My Approach
From age 13 I decided to be a counselor.
In my early teenage years, I had a knack of understanding others' perspectives. I started to become intrigued by psychology, what drove people to act in certain ways, and what influenced the way in which we think. By age 16 I began to read deep philosophical works by the likes of Maimonides, Raav Saadyah Gaon, and the Kuzari in gaining a better perspective of Judaism's view on life.
In 2019 I received my Bachelor's Degree in Psychology (BS) at Brooklyn College. I continued my education at Brooklyn College where I went on to receive my Master's Degree in Mental Health Counseling (MA) by 2021.
After college I continued my education, deeply studying the works of Jordan B Peterson and by specializing in Anxiety Disorders. I continued to study the works of the depth psychologists such as Freud, Jung, and Frankl.
I am currently licensed to provide therapy services in New York State.
In my practice, you and your needs are at the center of our work together.
There are multiple approaches that counselors take when providing therapy. Some therapists choose approaches based on their own interest or personal style.
I have found that altering my style based on your own particular needs works best instead of a one size fits all approach. The reason for this is because life is too complicated and complex for just one approach. While there are many techniques, philosophies, and schools of thought that have helped many to manage their lives, including myself, some approaches will work for you and some simply won't. And that's ok. The real work involves the two of us actively learning about and adapting to your specific needs, finding what works for you and what doesn't.
Counselors should adapt their techniques to fit clients instead of adapting clients to fit their techniques.
Each individual who comes to therapy is like a unique puzzle piece, and a competent therapist should know how to best fit that piece. That is what I will be attempting to do with you, to best help you by using varied amounts of empirically tested therapeutic tools while maintaining a unique approach that fits only you. In that way, we will both adapt to you, your current needs, and your unique story to get to the bottom of your difficulties in order to best help with change.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of psychotherapeutic treatment that helps people learn how to identify and alter destructive or disturbing thought patterns that have a negative influence on their behavior and emotions. CBT posits that thoughts and belief systems are what ultimately guide our feelings and perceptions of the world. It focuses on changing distorted automatic thoughts/belief systems that have been built over time to more rational ones that accurately reflect reality. In short, this therapy helps to “rewire” the way you think and the way you see the world, which will ultimately change the way you feel. Through our work, faulty thoughts & beliefs will be identified, challenged, and replaced with more objective, realistic schemas. We will start to recognize and alter common distrotions you may be experiencing such as all or nothing thinking, overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, and emotional reasoning.
Psychodynamic Therapy
In its brief form, a psychodynamic approach enables examination of unresolved conflicts and symptoms that arise from past dysfunctional relationships. Its ideas are derived from Sigmund Freud and is based on theories of psychoanalysis. Clients are encouraged to speak freely about anything that comes to mind, including current difficulties, fears, desires, dreams, and fantasies. As time progresses, you will start to understand your unique defense mechanisms. Defense mechanisms form as a way to help us through life. They’re kind of like cheap emergency ponchos we purchase when it starts to rain outside. According to psychodynamics- even when such difficulties alleviate, the same defense mechanisms that formed to protect the self still continue to operate unconsciously into the future. It’s as if you are continuing to wear that dirty poncho when it is perfectly sunny outside- without even being aware of its presence. The goal of this therapy is to not only help you understand you defenses and unconscious motivations, but to also alter and relieve such negative patterns through self awareness and understanding. We’re going to find that poncho, and slowly attempt to remove it at a pace that’s comfortable for you. Through our work you will understand how your past is influencing your present. Its benefits include increased self worth, better use of your own talents and abilities, and an improved capacity for developing and maintaining more satisfying relationships.
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
Carl Jung once said “We cannot change anything unless we accept it”. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on accepting rather than attempting to change certain situations and feelings in life. It’s a therapy for people who often feel stuck or who may consistently be getting in their own way. ACT posits that the more we try, force, or resist-- the more likely the unintended outcome will occur. What we resist will persist. Imagine trying to remove a mosquito bite by itching it. If we keep itching it, it will get worse. Paradoxically, the ability to let go, to completely let go of trying to make change, is what may actually lead to change. When you accept the mosquito bite and stop itching, that is when it will finally disappear. In session you will learn how to stop avoiding, denying, and struggling with your inner emotions- and, instead, learn to accept that these deeper feelings are appropriate responses to life's situations. Through this perspective, you will actually be able to move forward. With this understanding, clients begin to internally accept their hardships and commit to making necessary changes in their behavior, regardless of what is going on in their external lives. It's a way of making change by not forcing change.
