Psychoanalytic Therapists in SoHo, New York, NY

Psychoanalytic therapy is often maligned in popular media but it remains for me one of the few treatments that seeks to address the innermost, often hidden, parts of ourselves. Psychological symptoms are not only a source of suffering, they are also a message that speaks to desires, conflicts, and pain, wrought by a personal history that can sometimes only come alive when spoken to a professional listening other. The flip-side of anxiety is always a passionate dream that has not been encountered as such. I see my work as bringing my clients closer to that possibility. The intimacy of speaking and listening is rare and a gift.

My eclectic approach includes, but is not limited to working from a psychodynamic, modern psychoanalytic, and relational perspective—incorporating cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based modalities as needed. I specialize in working with adults, couples, and families on various different topics. My practice focuses on cultivating a strong therapeutic relationship which is at the utmost importance in order to provide a safe environment to build upon your own narrative.

As a clinician I listen closely and carefully for the ideas, experiences, and patterns that shape your relationships to work, sex, romance, family, friends, and creativity. I strive to foster an environment that is safe, reliable, and non-judgmental, and where a range of thoughts and feelings-from the most uncomfortable to those that are pleasurable-can be expressed. I work with individuals of diverse backgrounds and identifications. I have years of experience working with adults, adolescents, and children in talk and play therapies.

Most of our psychological pain and misery, our inhibitions and limitations in achieving a satisfying life, are the result of primitive anxieties that we carry within ourselves since the very time we were, indeed, really helpless. The psychoanalytic encounter allows one to become wiser and assume more responsibility towards oneself and toward others one lives with, cares for or simply meets in everyday life. It is a method that concentrates on the "Here and Now" and tries to free the mind from old -- and, usually, no longer all that helpful -- ways that we use to defend ourselves from pain.

I use a contemporary psychoanalytic approach to address a variety of issues by engaging with and honoring each person's unique history, internal experience, and personal and cultural circumstances. I work with people from many different backgrounds who find themselves struggling in their lives: those who feel stuck or stalled in approaching a crossroads, those who can't get past what has happened or are going through something too big to bear alone, those who know where they want to be but can't seem to get there, and those too anxious or depressed even to look ahead.

You have the potential to move beyond where you are right now. Working with an understanding psychotherapist will help you get there. Together we will look honestly at the events that have occured in your life and that you are currently struggling with. I will help you to recognize and handle your feelings so that you are not alone or overwhelmed by them. Whether you have suffered a great loss, have difficulty with relationships, employment, academics, parenting, self-esteem, anxiety, sadness or are feeling an overall sense of being stuck, we will work towards you living as a stronger and more satisfied person.

Personal difficulties and the inner conflicts that often accompany them may present a challenge to what we understand of our identities, relationships, and personal histories. Through the work of speaking about our desires and difficulties in the presence of an attentive, skilled listener these conflicts can often reveal previously hidden truths that drive our everyday experiences. Psychoanalytic psychotherapy provides a space for confidential, non-judgmental listening and relating to the unique aspects of your experience, to help you work through conflicts.

I offer a psychoanalytic environment for people who are in pain and who are asking for help. A psychoanalytic environment is a place where your life really matters. Specifically, I offer help for people who have exhausted common sense and reassurance as ways of surviving life. Psychoanalysis is an environment in which you are invited to speak freely in a way that you cannot speak anywhere else. A place where your life really matters is a place that facilitates your freedom of thought, speech and feeling, a place where the unknown in you can appear.

All humans struggle. It is the human condition. Though, to admit, talk about, work on or through complexities is typically met with resistance. I am open, authentic and experienced. For more than 20 years I have worked with people of all ages with varying troubles. I am calm, kind and down to earth and know from experience that I can gain relief and resolution collaboratively with anyone. I am a psychodynamically trained psychotherapist, which enables me to work with any problem/s that one may be having; and without a doubt changes for the better happen daily!

