maybe it looks like everyone else has the answers.
Maybe they do. However, most if not all of the world's great spiritual teachers would probably agree that any real strength or forward movement begins with not knowing. Together we can navigate the not knowing . . . the doubt, vagueness, that in-between, not-yet-formed place. We can adopt an attitude of “Lets see what's possible.” We'll work towards finding a way to make it safe enough to explore this territory. I offer you my strength and resiliency. I offer you a safe space, an environment in which your confusion and chaos can rest. I am present. I am listening. Your difficulties do not scare me. My life experience and training allow me to actively and sensitively offer other perspectives. I am here to listen to the dark, terrible things you've pushed aside. I'm also here to celebrate your magnificence. I will hold a space for it until you can step into it and run. |
my qualifications
I am a New York State licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist. My practice is guided by a passion for creatively integrating psychodynamic and somatic ways of working that are present oriented, experiential and client centered. Insight alone only goes so far. I hold a Masters of Social Work from Hunter College School of Social Work (now The Silberman School of Social Work). I am a certified Focusing Oriented Therapist and a fully trained practitioner of EMDR therapy (eye movement desensitization reprocessing). I utilize Focusing, IFS (internal family systems), CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), and whatever else works. If spirituality and/or religion resonate with you, I bring that into our work. I am an ordained Interfaith Minister who brings attuned, irreverent humor to our interaction -- if you like that kind of thing. I am not a blank slate kind of therapist. I have served as a clinical affiliate of NIP (National Institute for the Psychotherapies)'s Integrative Trauma Program. I am proud to be a full member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and a member of EMDRIA, the international association for practitioners of EMDR therapy. Other affiliations include the Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, NIP's Professional Association, The Focusing Institute, the Adoption/Foster Care Therapists Network, Downtown Clinicians' Collective, and the National Association of Social Workers. I started working as a therapist as an intern in one of Bellevue Hospital Center's adult inpatient psychiatry units, and for a community-based program within the Charles A. Dorsey school (P.S. 67), the first independently-led school for black Brooklynites. During my time with the Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services I helped a wide range of people to wrestle with a wide range of problems. Though my psychotherapy practice focuses exclusively on adults, I have in the past worked with children, adolescents, couples and families who struggled with psychiatric, medical, environmental, emotional and spiritual problems. I am a white anti-racist organizer and ally, and bring this and other cultural lenses to my work and to my life. I am grateful to my mentors and teachers from psychodynamic/analytic, somatic, humanistic, relational, self-psychological and transpersonal backgrounds. I draw inspiration and grounding from Vipassana (Insight meditation), Focusing, yoga and spiritual practices from the world's wisdom traditions. I studied philosophy as an undergraduate, and played jazz on my college's FM radio station. |
