EMDR Therapists in Upper East Side, New York, NY

As a therapist, my goal is to create a warm, safe, non-judgmental space for my clients’ self-discovery and healing. I support my clients as they build on their intrinsic skills and strengths so that they can navigate through difficult periods and life transitions in ways that foster growth and well-being. I believe that the strongest therapeutic relationships are built from trust, respect, transparency, empathy and equality. I counsel from a place of kindness, understanding and compassion through an anti-racist and anti-oppressive lens.

My goal as a psychotherapist is to help you live a deliberate, self-actualized, and peaceful life. We all struggle with anxiety and depression at times. We push people away when we want them close, we act contrary to our best interest and don't know why. I can help illuminate patterns of behaviors and beliefs that impede your ability to reach your potential. Together, we can identify those invisible forces that drive your behavior and cause stagnation, pain, broken relationships, and missed opportunities. I take an anti-oppressive lens and provide space to explore the corrosive impact of external influences (ie: caste, race, gender)

You’ve tried talk therapy but it hasn’t been very effective. You still feel anxious, on-edge, and overwhelmed most of the time and you just feel so stuck. You still feel depleted at work, stagnant in your relationships, and just generally on-edge. You’re looking for a different approach that’s goes deeper and creates lasting change. You’re tired of putting in all the work to feel better but only getting a temporary fix. I’m a somatic therapist and I help clients access trauma stored in both the mind and body, so they can actually feel better and for good.

I am a seasoned Clinical Psychologist with over 15 years of clinical experience. I have extensive experience treating individuals with depression, anxiety, OCD, trauma, substance abuse, relationship & job performance issues, grief & loss. I use evidenced based treatment modalities; trained in ERP, EMDR, CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, Solution Focused, Interpersonal, holistic, & psychodynamic therapies. My approach is eclectic. I tailor each session to your individual needs. I am a certified Yoga instructor, use breath work to help clients w/the mind body connection & assist them to a path of improved functioning and better quality of life.

Welcome! I am an EMDR-trained therapist working to help individuals navigate the transitions of early adulthood, parenting, relationships, and mental health struggles to heal from traumatic experiences and achieve their goals. I believe in the power of EMDR therapy to bring lasting change and transformation through working with clients to process and integrate past experiences, resolve current problems, and enhance future potential. In addition to EMDR, I also practice a variety of other evidence-based therapies that I have used over the past 17 years to help clients improve their overall mental health.

I work with people who are curious about their own lives and are interested in knowing themselves better, often in the hope of increasing self-esteem and gaining more control over the choices they make. The work of therapy can be invaluable in findng new ways of living and relating especially when anxiety and fear cut off possibilities and keep a person feeling stuck. While I don't believe in cookie cutter approaches to therapy, I find than many clients benefit from challenging negative self-talk, learning to listen to their bodies, and investigating unwanted patterns that persist in their lives. I've trauma training including EMDR.

Do you have trouble figuring out what you truly want in life, or how to get it? Do you struggle to understand why you act, speak, or feel as you do? Do you fear that you may not always make good decisions? Maybe you are often overwhelmed by strong emotions—or maybe you have a difficult time feeling anything at all. Maybe it seems like there is something essential missing from your life: intimacy, confidence, vitality, motivation, self-compassion, growth, peace. Maybe you have lost touch with who you really are, or maybe you want to know yourself more deeply. Therapy can help.

Welcome! I’m so happy you’re here. It’s my goal to make the therapy process feel as easy & comfortable as possible. I give you the space to heal whether you need a little extra support or are in a time of major transition. I specialize in supporting you in navigating relationships, dating, complex family dynamics, career stressors, & if you simply don’t know where to begin but know you want to feel better. I use a directive, empowering, & nonjudgemental approach to help identify patterns that no longer serve you and help you get “unstuck”. I will always be real with you and support you through warmth, empathy, and humor.

I have had significant success helping clients deal with issues such as relationships, loss, aging, trauma, body image, career development, stress management, depression, anxiety, illness, personal growth and what I call "behavioral decluttering", ( illiminating old and unwanted behaviors). My style as a therapist is to help clients identify those areas of their lives which are most troubling and then develop specific goals to ensure that therapy produces important life changing results. The ultimate goal is for clients to eventually serve as their own therapists, applying what they learned in therapy to lead more fulfilling lives.