I am a psychodynamic clinician working with adults and older adolescents. If you encounter problems in relationships, work, or other areas of your life, I can provide an empathic, experienced perspective to help you more fully understand the current issues, and to see if there are patterns outside of your awareness that are contributing to your difficulties. I address deeper causes of anxiety and depression, that are usually related to personal history. I see the aim of treatment as increased self-understanding and change.

Beginning therapy, although challenging, can be a real opportunity to better understand yourself and your choices. and ultimately improve your overall quality of life. By exploring our feelings, thoughts, and repeating patterns more closely, one gains insight and can be more mindful and mobilized to change. I am a clinical psychologist who is dedicated to working with adults, both individuals and couples, and committed to better understanding and challenging that which is getting in the way of more meaningful relationships with yourself and others.

Sometimes life's challenges can cause us to feel overwhelmed, stuck, and unfulfilled in different areas of our lives. I work closely with you to create a supportive therapeutic space where we can safely explore your thoughts and feelings, overcome obstacles, and build a path towards a more fulfilling life for you.

Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy is a unique practice of listening to the unconscious undertones of life: what one wants, and what gets in the way of achieve it. As a tool to understand what our bodies and minds are communicating through anxiety, addiction and repetitive patterns, talk therapy can build links and bring to the foreground what has been kept hidden or secret. By understanding the function and survival mechanism of our defenses, and by connecting free-associative speech to our desires, we are given a new choice as to what we want to hold on to, and what we can let go of.

Do you feel isolated in emotional pain and confused about how to begin to address it? Do you feel alone and misunderstood in your relationships? I am a licensed psychotherapist and psychoanalyst in private practice for nineteen years. I have worked with a full spectrum of struggles to achieve fulfillment, overcome fears and trauma as well as reaching self-fulfillment and meaning. I have held clinical leadership positions at St. Luke's Hospital in New York and served as Clinical Field Instructor for Columbia University and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Miami Department of Psychiatry.

No matter how fortunate you may be, still human life is difficult. Despite your best efforts, at times life's stresses can be too much: you may be overwhelmed. Hurt, fear, guilt, anger, shame, grief: feeling bad can alert you to where the trouble lies, or add to your emotional burdens. Confusion, isolation, loneliness, restlessness, worry, despair, or addictive attempts to find relief - all of these painful states are attempts to ward off problems or fix what's wrong, but they can also make things worse.

I am a seasoned therapist treating adults struggling with relationships, anxiety, depression, life transitions, and personal goals. My specialities lie in familial conflict and trauma, women's mental health, and perinatal/parenting difficulties. I provide therapy for those seeking to minimize stress and discomfort, while working to build a deeper understanding of who they are. Together, we will navigate the challenges you are experiencing and dive deep in finding what works for you. I provide a warm, nurturing environment, while encouraging you to challenge yourself where you need to.

Some of our problems may seem evident to us, easy to think and talk about. Others may have remained stubbornly elusive, sometimes for years, sometimes for as long as we can remember. Overcoming these problems can be exceedingly difficult. Psychotherapy proceeds on the understanding that insight into these problems can be developed in dialogue with another. Psychotherapists are essentially attuned, nonjudgmental, basically optimistic and trustworthy consultants.

My name is Stephen McNulty. I'm a Licenced Clinical Social Worker and a psychoanalytically trained psychotherapist. I'm a graduate of New York University and hold an advanced Certificate in Clinical Social Work. I'm also a graduate of the Washington Square Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy.

I believe therapy works through gaining greater self knowledge. We all have parts of ourselves that we don't recognize, don't understand or simply feel we cannot change. These ideas or feelings can lead to depression, anxiety, fear, and stress, as well as difficulties in romantic, family and social relationships, work life and creative expression. I provide a protected space to explore these complicated ways of being. Through skilled and empathic listening and thoughtful feedback, I can work with you to recognize what is causing the difficulties in your life, and to understand how you can grow into a more fulfilling way of living.