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OCD: Not Just About Cleaning
By Hannah O'Grady, LCSW When you conjure about images of OCD, what comes to mind for you? Do you think of someone excessively cleaning, washing their hands dozens of times a day, organizing and re-organizing items around their home? While a focus on cleanliness and...
A Parent’s Guide for Managing Your Child’s Anxiety
By Rena Sidlow, PsyD Navigating childhood anxiety can be a challenge not just for children, but for their parents as well. As a caregiver, it is crucial to understand how to manage your child’s anxiety effectively and appropriately in order to foster resilience,...
Back to School Anxiety
By Yulia Gorokhovsky, PsyD The end of summer can bring a mix of emotions for everyone. Some may feel sadness as the days grow shorter and routines become more structured, while others might be excited about the changes fall brings. For students, whether in elementary...
The Benefits of Group Therapy: Why It Works
The Benefits of Group Therapy: Why It Works By Shmaya Krinsky, PsyD In today's fast-paced world, mental health challenges are more common than ever. Many people struggle with anxiety, depression, addiction, relationship issues, and other emotional difficulties. While...
Echelon: A Customized Approach to Get Back on Course!
By Christy Clark, PhD Many patients do, at some point, need a higher level of care than standard outpatient treatment, but they don’t want or need the options afforded by inpatient, residential or partial hospital programs. Although it may be hard to believe, the...
It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to!
By Melissa Bloom, MBA, MA We greet others by asking “how are you”. Nine times out of ten, we will likely receive a polite nonverbal acknowledgement or a simple “good, and yourself” as a response back. This predictable formality has become the standard for how we greet...
All About DBT for Adolescents
By Mia Drury, BA Growing up isn’t easy! Our teenage years can be especially challenging as we navigate big emotions, formative experiences, and family and peer relationships. Since adolescence is such a unique period in our lives, it is vital for therapy to be...
Navigating Growth: A Reflection on my Pre-Doctoral Internship Experience at CFA
By Jane Persaud, MS Embarking on my pre-doctoral internship experience at Center for Anxiety was both nerve-racking and exciting. Coming from a PhD program that specialized in treating children and adolescents, I experienced some anxiety about having a caseload of...
Why an Apple a Day Might Actually Keep the Doctor Away
By Hannah O'Grady, LMSW I know, I know, you’ve heard it all before: take your meds, sleep 7-9 hours per night, an apple a day keeps the doctor away, etc. etc. Most of us can recite these recommendations in our sleep, and I personally can’t remember the last time I...
COVID-19 and Anxiety Treatment Outcomes: Diving into the Data
By Mia Drury, BA With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people reported increased symptoms of anxiety, stress, and depression - myself included. I was entering my senior spring of college, and suddenly sent home, with no guarantee of setting foot on...
Ways to Beat Burnout: Savoring
By Ronald Nicholson, MA With the new year comes a time of reflection and goal setting. One goal that frequently comes up in therapy, or at just about every holiday party whenever you tell someone you are a therapist, is how to deal with burnout. Burnout is the the...
Reclaim Your Holiday Season! A Glimpse into Holiday Anxiety
By J.P Consiglio, LMHC You would assume that when one is wished a "Happy Holidays," it would be met withexcitement, cheer and maybe even a childlike anticipation. This season is commonly perceivedto be one for individuals to look forward to spending time with their...
Team Work Makes the Dream Work
By Abigail Cooper, PhD Coined by John Maxwell in 2002, the saying “teamwork makes the dreamwork,” is just as apt today as it was 20 years ago (sorry to any Millennials who now feel old) and it is just as relevant in the context of mental health care. Teamwork is...
Anxiety – High, Low … or Medium?
By Henry Eff, PsyD Do you wish you could get rid of all of your anxiety? No more racing heart, anxious thoughts, sweaty palms, worries, fears, trepidations, queasy upside-down stomachs? How comforting would it be to have NO anxiety … before an exam during a work...
My Internship at a Glance
By Brad Ahern, MA The first thing that I will say is that the year flew by. I can remember my first day feeling overwhelmed with my own worries about performing well and needing to learn as quickly as I could. Thinking back, I am not sure that was necessary. From day...
Understanding Echelon and Higher Levels of Mental Health Care
Understanding Echelon and Higher Levels of Mental Health Care By Matthew Perlman, PhD While traditional outpatient therapy can be effective for many individuals, there are instances where higher levels of mental healthcare may provide unique benefits. In this post,...
Navigating Transition & Change
By Betsy Brown, LMSW As we enter a new season and our planet moves through a transition, it feels an appropriate time to reflect on the impact of change and ways to effectively navigate and move through our own transitions. On the one hand, transition is a naturally...
