Test run
Buy a session and see how you feel. There are a lot of people doing psychotherapy in New York City. Would you want this person in the car on a trip cross country? Do you feel pulled toward aliveness? Do you have hope? Fit is the interplay of inner worlds, yours and the therapist’s. Ask yourself how the call and response is going.
Burnt Out vs. Experience
We all want someone who knows everything about us already so we don’t have to explain it one more time. And we all want to be our unique, irreplaceable self. You want someone who can read a map, not someone who thinks she’s already seen where you’re headed. I can assure you that given the infinite variety of human experience, no one has every been where you’re headed.
Know-it-all vs. Humble
Psychodynamic therapists know a process of inquiry. They have that down cold. They don’t know the answers, they know how to find the answers. Some say we know the questions and you know the answers. In a good treatment, there are surprises: things that feel absolutely authentic and true that you’ve never voiced before.
Head, Heart and Guts
CBT is a “head” therapy. It deals with thoughts. Emotion-focused therapy is just that. How you feel is king. Your gut feelings you probably farm out to your internist. Psychodynamic therapy listens to all three. You are a self with a brain living inside a body. Look at the whole picture, not a crop.
To learn more or schedule a consult, call (212) 929-9897 or email elizabeth.singer406@gmail.com.
