Experiential Psychodynamic Therapy · Brooklyn & Virtual
Experiential therapy puts presence first. Rather than only talking about your life from a distance, we pay attention to what is alive right now, in the room and between us: the feeling rising as you speak, the breath you're holding, the part of you that pulls back when something touches close. This is where real change becomes possible, because it's where you're actually living.
What I believe
I understand trauma as what happens when pain is too big and there is too little support to hold it: too little of another body, another steady presence, to help carry what was happening. Many of us learned to get through overwhelming moments alone. What was missing then was not willpower, but someone there with us.
Our nervous systems are shaped in relationship, and they heal in relationship too. When you are with someone who stays steady, attuned, and genuinely present, your body can begin to borrow that steadiness. Over time, what once felt unbearable becomes something you can feel and move through, because this time you're not alone with it.
I try to truly see who is in front of me: who might be hurting, who might be scared, who has been holding things together for a very long time. My role isn't to push you to change or to fix what's wrong with you. It's to be a witness, to help shoulder the pain alongside you. Gestalt therapy has long held that change comes not from forcing ourselves to be different, but from being fully met as we are.
My training
I completed two years of post-graduate training at the Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy (GAP) in New York, and I remain active in a community of experiential clinicians whose work prioritizes presence in the room. Experiential psychodynamic therapy is the foundation of how I work.
This relational foundation is what holds everything else I offer. Somatic IFS brings in the body and the parts of you that learned to protect you; EMDR helps old memories settle. Both work best inside a relationship where you feel safe enough to slow down.
Is this right for me?
Therapy in the past has felt like reporting on your week, or understanding everything without anything changing. You're used to being the capable one and rarely let anyone see how much you carry. You've spent much of your life adapting, and you long for a space where you don't have to.
We slow down. I may notice aloud what seems to be happening in you as you speak, or invite you to stay with a feeling a little longer than you normally would. There's no script and no pressure to perform progress. You set the pace, and I stay with you.
Related: Somatic IFS · EMDR therapy · Children of immigrants & C-PTSD
A free 15-minute consultation is a chance to see if we're a good fit, with no pressure or obligation. In person in Brooklyn Heights, or virtually anywhere in New York and New Jersey.
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