The Digital World and Our Minds
Students are more anxious, depressed, and feeling lonelier than ever.
What’s going wrong? Why are students collapsing, despite their freedom from parental constraints, the built-in socialization of dormitories and campuses, and being able to learn what speaks to their interests vs. the “cut and paste” of high school curricula?
The Weather is Better, So Why Do I Feel So Bad?
Students are more anxious, depressed, and feeling lonelier than ever.
What’s going wrong? Why are students collapsing, despite their freedom from parental constraints, the built-in socialization of dormitories and campuses, and being able to learn what speaks to their interests vs. the “cut and paste” of high school curricula?
Why are college students struggling with mental health?
Students are more anxious, depressed, and feeling lonelier than ever.
What’s going wrong? Why are students collapsing, despite their freedom from parental constraints, the built-in socialization of dormitories and campuses, and being able to learn what speaks to their interests vs. the “cut and paste” of high school curricula?
Tips to GIVE your Relationship a Boost
by Brendan Guarino, PsyD Navigating relationships can be a major challenge. Whether it be romantic, family, or a work relationship, nonetheless arguments and disagreements are inevitable. We all have our own opinions, ideologies, and ways of thinking. This is what...
Leadership and Mental Health
by Rebecca A. Steele, PhD What characteristics come to mind when you hear the title 'leader'? Strong? Powerful? How about humble? It takes humility to acknowledge when you might be struggling and need to make changes to address your mental health. John C. Maxwell once...
Walking into the New Year
Walking into the New Year by Christy Clark, PhD, Clinical Site Director Walking into a New Year, try an Acceptance & Commitment Therapy approach—a willingness to notice and name your difficulties, and then harness your values to show up in ways that matter to you!...
The Speaker-Listener Technique
by Noah Hercky, LMFT | Director of Marriage and Family Therapy Of all the communication-improving strategies I’ve seen in my career as a couples therapist, there is perhaps none more helpful than the Speaker Listener Technique, developed by Howard Markman, et al. in...
The Highs and Lows of Being a Therapist
“Let’s go around the room and share our highs and lows from the past week,” my friend stated at last week’s Friday night Shabbat dinner. I was at the end of the table; therefore, my turn was last. When the time arrived for me to answer, my friend with a smirk on his...
New Year, No Fear: How to Manage Back to School Anxiety
by Matthew Perlman, PhD The phrase “back to school” can conjure up quite a few different reactions in students: dread, excitement, or anticipation to name a few. One common feeling associated with the new school year is anxiety. This post is all about handling the...
Validation: The Intersection Between Clinicians and Administrators
by Alex Campos, Patient Care Manager When was the last time you felt truly heard? Truly seen? Can you recall the situation? Likely, it was during a conversation with someone close to you who was able to validate your experience and verbalize their understanding of it....
Lost in oneself: A journey of self-discovery, insight and meaning
By J.P. Consiglio, LMHC Picture this: It’s a cool autumn afternoon. The leaves outside have been turning vibrant reds, yellows and oranges as they fall toward the ground below. Your family is outside, raking the leaves into a perfect pile that they will soon plunge...
Think Like a Team – Strengthening Marital & Family Relationships
By Megan Hiscox, LMHC Navigating family and marital relationships can be challenging. These are the people we spend the most time with and sometimes these are the relationships that struggle the most. Busy schedules can often lead to these relationships becoming last...
A is for Awareness: How to cope with mental health stigma
By Brendan Guarino, MA Stigma refers to the devaluing and shaming of a person or a population due to the characteristics that they possess. Overall, this leads to discrimination and negative social experiences. Stigma can be harmful in many ways, which include: ●...
“I get it, I get you” How to practice validating your struggling teenager
by Thanos Nioplias, LMHC It has been a common observation among parents, teachers and counselors that our teenagers’ mental health has been suffering over the past two years. A combination of the isolation the pandemic brought, constant exposure to electronics and...
5 Tips for Fostering Psychological Safety in the Workplace
By Alexandra Bishop Employee wellbeing has become a buzzword in the workplace – but what are actual steps we can take to implement and foster that kind of environment? One first step is to increase psychological safety in your teams and organization. Psychology...
Failure is Human: Ways to Change our Response to Adversity
by Evan Vida, MA As humans, we are all prone to experiencing failure and the emotions that may accompany it. While this is understandably a difficult experience, we have the benefit of calling upon millennia of wisdom in learning how to cope when we do happen to face...
Navigating an Uncertain Future
The beginning of 2022. A rise in Covid-19 cases starts off another year with more uncertainty after two long years into the pandemic. Many are feeling overwhelmed by the burden on their mental health as we may not see an end in sight. If this resonates with you, you...
