Mental health difficulties can lead to despair, but with therapy they can also begin a transformational journey...

Come to therapy as you are

Psychotherapy is a professionally guided conversation. There is no need to worry about what to say in this conversation, although people often do. All one needs to bring to therapy sessions is themselves. You deserve to be heard and to and have someone help you find out what is causing you or your child pain. Even if it takes much time for us to find the words to adequately explain what is happening. Psychotherapists are trained to listen, to help people put words to what they are trying to say and to begin to help find meaning in what can seem meaningless. Find help for depression, anxiety, stress, life transitions, conflict, anger and most other problems in living.

mental health PROBLEMS HAVE MEANING

Emotional and behavioral problems can feel embarrassing and yet they play a critical role! They are a mind and a body's way of managing distress. It is very unfortunate that these types of problems tend to be stigmatized. They should be understood as merely another type of pain or health problem as one would a broken limb or an infection. There is a significant reason that the problems are happening. Together in individual and/or group counseling we will learn how to understand, cope and move beyond them. Putting the pieces together one by one until things become more comprehensible.

A Patient and Skilled Therapist

With over 25 years counseling experience and training, Nathaniel Smith, LCSW-R brings a nuanced and complex understanding of human behavior and need in adult or child psychotherapy. A licensed clinical social worker, R privilege, (LCSW-R) he carries the highest level of accreditation for psychotherapists from this educational background. Services are therefore reimbursable from all insurance companies that provide compensation for mental health services. (Network restrictions may apply, some in-network services available) He has trained with some of the most advanced post-graduate clinical programs in Manhattan after completing formal bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Brown and Catholic Universities. Learn more here.

TRAUMA, LOSS and GRIEF counseling and treatment

Human beings are remarkably resilient in their ability to cope and even to thrive despite devastating experiences. In certain circumstances, however, these misfortunes can be too much to bear without the specialized help of a psychologist. The timing of if and when we need to or are ready to work on these problems with a professional in treatment can vary tremendously. There is no one right time for anyone to come to counseling.

psychotherapy for PHASES OF LIFE

Some problems are more common within and in combination with certain phases of life. The stress of the stage of life one is in can be a problem in itself or combine with other problems to make them more challenging. Young or emerging adults often face struggles with finding roles with careers, forming relationships and beginning families. More senior adults with endings, diminished health and establishing a new way of life.  Each phase brings stress which can have an inordinate impact given various variables.

  Lifestyles and WAYS OF LIFE

Certain ways of life and lifestyles can be harder to live than others. Like the stress associated with phases of life, they can call for extra help on their own or be exacerbated by other problems.  The stresses of ever increasing demands on our time and the rapid changes of society and technology can at times make a balanced life seem unattainable. Ways of life that are not as common as those around us can lead to insufficient support from the community and society at large, increasing the need for assistance. 

THEORIES AND TECHNIQUES    

When trying to find quick relief to distressing symptoms the treatment can focus on expanding coping mechanisms or the explanation of cognitive-behavioral techniques.  At other times what is called for is a deeper listening to the nuances of injuries from the past or to aspects of oneself of which one is only dimly aware. Psychodynamic or psychoanalytically informed methods are more often used to heal problems of longer duration. I have found that I need to integrate these and other theories and techniques in both individual and group therapy in order to meet the wide variety of needs people have in psychotherapy.

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