Talk therapy in NYC?

March 29, 2012 7:40 PM

Looking for a great talk therapist in Brooklyn.

I've resisted it for a long time but I think it's finally time for me to get into talk therapy as an adult. I tried with a few different therapists during adolescence but never found a therapist whose style I clicked with and didn't have the resources/autonomy to find someone more compatible. Now I do.

The therapy style that strikes me as ideal is similar to the therapist in In Treatment (caveat: I only watched the first season and obviously I'm not talking about any of the questionable medical ethics stuff, just the style of therapy!). I'm very analytical and I'm looking for someone who can help me unpack what's going on with me. Not necessarily specific advice (e.g. "write a letter to your ex", advice I've gotten from a therapist before) but definitely offering feedback and insights (as opposed to a past therapist whose method was to sit in total silence waiting for me to speak).

The issues that I'm looking to discuss are mostly relationship related, not specific relationships but more to do with the way that I interact with people in my life, especially in romantic relationships. Some of those relationships have been non-traditional/kinky so it's important to me to work with someone who won't view those relationships as intrinsically dysfunctional because they're not the norm. I've also dealt with mild depression and anxiety for most of my life but am not interested in being medicated.

I'd really appreciate personal recommendations for therapists in Brooklyn or lower Manhattan, as well as any keywords or terms you might use to describe the style of therapy I'm looking for (so I can search more effectively for myself). Here's a throwaway email: [e-mail]

posted by anonymous to Human Relations (3 answers total)

You might like to see a Jungian analyst or at least someone with a background in depth psychology. Good luck. The right match is essential.
posted by tacoma1 at 11:54 PM on March 29, 2012

I unfortunately can't help you out RE: specific therapists more than the standard advice to check Psychoogy Today et al... However, I can say that it sounds like you're looking for a more psychodynamic-interpersonal therapy rather than a cognitive-behavioral therapy, if you like the style of therapy practiced by Paul! I know Weill-Cornell, Columbia, and NYU medical centers all have strong psychodynamic/psychoanalytic programs in their psychiatry sections. As per your concerns about your therapist who "[sat] in total silence," I would avoid psychoanalysts (great as many of them are), though, unless they identify as being more relational/interpersonal in orientation or profess to practice dynamic therapy in addition to analysis. In theory, a dynamic therapy (especially "brief dynamic therapy" or "short-term dynamic psychotherapy") is going to be more active and focused while still centering on the kinds of questions, interventions, and interactions.

Feel free to MeMail you have any more questions?
posted by Keter at 8:58 AM on March 30, 2012

Gabriel Byrne (or his character) would call himself a psychoanalyst, as would whoever gave you the silent treatment, so it's not that easy. What's more, practically every therapist I know would either claim to work like Byrne or to improve on him. Recommending therapists is something like fixing someone up on a date, and thus is hard to do, since each relationship is unique. Someone who is great with one person may not be great with another. One size does NOT fit all.

That said, I asked someone whose style of working I like who they'd recommend in Brooklyn and she gave me an actual name. Ann Eisenstein. [phone]. I don't know Ann but I trust the recommender.

Good luck and feel free to MeMail me to discuss.
posted by Obscure Reference at 11:42 AM on March 30, 2012 [1 favorite]