Blog
Therapy Should Not Be Silent About Politics
Getting Out From Behind Closed Doors. In my NYC therapy practice, most patients expect to talk to me about their micro environment–their friends, family, co-workers or significant others. However, they often feel like the greater macrocosm of society and politics are off limits, as are the topics of race, gender, sexuality, and religion. In therapy, including all of these topics is imperative to…
Oct 13, 2016
Talking Social Media, Relationships and Therapy On Love Bites
Last week, I was pleased to be invited by Jacqueline Raposo to join her and her co-host Ben Rosenblatt on their NYC-based weekly radio show Love Bites on the Heritage Radio Network to talk about social media and its impact on dating and relationships that I see in my therapy practice (listen here). We spoke about a range of topics including authenticity, overuse of social media and harassment of…
Oct 11, 2016
Race, Gender, Sexuality, Class, Religion and Politics Belong In Therapy
How and why should we talk about race, class, sexuality, gender, politics, religion, etc. in therapy? Should you bring these topics up in the first place? In my NYC therapy practice, the definitive answer is yes.I find in my therapy practice that people come in with a specific topic of concern: anxiety, stress at work, wanting to leave a job, fear of flying, riding the subway, panic attacks,…
Oct 06, 2016
A Collective NYC Therapist Conversation On Therapy Clichés
Couches, mothers, Freud–there are a lot of clichés about therapy. In the latest of our collective conversations with the therapists in our NYC therapy practice, we take on these clichés:Matt: I like to think that, as therapists go, we're fairly self-conscious about the expectations and lived experiences of New Yorkers who seek therapy. People have an image of what a typical New York City…
Oct 03, 2016
When It Comes To Asperger’s, Does Diagnosis Matter?
With Therapy for Asperger's, a Conundrum. A common conversation that I have in my NYC therapy practice concerns Asperger’s. Many people wonder if they have Asperger’s or if their parent or spouse does. There are people whose life matches the diagnosis of Asperger's, more or less. Some find that discovery a relief and some find it an annoyance. Many find the diagnosis–whether a formal or informal…
Sep 29, 2016
How to Speak Kid: Art as a Tool of Translation
As an art therapist in NYC, I get to work with all kinds of kids, ranging from shy to verbose. Regardless of a child’s temperament and language skill, there is always a limit on what he or she can communicate in words. For parents, this can be tough. On one hand, they know their kid better than anyone else in this world. Yet, on the other hand, even parents can often experience befuddlement,…
Sep 27, 2016
The Big Antidepressants Question
As a psychotherapist, I often confront the debate about using medication to treat depression and anxiety in my NYC therapy practice. It is a big question.There’s a perception at times that because we practice a non-diagnostic approach, are critical of the medical model and express concern about how antidepressants and other psychiatric medications are marketed that we’re anti-medication. Not only…
Sep 22, 2016
Communicating Through Song: Music In Therapy
Both in my NYC therapy practice and privately, I’ve always felt that music is able to express things that we have a hard time communicating to ourselves and in relationships. I’ve often personally found that lyrics written by someone else can say more emotionally than we can articulate on our own. The music we hold dear is another way we are emoting whether sadness, loss, grief, fear, trauma or…
Sep 20, 2016
Transitional Objects In Therapy: Not Just for Kids
Thinking about how I use art objects in my NYC therapy practice, I recall that when I was growing up, I was very sentimental when it came to objects. I would hold onto seemingly useless items and, like a magpie, store them in old, colorfully painted cigar boxes. I would save a ticket stub from a concert, a matchbook from a restaurant, or a soda can tab from a friend. Years later, when it would be…
Sep 15, 2016
It's Not Always Postpartum Depression: Postpartum Anxiety In Therapy
We need to talk about the postpartum anxiety that I see in my NYC therapy practice.Postpartum anxiety is more than worry or nerves. Your anxiety goes through the roof, you're more anxious than not, intensely worried or even panicked–not just because of the sleepless nights or the new demands, but because anxiety is at the forefront of your mind. The phrase “postpartum anxiety” is what many…
Sep 13, 2016Should Racism Be A Psychiatric Diagnosis?
I have written extensively about non-diagnostic therapy–one meaningful way of describing the sort of therapy we practice at our downtown NYC therapy center. The phrase is meant to contrast us with the model of how therapy is traditionally practiced wherein an assessment is made in the interest of producing a mental health diagnosis and then, that diagnosis determines the course of treatment based…
Sep 08, 2016
Exploring Your Tribe: Family Therapy and Family History
Family history in family therapy and beyond. Through my work as a psychotherapist and family therapist, I’ve learned that understanding family histories and identifying family patterns can help us understand why we find ourselves in repeated situations. This is vital in both family therapy--where a family unit is in the therapy office, as well as in individual therapy. Ever wonder why you seem to…
Sep 06, 2016Browse all Tribeca Therapy topics
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