About

The hardest part of therapy is getting started.

It’s hard to ignore life’s clichés.

“Life is hard… Life is overwhelming… We live in a busy world…”

They’re all true. But while these clichés can help us feel less alone, they don’t do much to remedy the situation.

You’re tired of feeling like you’re just existing.

It’s been getting harder to get through each day.

It’s gotten bad enough that you’ve made the decision to seek therapy.

Congratulations. The first step is the hardest.

“What actually happens in therapy?”

Some clients come in thinking that therapy will be like school.

The therapist will lecture about your difficulties, teach you some strategies, and assign homework.

Others come in hoping that by sharing their burdens they will magically disappear.

The reality is neither and both.

In therapy, you will share all the parts of your life that are not working well for you.

Together, we will talk, get some understanding about why they exist, and try to determine where they come from.

There is a lot of relief that comes from verbalizing your difficulties and sharing your burdens. We’ll likely explore some solutions; and if you REALLY want, I can give you homework.

When you can have all your thoughts and feelings, you will be free.

My first supervisor said (a version of) this to me 16 years ago.

I’ve since repeated this dozens of times to my own supervisees. But honestly, it took me quite some time to truly understand what it means.

Most of us walk around with little idea of what makes us think feel, act, and react the way we do.

Therapy helps you truly understand your thoughts and feelings, which in turn frees you and gives you choice to act the way you’d like.

Esther* was newly married.

While she was thrilled to be married, she was also struggling with feelings of depression and overwhelm.

Therapy helped her recognize that she was bottling up feelings of anger toward her new husband for his recent unemployment.

While it was certainly scary to uncover negative feelings toward him, Esther recognized that she was ignoring those feelings because they felt like a threat to her fledgling marriage.

Where Thoughts and Feeling Can Find a Home

In the safety of therapy, Esther was able to experience those feelings and verbalize her frustration.

This led to an immediate relief of her feelings of depression.

Further, Esther then concluded that her husband’s unemployment was not his fault and being supportive was the best way for her to move forward.

What It’s Like Working With Me

Therapy is deep and heavy. It’s a place to talk about and discover your stress, your fears, and your pain. But it’s also a place to share your hopes and dreams, and discover who you are in a real and meaningful way.

It’s also a place to talk about anything that’s on your mind.

Every therapist brings their own unique personality to the therapeutic relationship. In working with me, you may not know the details of my life, but you’ll get to know WHO I am.

You’ll feel my support, hear my encouragement and validation, and hopefully you’ll enjoy my sense of humor.

Call (516) 253-1918 today to set up a time to chat.

*Names changed to preserve client confidentiality.