Existential Therapy
Existential therapy focuses on free will, philosophy, responsibility, self-determination, and the search for meaning—often centering on the individual rather than on symptoms. The approach emphasizes a person's capacity to make rational choices and to develop their maximum potential. It’s an empowering approach for individuals who feel they have lost meaning in their lives, that life has no meaning (nihilism), or feel they have no control over the circumstances that happen to them. It’s often useful for clients who experience existential threat or dread when security and identity are in jeopardy. In session we will explore your philosophies on life, and will develop arguments for and against authentic meaning and purpose. It’s a journey of finding your truth, and will enable you to reach your best self. Once you understand your potential, how much power you have in choice, of how far you can go in life, and how unique your purpose is, you will feel strengthened and able to succeed. We will work on achieving your goals. As a consequence, you will start to believe in yourself, as often people do not realize how much they are capable of until they succeed in action. Existential therapy posits a certain philosophy, that no matter what you face in life- adversity, suffering, even death- if you choose to have true meaning and purpose, nothing can harm you. Nietzsche once said “He who has a why can bear any how”. If you have a why, a purpose that you believe in, you will be able to face the most difficult of things in life. In summary, Existentialism states that you choose how to respond to life, so choose wisely.
My 8 Approaches
Exposure Therapy
Even though there are differing schools of thought in regards to therapy, all agree on one central truth. Voluntary exposure to what you are afraid of is curative. This is the essence of exposure therapy. It is the act of building enough courage to face what you are afraid of, voluntarily, so that you can move past your fears and reach your goals. It is the essence of the human story- facing adversity in the hopes of achieving greatness. If you are afraid of something, great, the first step is recognizing what is causing you anxiety. Once recognized, we will slowly and systematically desensitize you to your fears by (1) using CBT to alter your perception of the feared object and (2) by gradually exposing yourself to the fear. In essence, we aren’t trying to get rid of your anxiety. If anything, that is the worst way to deal with anxiety. Instead we will help you in building enough courage to face your fear…while you are afraid of it. If that sounds scary, and crazy, good. The scarier the better. We are going to show anxiety that we aren’t afraid of him. That we don’t have to be afraid of having negative feelings. That it’s ok to have anxiety. That we can embrace him, have those negative feelings, and be able to step forward anyways. If this sounds overwhelming, remember two things. (1) You are stronger than you know and (2) we will expose you gradually at a pace that is comfortable for you. Imagine what you would be doing if you can get past your anxiety. Imagine the opportunities you can seize, and the sights you can reach. Exposure therapy states that this is all possible, if you are willing to face your fears.
Narrative Exposure Therapy
Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET) is a treatment speacilized for trauma. Trauma happens when an anomalous event challenges the way we see the world. When an event happens that we don’t expect or desire, our anxiety systems start firing. It tells us two things. (1) We never expected this to happen so that means we need to update how we see the world and (2) you should doubt how good you are at seeing the world because you never saw this coming. In a nutshell, your brain is trying to tell you that (1) you fell in a pit, so we have to figure out how to not fall into pits anymore and (2) you should doubt your ability to see and avoid pits in the future since you weren't able to see this coming. If the trauma is left unresolved or unprocessed, your anxiety systems will not stop bothering you. It will keep bugging you until you process what happened and are able to fit the trauma into an understandable narrative. It fears that your understanding of the world is outdated, and won't stop until it's convinced otherwise. NET will help you go back to the trauma, make sense of it, learn from it, compartmentalise, and contextualize it so that you can move forward. Once you make a clear narrative of the trauma and have a good understanding of what happened in your past, your anxiety systems will be satisfied and dissipate. You will start to trust your perceptual systems, and will be able to go out into the unknown with confidence.
Positive Psychology
In 1543, Copernicus made an amazing discovery. Up until that point, most believed that the sun and nearby planets revolved around the Earth. Through his research Copernicus discovered that the planets, including the Earth, actually revolved around the Sun. This might not seem like big news today, but at the time was a radical discovery that shook up what most had believed. The experience you will have when learning about Positive Psychology will be somewhat similar. Most believe that in order to be happy, one must be successful. I can’t be happy until I make more money, until I find love, until I graduate, until I make more friends, until I this, until I that… we believe that happiness only comes after success, and that it may actually be a good thing to push off happiness until we are successful. Positive Psychology says “Wrong! We have it backwards.” Happiness does not revolve around success, success revolves around happiness. It’s very similar to “The Law of Attraction”. The more we think positively, the more positive things we are likely to attract. When we are happy, when we are in a good state of mind, success will follow. Because of this, Positive Psychology will focus on building your current strengths instead of focusing on repairing your weaknesses. We will focus on your own positive experiences, your positive states and traits, and how to best foster positive environments in order to attract success.
Client Centered Therapy
Client centered therapy assumes that you are the expert of your own life and gives you the freedom to choose what is important to speak about in session. It’s a non-directive approach where you actively take the reins during each session, while I act more of a guide, a mirror to best help you reflect and understand yourself in a clearer light. No one appreciates a therapist who completely takes over a session with interpretations and agendas. Instead, you steer the ship, there’s no agenda and no rush. It assumes that no other person’s ideas could be as valid as your own, and that exploring your experiences in a supportive, non-judgemental environment is necessary in order to achieve a positive therapy experience for you. Throughout our sessions, you will be provided with enough space to process, explore, and come to your own conclusions. It’s your session, you decide how to manage it and where it should go.