The Metropolis Psychotherapy&Consultancy

a practice offering compassionate and proven psychotherapy
for adults, teens, couples, families, groups
and consultation for organizations seeking enhanced employee engagement,
performance and quality of care.

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What We Treat

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Posttraumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), a type of Anxiety Disorder, can happen after a deeply threatening or scary event. Even if you weren’t directly involved, the shock of what happened can be so great that you have a hard time living a normal life.

People with PTSD can have insomnia flashbacks, low self-esteem, and a lot of painful or unpleasant emotions. You might constantly relive the event — or lose your memory of it altogether.

When you have PTSD, it might feel like you’ll never get your life back. But it can be treated. Short- and long-term psychotherapy and medications can work very well. Often, the two kinds of treatment are more effective together.

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Personality – specific character traits- temperament, emotional reactivity, fairness, interpersonal relations establishment, needs, expectations, stinginess, generosity, arrogance, independence, and others. Typical for a concrete person. formed by early adulthood, persist throughout life 

Imagine: Your mood changes dramatically- despair to excitement (and vice versa) – suddenly and without warning.  Your thoughts spiral uncontrollably too fast to capture. Or else they dry up, leaving you feeling becalmed and empty.  You cannot trust yourself or believe you can exert any influence on other people.  You long for closeness but feel invaded if people get close to you.  You are terrified of being alone but push people away when they do get close. Your only emotional respite is by causing yourself physical pain, abusing substances, bingeing, or getting beaten up. Your relationships are unstable (marked by anger and sometimes also violence) in spite of your frantic attempts to stabilize them.

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ANGER & Interpersonal Conflicts

Therapy offers the tools to help you understand what your triggers are and how to manage your anger. We help you explore the root of your anger, and learn to see the themes and patterns that come up over the course of time. Acting out on anger can feel satisfying since we feel we are reigning in a situation that feels totally out of control, but it rarely achieves the result we want. We work to help you feel empowered by learning ways to recognize your patterns and triggers so we can prevent outbursts and intense emotional reactions. By providing you with strategies and tools to cope with anger,  we help you stop the cycle of rage that can cause you to harm the people you care most about. You will learn when you have control and when you can let go. We will also focus on communication skills to help you assertively communicate what you need to get the end result you are looking for. 

Life changes and stressors can trigger anxiety and depression and stress. They can leave you feeling “stuck.”  We may need help exploring what we feel or want, and other times, we may just need encouragement and support as we learn to just roll with the punches.  When things are hard, it is easy to focus on the negative and forget our own resources and strengths. Our successes may seem diminished and our failure amplified when we feel vulnerable.  But these are the things we need to get in touch with to get out of the negative loop!  Therapy can help you process your feelings, set goals, identify and break unhealthy patterns of thinking and behaviors, and better prepare you for the next journey.

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Anxiety can interfere with living a fulfilling life, whether you are constantly worried about the future and imagining worst-case scenarios, or you find yourself ruminating about mistakes you may have made in the past. Anxiety manifests itself physically, and when the body’s alarm system is constantly firing off,  it’s difficult not to think something may really be seriously wrong. Therapy can teach you about this vicious cycle, and help you learn ways to identify the symptoms as well as the thinking patterns and behaviors that reinforce it. You can also learn mindfulness in addition to breathing and relaxation techniques (DBT) to cope with the anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, and stressed.

For anxiety disorders such as OCD, Panic Attacks, Health Anxiety, Phobias, and Social Anxiety, we can develop a highly structured DBT and Mindfulness, and CBT and treatment plan to help you make progress in a goal-oriented way. The earlier we intervene with panic attacks in particular, the better the chance is for a rapid recovery. Our goal is for you to feel better and make progress each and every session. However, for many people, these disorders are a lifelong battle and recovery is ongoing. To this end, we provide specific supports to promote coping and maintenance throughout treatment and continue treatment for as long as it’s necessary. 

Low Self Esteem: You may have low self-esteem and lack self-confidence as a result of things that have happened to you in the past, or due to the ways you’ve internalized messages directed at you early on in life. Low self-esteem is often connected to perfectionism, and your idea of how you “should” be and all the ways you “fall short.” The good news is that once you become aware of low self-esteem, you can take steps to raise it and feel better about yourself. We can learn to evaluate and challenge our thinking and belief systems that contribute to low self -esteem. We will also learn about ways to change unhealthy behaviors that keep us stuck in the negativity loop. A key goal is also to help you learn to expect and embrace challenges and disappointments so you can better cope with them.  

