Why Bone Chilling Loneliness? Bone-chilling loneliness is a phrase I’ve been thinking about recently in my NYC therapy practice as a way to categorize depression. I prefer the phrase because it gets to the heart of the lows that someone with depression feels. The term and diagnosis depression are so prevalent in both psychotherapy andRead more
The Less Traveled Path: Taking a Break from College
In my NYC therapy practice, I work with many teens and families of teens who have decided to take a break from college. This can be a difficult decision and it is hard to know when it is time to muscle through the semester and when might be the time to press the pause button.Read more
Finding A Therapist In NYC
How To Find A NYC Therapist Finding a therapist in NYC is a lot like dating. You scour the internet for someone whose profile seems right and when you think you may have found a match, you schedule some phone time. If that goes well, you make a date to meet in person. As thisRead more
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 kidRead more
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 asRead more
How to Give Your Teen Safe Space
As Therapists Who Work With Teens, We’ve Learned a lot About Negotiating Safety As a therapist who works with teens in NYC, I see how much parenting a teen is a tough job. Part of a teen’s healthy development is rebelling and getting space from their nuclear family, which doesn’t always feel great on the receivingRead more
Emotional Lessons: Teaching Children How to Be Well-Adjusted Adults
Supporting Your Child’s Independence As a parent, your biggest job is to help your children grow into well-adjusted adults. From the moment they learn how to self soothe as infants, you are passing on lessons, big and small, that encourage healthy autonomy. In Slate’s “The Value of a Mess”, writer Jessica Lahey clearly lays out some of these lessons andRead more
Dog Whisperer, Parenting Guru
A great model for parenting Often when I talk to parents in my NYC therapy practice, I reference Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer. Yes, the Dog Whisperer. I know kids are not dogs and, no, I do not condone the use of those terrible child leashes. Yet it has shocked me, just from watching a fewRead more
Art as Therapy: The Shame to Pride Project
Art and art therapy Artist Stephanie Calvert is using her own art as therapy in creating work using materials from her childhood home and I find it inspiring in my work as an art therapist. The Huffington Post’s Katherine Brooks features Ms. Calvert in her piece, “One Daughter is Turning Her Hoarding Parents’ Belongings into Beautiful Art“.Read more
Internalizing External Messages: The Impact on “Problem Children”
Editors Note: We are so pleased to share, for the first time since the launch of our website, the writing of a therapist in our NYC practice who isn’t the founder and director, Matt Lundquist. Heather Mayone Kiely is a psychotherapist and Art Therapist who joined the practice in 2012 when we expanded to aRead more