Psychologist and Psychoanalyst

Therapy is an intensely private and personal exploration of what’s going on in a person’s life. It’s hard to describe my approach, because it’s probably different for everyone I’ve worked with.

When people call, I invite them to an initial consultation where they can give me an “audition” and decide whether to stay in a more lengthy treatment.

I see some people two or three times, and others for much longer periods. I provide therapy on a weekly basis or more often, but do not provide therapy every other week.

My clients range in age from 13 to 82 years of age. Most of my clients come to me with the depression, anxiety, adjustments and losses that effect us all.

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, I have tried to see people in person as much as possible. It is necessary to have been fully vaccinated to see me in person. I also provide “zoom therapy”, as well as a mix of in
person and zoom meetings. I prefer to see people in person when possible.

Psychoeducational Testing

Testing is a specialized niche for psychologists and educators, and one of the challenges in testing for learning disabilities is to isolate areas of processing difficulty, and point out the ways in which people compensate for these areas of difficulty.

People “compensate” for their difficulties: for example, a person who struggles to read fluently is likely to be a person with a very strong memory for what he/she hears in the classroom.

A person who works inefficiently is likely to be very resilient and hardworking, and to not give when they struggle. While a student with a learning disability may suffer in the formal setting of a classroom, they tend to develop skills
that carry them strongly into adult life, where success and failure are not measured by tests where every student is measured with the same measuring tape.

A comprehensive psycho-educational evaluation takes approximate 7 hours, spread over two to four meetings. It involves IQ testing, memory and learning, attention and concentration, and educational skills.

A first group of people come to me for testing to gain a clear diagnosis of their difficulties, or their children’s.

A second group come to me to gain accommodations in school and on standardized tests. Sometimes a partial evaluation will suffice.

N-648 Exemptions

A final group presents in search of an exemption to the U.S. Citizenship test, which involves completion of the N-648 form to gain this exemption. This group requires only a brief assessment of one or two hours.

Individual Psychotherapy & Psychological Testing NYC

People go into therapy for different reasons; difficult relationships, medical conditions, anxiety and depression, the process of getting older, and the desire to meet life’s goals, just to name a few.

I believe that people are the “experts” in their own lives. This may not be how they feel in the first meeting, but the process of therapy should help one find strength in themselves, make courageous choices, and take risks in
their lives.

Learning Disability Diagnosis NYC

Learning-disabled children usually know that something is hard for them. Typically, they believe they struggle academically because they are are either “stupid” or “not trying”. It’s heartbreaking to talk to a child
with a learning disability who has already acquired this label.

Children benefit from testing because it “de-mystifies” them. They learn the real reasons for their struggle. Testing leads to strategies to “work around” a learning disability, and shows how a child has already “compensated”
for their learning disability” (often by becoming unusually capable in other subject areas).