Psychotherapy

Why therapy?

Something isn't working the way you'd like.

Moshe Novakoff, L.C.S.W., seated in an armchair

Most people come to therapy because something isn't working the way they'd like. They may feel anxious or depressed, find themselves repeating painful patterns in relationships, struggle with self-esteem or intimacy, feel stuck professionally, or simply sense that something is missing. Sometimes a specific problem brings you in; sometimes the difficulty is more existential. Either way, therapy is a place to look at what's troubling you with intention and care.

Our work attends not only to what's happening in your life now, but to the deeper patterns that shape your experience; many of which took root early in life and now operate outside your awareness. As those patterns come into focus, they begin to lose their grip. The aim isn't only to solve problems; it's to arrive at a freer, more authentic sense of yourself, with a larger capacity for living and loving.

You don't need a diagnosis, or to be in crisis, to begin. What matters is a willingness to turn toward your own experience — to trust that there is more beneath the surface than you already know, and that it's worth exploring.

What changes

Closing the gap between how you appear on the outside and how you feel on the inside.

Many people feel that gap. Closing it is much of what we do together. This runs deeper than learning techniques to manage symptoms: it is a different relationship with yourself.

Difficult emotions

become easier to bear, without needing to flee them or be overwhelmed.

Relationships

grow more genuine, boundaries clearer, decisions less paralyzing.

Yourself

Your feelings and desires become more available to you, and you begin to feel more like yourself.

Psychotherapy

The concerns people bring

People come to me with a wide range of concerns — and with difficulties that resist an easy name.

  • Anxiety and depression
  • Relationships and intimacy
  • Trauma and loss
  • Questions of identity
  • Sexuality
  • Spirituality and meaning
  • Difficulties that resist an easy name
  • Existential issues

Beginning

A willingness to turn toward your own experience.

Whether you're considering therapy, psychoanalysis, or supervision, I'd be glad to hear from you.

Contact

I'd love to hear from you.

Practising with adults in New York and California. Enquiries by phone, email, or the form.

Telephone
480 334 9653
Locations
New York & California

This form is not monitored continuously and is not a substitute for emergency care. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.