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 marketedRead more
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 holdRead more
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,Read more
Should 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,Read 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
Filling In The Blanks: Therapy for Adults Who Grew Up Too Fast
So many people that walk through the door of my NYC therapy practice are high achieving, bright, and successful. However, many find themselves struggling in certain areas of their lives because they had to grow up too fast. We often get to a place in our work where they ask me a version of: “If IRead more
Growing From The Relationship: An Art Therapist Talks About Social Anxiety
In my NYC art therapy practice, I work with a lot of folks who are looking for therapy for social anxiety. Many who seek this sort of help find that in social interactions they are so uncomfortable and in their head that it renders them completely stumped and stuck around others. Initially in therapy, itRead more
Beyond The DSM And Diagnostic Language In Therapy
I recently began thinking about the DSM-5 and the language we use in my NYC therapy practice after listening to a Philosophy Bites podcast with Dr. Steven E. Hyman. In the podcast, Hyman discusses the limitations he sees in the “rigid and arbitrary” boundaries set up in the DSM between what is considered “healthy” orRead more
Therapy for depression: A collective therapist conversation on the limits of words
We’ve been continuing our series of conversations, this one exploring the construction of depression: the ways those seeking therapy talk about their experiences, the many meanings of the word and the ways that depression is so often insufficient as a term to capture these experiences. Matt: It’s probably the case that therapy for depression isRead 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
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