These are not easy times and so many of us are feeling anxious and overwhelmed. You may be feeling isolated, disconnected in your relationships, or struggling in your career. Through it all, connection is what grounds us, and therapy is based on connection. Let’s figure out together where you are stuck, where you've lost your way, and what gets in the way of warmth and closeness with the people who matter to you the most. During our time together, I will be present in an actively collaborative way as we figure out how to clear a path to the life you want.

Life is full of challenges! And while we work through and overcome many obstacles that come our way, there are times when we feel too overwhelmed to manage them on our own. Challenges can take many forms, whether as trauma, anxiety, depression, regular self-criticism, shame, processing a loss, or conflict with someone important in our lives. These forms of suffering deserve kindness, understanding, and support. The right guidance can help us move through and decrease these symptoms so we can feel greater contentment and connection.

What’s keeping you from living the life you envision? Let’s figure that out together. Everyone can benefit from counseling to get through a rough time, a life transition, relationship difficulties or a break-up, a job loss or big promotion, present and past traumas, family conflict, aging, imposter syndrome, self-doubt, difficulty with boundaries, and more. If you’re willing to uncover what's getting in your way, I can help you break through barriers, let go of what weighs you down, develop better coping skills, tap into your strengths, and live more authentically.

Stress, depression, and anxiety can take its toll and cause a person to feel that they are not living up to their potential. My job as a licensed psychotherapist is to be the facilitator for your change, to help you harness your strengths, and provide you with the tools to lead you to success. Working together, you will learn how to become stronger, healthier, more positive and how to make informed decisions.

I specialize in children, adolescents and adults. I help couples assess divorce,or remaining together, during times of crisis when assistance is necessary to maintain a long term relationship. Other areas of specialty: anxiety, depression, mourning, anger management, parenting skills, separation. I am familiar with 12-step work. I enjoy working with people of all ages.

With over 20 years of experience as a psychotherapist I have worked with both inpatient and outpatient populations in Luxembourg, New York, Berlin and India. After specializing in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) in Belgium through my PhD coursework, I moved to New York where I specialized in Gestalt Therapy and EMDR and built a private practice. In my career I have provided psychotherapy to a variety of populations, mainly clients working through cultural transitions , addictions, anxiety, phobia, depression, personality disorders, relationship issues, life transitions and domestic violence.

Something happened – something scary and overwhelming – and life hasn’t been the same since. You find yourself avoiding close relationships or social events because you just can’t tolerate the fear that they trigger. You notice that you’re much more reactive than you used to be – loud noises, sudden movements, unexpected events – they all provoke a burst of anxiety. And no matter your intention, no matter how much time passes, you keep reacting, you stay hypervigilant, you look for danger everywhere. When this goes on for some time, it’s easy to become despondent, overwhelmed, and exhausted. This doesn’t feel okay – not anymore.

I really enjoy working with people who want to be helped with painful feelings and experiences that have interfered with their sense of well being. All of us are limited by upsettingly negative emotions that make it harder to accomplish things that would make our lives richer, more comfortable and secure. I base my work on the principles of Mindfulnes Based Cognitive Behavior Therapy. This approach has been shown to be very successful helping anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, phobias and many other individual and relationship issues. Like most experienced therapists, I also integrate ideas from other approaches whenever appropriate.

Ling “Joanna” Li is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a 50 hour basic trained EMDR practitioner. She received her Masters in Social Work from the University at Buffalo SUNY. Ling is trained in Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral therapy (CBT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She is in the process of pursuing her Certification in EMDR which means she is investing additional time, resources and effort into advancing her EMDR skills. Ling is licensed to practice in New York. Ling is a strong advocate for her clients and their well-being.

Very experienced, intuitive and caring therapist, working in a non-judgmental, holistic framework to meet your needs. I provide support for individuals and couples at all life-stages. We approach the process as a partnership to reduce anxiety and create growth and we work together to rediscover, heal and empower your best self. My unique process utilizes several proven therapeutic modalities and provides easy and effective tools specifically tailored for you to use outside of our sessions. Starting with where you are now we look to understand what works and what doesn't to move towards growth and fulfillment.