings. I have a wide range of clinical interests and expertise including trauma/bereavement, autistic spectrum disorders, parenting issues, and individual adult relational psychoanalysis. I am trained in parent-infant psychotherapy as intervention at the earliest ages can prevent/lessen the impact of potential risk factors that can derail a child's development. I integrate Stanley Greenspan's DIR/Floortime model with attachment-based play therapy. This integrative approach addresses both the child's social-emotional and sensory cognitive functioning,

Looking for a therapist for you, your child, or your family can be challenging. It can be hard to find someone who is the right fit. I am a licensed clinical social worker working with children of all ages, families, and adults. I have experience working with those who have experienced traumatic events, grief and loss, anxiety, depressive symptoms separations/divorces, behavioral concerns, family conflicts and life transitions.

I work with all ages, but specialize in children, adolescents and young adults. My approach is eclectic, grounded in a psychodynamic orientation that utilizes a variety of tools, tailored to individual needs. My clients and I work toward goals in a non-judgmental atmosphere of empathy and understanding. Some issues I have been able to help people with are: relationship problems, depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, life transitions, self esteem, parenting, childhood issues such as separation anxiety, behavior and school problems, ADD, adoption, and divorce. I also have experience with artists and the issues they face. Therapy makes positive change!

I am committed to creating an atmosphere of trust, respect, and honesty. I listen attentively and believe that the relationship that we create together is the most important tool for our work together. My orientation is also psychodynamic, which means that I believe in the central role of the unconscious, past history and emotional forces. I apply this approach to many kinds of issues (depression, anxiety, addiction, difficulty in interpersonal relationships, general sense of dissatisfaction with life). My goal is to help you develop the awareness, insight, and psychological skills that you will be able to use later on your own.

I see adults experiencing anxiety, depression and relationship difficulties. I listen deeply. I help adults become more curious about their thoughts and feelings and question long-held assumptions that no longer apply. I help them tap into their bodies' wisdom. We work on removing roadblocks to free up energy in the essential areas of love, work and play. I help children experiencing difficulty at home, in school, and with peers. Through play and talk, I help them resume the important tasks of childhood. I have a specialty niche in infants and young children. Attachment issues, trauma, divorce and loss are additional areas of expertise.

Educated and trained both in NYC and Israel (Columbia University, Yeshiva University, Tel Aviv University and Haifa University) I have been treating children, parents and adults for over 15 years as a clinical psychologist. I deeply enjoy working collaboratively with people from different languages, cultural backgrounds and religions, and always open to and benefit from learning new things from my patients.

I am a firm believer in encouraging positivity, bolstering self-efficacy, and cultivating independence in others. My typical client is a child, adolescent, or young adult (age 3 to 29) who may be struggling academically, socially, or with developing effective emotional coping skills. Often, the individuals I see have difficulty with attention, concentration, organization, and with meeting the daily demands required of them at school. I also offer much support to parents who may be frustrated with their attempts at connecting with their kids and who are in need of guidance relating to discipline techniques and behavior management.

People often seek therapy when feeling stuck: painfully alienated from what they desire, torn between conflicting impulses, and stuck with a version of themselves they find confusing and dissatisfying. Through careful listening and exploration, our work will help to illuminate how old wounds and ways of surviving have restricted your ability to feel, work, love, and even play freely. Moments of vulnerability in therapy can be opportunities to shut down, or they can be opportunities for introspection and transformation – I pay close attention to each patient’s needs, wishes, and fears to help steer you towards the latter outcome.

I am a couples and family therapist who offers collaborative partnership based in curiosity, respect, and empathy. I believe in empowering, honoring, and celebrating your authentic self. My clients often begin therapy as they need support managing mood symptoms/disorders (anxiety, depression), attention difficulties, gender/sexuality concerns, family dynamics, life transitions and events, marital and premarital conflict, trauma, peer relationships, and school issues. With my guidance we'll explore the intersecting layers of your identity to understand how to make positive, healthy changes that will allow you to achieve your goals!

Starting psychotherapy can be an exciting and anxiety-provoking process as you take active steps to make changes in your life and relationships. I approach psychotherapy as a collaboration and work in an integrative way, tailoring interventions to individual needs. I believe that therapy's aim is not only to make improvements but also to manage disappointments. To this end, we can simultaneously engage in meaningful explorations while developing important coping skills, including mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. I offer individual, couples, and family psychotherapy to adults, children, and adolescents, and work with different family and relationship configurations.

If you are concerned about your child or teenager, I can help. I work with children, teens and young adults who are struggling with emotional and social difficulties that may interfere with feeling more secure. Parents contact me for guidance with a broad range of issues including anxiety, relatedness issues, depression, school avoidance, learning challenges, trauma and grief. Together, we can demystify symptoms difficult to understand, so you and your child can feel deeply connected. I enjoy working with tweens, teens and young adults on identity and relationship issues, family conflict, school pressure, perfectionism, anxiety, depression, motivation and self-esteem.

In my practice of 30 years I work with adults and couples to help examine and make choices that will help you feel more deeply satisfied in your relationship and work lives. I engage with patients who may be anxious, depressed, in a life transition, in conflict with a partner or child or experiencing a difficult challenge at the moment. I create an environment that is interpersonal, warm and non-judgmental, so that you can feel safe in order to deeply explore your feelings. Anxiety, depression, sadness, anger, irritability, conflict or difficulties in relationships may motivate you to seek therapy.

As a licensed creative arts therapist (drama, art, music, movement, play. creative writing) my skills are especially suitable for clients who have been through levels of trauma (domestic violence, divorce, dating abuse, PTSD, grief and loss, depression, self-harm, anxiety. etc.). In addition, I work with high-functioning kids/teens on the autism spectrum. I have found that the visual and physical work of role-playing, scene-work, improvisation, simple drawings, and video work increases their skills to recognize facial cues and feelings. Through play, these clients build self-esteem, social skills, deepen their emotional range and gain empathy.

What is child therapy? Do children sit and talk over their problems like adults do? How do I know if my child needs professional help? And, what kind of therapist is best suited for my child? Most adults have a hard time understanding that children, especially very young children, can be in need of psychotherapy. In my private practice, where I specialize in the treatment of children and adolescents, parents bring children of all ages to me with a variety of reasons for their anxiety or depression. School related issues are quite common. Children who struggle with learning and attention deficit issues are prone to lowered self-esteem, often accompanied by behavior issues at home or in school. These children may also have developed problems making friends. Other children I see are feeling the effects of a transition or loss within the family. This could pertain to an illness, death, separation or divorce of parents, even the result of a parent's depression.

I'm glad you've found yourself here. Acknowledging that you need support right now is a tough but necessary first step. Life and relationships can be complex and I find that it is often helpful have a neutral person to offer a listening ear, guidance, and to facilitate a process of gaining more insight about who you are and what you need. My role would be to help you work towards your goals, which may include building self-compassion, identifying and regulating uncomfortable emotions, processing old traumas, changing negative thoughts and patterns, overcoming challenges, strengthening relationships, implementing new coping skills.