Three Tips to Effectively Make Life Changes in 2022
by Devin Massaro, MA One of the most cliché holiday experiences is that of making a New Year’s Resolution only to have it fall to the wayside. You might even experience negative judgements like “why can’t I make this change?” in which case the well-intended resolution...
Lonely but not Alone: Strategies for Making New Friends
by Jackie Zhou, PhD Do you feel lonely despite frequently FaceTiming with your friends? Do you sometimes find a normal conversation with your barista more invigorating than texting your family? Do you enjoy going to a restaurant more than before, not so much because...
Identifying and Managing Burn Out
by Sabrina Romanoff, PsyD Are you feeling cynical at work?Do you lack energy to be productive?Do you feel short-tempered or irritated with co-workers?Do you experience low satisfaction from your accomplishments?Do you dread work and/or have trouble initiating tasks?Do...
Maintaining Resilience
By Hannah O'Grady, LMSW The past year-and-a-half has been difficult. Many of us have overcome hardships never imagined, and our coping skills have been put to the ultimate test. On the bright side, we have built up resiliency – we are better able to weather changes,...
Beach Body Anxiety
By Nicole Drago, LMSW As the heat rises, we tend to be more critical of our body image. The context for this trend is clear: Throughout the summer months the media prompts us to think about attaining a "beach body" while marketing campaigns sell diet pills, workout...
Cooling Off in the Summer Heat
by Shoshana Levie, LCSW Ah, summertime. The season of barbecues, days at the beach, and lots of family togetherness. For many, this can be a restorative and enjoyable eight weeks, when adults’ work schedules are more flexible and kids are home for the summer. However,...
Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs)
Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs) By Barry Eichenbaum Many individuals are familiar with the concept of once weekly therapy sessions. Fewer people are aware that psychotherapy can be delivered in higher “doses” in an expedited amount of time. Known as intensive...
Supporting Kids in a Trying Time
by Rachel Lacks, PhD In the wake and midst of the global pandemic, social interactions have been limited, stress levels have been high, and mental health concerns have been on the rise. It is imperative to be aware of and supporting the mental health of children and...
Spring of 2021 and our Mental Health
by Thanos Nioplias, LMHC After a long winter of social distancing, isolation and several rounds of quarantine, the spring of 2021 has finally sprung! For many, spring and the warm weather that comes with it offer unique opportunities to set new goals, change...
Reflections on a Challenging Year
By Jackie Zhou It’s March again, and “normal” is a distant memory. Some have lost loved ones. Others have lost their jobs. Many have lived with crippling anxiety, and almost all of us have been very stressed out. Unlike other disasters, COVID-19 doesn’t have a...
The Silver Linings of Dating During a Pandemic
By Lisa Chimes, PsyD For those who are single and looking to date, this past year has been particularly stressful. In addition to long seasons of loneliness, the option of dating the “traditional way” is now out of the question for many people, due to health and...
Preventing Burnout
By David Spinka, LCSW Most people pay attention to their mental health only when feeling emotionally dysregulated or depleted. In truth, mental health is so much more than diagnosis and going into a clinic for treatment. Ideally, it is a domain that it relevant for...
Self-Reflection: How We Have Grown from 2020
By Laura Vraney, PsyD As 2021 approaches, one cannot help but reflect on this past year. We have struggled, perhaps like never before – both collectively and individually. In this context, we have also evolved, and grown. Consolidation of growth requires reflection –...
Bringing 2020 Home
By Aliza Shapiro, LCSW The last few weeks of 2020 are officially upon us, and as we mark off the remaining calendar days we may notice ourselves starting to recount and reflect on what we’ve made of this completely unprecedented year. 2020 has not been what anyone...
How to Solve a Problem in Seven Easy Steps
By Dovid Spinka, LMSW Unwanted situations are an inevitable part of life. Fully embracing and radically accepting that fact is a firm basis to managing difficult emotions. Acceptance is especially important when there is nothing we can do, such as when the weather is...
Remaining Connected to Our Co-Workers During Quarantine
By Nikki Eskenasi, PsyD Many of us have been more isolated than ever over the past several months throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to the challenge of spending so much time away from friends and loved ones, it can be particularly hard to remain connected...
Back to School???
By Marcia Kimeldorf, PhD In most years, back to school involves anticipation of new friends, new classes, new school supplies, new books, and new experiences. In some ways, this year is like any other, but in many other ways, it is completely different since “back to...
Adjusting to the “New Normal”
By Shoshana Levie, LCSW Over the last five months, it seemed as though a large majority of conversations began with: “When this is all over, I can’t wait to…” or “I just want to get back to…” Given the considerable upheaval that the global pandemic has caused,...
Coping During a Time of Uncertainty
By Hudi Kowalsky, LMHC Recent events at the global, national and local levels have left many of us feeling uncertain. Our offices and leisure spaces have been shuttered due to COVID-19. We have been forced to spend more time in solitude, and we have been denied many...
COVID-19: From Anxiety to Sadness
By Becca Brodoff, PsyD Over the past few months, I’ve noticed a shift in myself and in my patients. When COVID-19 was first showing up in the U.S., anxiety was running high. Most people were overwhelmed by the uncertainty of the illness and how it would affect them...
Increasing Positive Emotions in the midst of the COVID-19 Crisis
By Staci Berkowitz, Ph.D. We are now in the midst of a COVID-19 crisis. If you are a human on this planet right now, you have likely experienced any number of emotions that are normative reactions to crisis situations, including fear, anxiety, sadness, frustration,...
COVID-19 Anxiety
By David H. Rosmarin, PhD, ABPP Almost overnight, America’s anxiety level has gone through the roof. As media feeds overwhelm us with information that we repeatedly and compulsively check into the late hours of the night. Supermarkets are inundated with customers and...
Bouncing Back from New Year’s Resolution Setbacks
By Dovid Spinka, LMSW “I really should go to the gym this week… After all, I signed up for an annual membership in January and I’m paying a significant amount of money for it.”"I committed to reading every day for a half-hour, but I can count on one hand the number of...
Three Strategies to Reduce and Resist Obsessions
By Rachel Lacks, EdM Do you ever have an itching feeling that you just have to do something, or else thethought of doing it will haunt you? Do you ever feel the need to re-read a sentence inyour book again, or to go back to re-read a whole paragraph, or a whole page?...
Four Things to Do About FOMO
By Nikki Eskenasi, PsyD Throughout the past few years, the phenomenon of FOMO, or the fear of missing out, has plagued many of us at one time or another. In the age of social media, and particularly around the holiday season, we may find ourselves making comparisons...
Giving Thanks: Three Positive Psychology Strategies to Foster Emotional Wellbeing
By Daniel Volk, MA When is the last time you stopped to deliberately think about what is going well in your life? If you can’t remember, you are not alone. We are so often caught up in who we ought to be, where we ought to be, and how things ought to be, that we...
Am I Seeing Things Clearly? A Guide to Thinking-Mistakes That We All Make
By Marcia B. Kimeldorf, PhD “I got a bad grade on my test! I’m such a loser and now I know I’m going to fail the class!” “My boss gave me one low rating on my work evaluation. He has it in for me, and he hates me!” Have you ever had a thought like these? If so,...
Putting the Pieces Together When We Fall Apart
By Anouk Allart, PhD "That's the way the mind works: The human brain is genetically disposed toward organization, yet if not tightly controlled, will link one imagerial fragment to another on the flimsiest of pretense and in the most freewheeling manner, as if it...
Become Your Superhero Self: Four Lessons we can all Learn from Superheros
By Yoni Sobin, PsyD Lesson #1: Origin Stories “A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a little boy’s shoulders to let him know that the world hadn’t ended.” Batman reflected these words at the end of The Dark...
Nature vs. Nurture & Why Validation Matters
By Aliza Shapiro, LMSW The debate of nature versus nurture has long influenced the way that we, as scientists, therapists, and people, understand our unique personalities and our mental health. Marsha Linehan, the founder of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT),...
Depression: Why we can’t “just snap out of it” and what can we do?
By Thanos Nioplias, LMHC Most people believe that the primary symptom of depression is sadness. Even though this perception is somewhat accurate, depression is, in reality, a much more complicated state that includes not only negative emotions but also physiological...
Overcoming Decision Fatigue
By Dovid Spinka, LMSW I have so much to do today! Emails to respond to… Appointments to coordinate… Errands to run… All in addition to things like eating, sleeping, exercise, getting dressed… If you are like most New Yorkers, within the first few minutes of waking up...
Ten Strategies for a Good Night’s Sleep (Without Medication!)
By Ben Johnides, MA Getting a good night’s rest is very important. Sleep helps us maintain the energy and concentration to meet the needs of everyday life. It is also a key factor in regulating our mood: Recent research suggests that improvements in sleep help people...
You’ve Gotta #Hustle: Managing Anxiety in your Career
By Aliza Tropper, LMHC Scrolling through social media you’ve surely noticed an overwhelming amount of content around “hustling” (as if it’s a new trend to push hard at work). Nicely designed graphics, encouraging comments, and creative posts flood our feeds with the...
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