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We are committed to providing an affirming and safe space for LGBTQ+ identifying individuals, couples, and families to feel seen, heard, and understood. The LGBTQ+ population faces unique challenges related to gender, sexuality, and identity. It’s hard to shake deeply held negative beliefs about yourself, even more so when you are raised in an environment where you are not appreciated or respected for who you are. You may even feel you’ve spent time living a lie or having to hide your true self. Therapists on our team are self-aware, reflective, and informed. We advocate for understanding, awareness, and social change by challenging the biases of heterosexism and binary gender norms.

Even when the issues brought to therapy may have little to do with your gender or sexuality directly, your LGBTQ+ identity may be the source of stress due to stigma and discrimination. We consider the ways your presenting issues may be impacted by your LGBTQ+ identity and help you embrace all parts of yourself while you work to improve your relationships. Our goal is to make you feel better by replacing old or unhelpful patterns of behavior with new ones that will serve you better. You are beautiful the way you are, and one of our caring therapists can help you to learn this truth about yourself.

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The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.

— Michael Altshuler

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Trauma can stem from many types of difficult experiences in life, whether it was a one-time terrible event you suffered from directly or something you witnessed. Trauma from childhood can have long-standing negative emotional and physical effects on an adult.  Regardless of what you went through and how long ago it was, there is hope for your healing and recovery.  Members of our team at a Good Place have extensive experience in creating trauma-informed programming for agencies and communities, and in providing direct services and care to individuals and families suffering from trauma. 

The following are examples of experiences and situations that can be traumatic:

• sexual assault
• physical assault
• medical crisis
• childhood physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
• childhood neglect or emotional neglect
• childhood witnessing domestic violence or other violence
• loss of a primary caregiver
• abusive relationship
• immigration experience
• foster care or homelessness 
• racism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, anti-semitism

Behavioral and therapeutic supports can help you implement lifestyle changes, manage distress, and cope with the emotions and mood changes due to the effects of the trauma. We work from a framework of MBT (Mentalized Based Therapy), DBT, (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy) Psychodynamic Psychoanalytic, Attachment-based psychotherapy approaches, proven methods in trauma treatment, however, we also recognize the complexities of mind, body, social, and spiritual connection.  As such, we value and incorporate other theories of practice, such as mindfulness, and collaborate with providers who offer other methods such as CBT, Medications, and Couching treatments.  Above all,  we do not have a “one size fits all” approach. Your therapist will provide you with individualized, caring support. 

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BIPOLAR TYPE DISORDERS

You may feel overwhelmed with sadness and feel hopeless, or be irritable, and unmotivated. You may have lost interest in things you normally enjoy, find you can no longer concentrate, and have feelings of worthlessness. Whatever it is that you’re feeling, depression is tricky and can cloud your thoughts and your mood. It is not permanent and it is treatable. We will work together to examine the ways your thinking, feelings, and behaviors are influencing and reinforcing your moods, and identify things that you can do that may help you feel better. A practice of self-care is also crucial in Depression and Bipolar treatment, and sometimes medication can also be helpful. At the Metropolis Psychotherapy, we can help you explore this option, and if you choose, refer you to a psychiatrist with who we can coordinate care to ensure you are well supported. 

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Do you feel frustrated with the NYC dating scene, doomed to repeat the same patterns over and over without the results you want? Or, are you currently in a less-than-fulfilling relationship and need help exploring whether you should stay and make it work, or leave? Or, perhaps you are happy being single and sick of societal and social pressure to be in a relationship.

We believe that you won’t find happiness in a relationship unless you are happy with yourself and your life. Our work together may include helping you find acceptance and building up your confidence to create a positive outlook that attracts your ideal match. We believe if you are self-aware and fulfilled in life, you will have the strength to resist falling into relationships that don’t serve you well. You can develop the wherewithal to resist complacent relationships and make yourself available for your ideal partner. Therapy may help you realize your wants and needs and identify the self-limiting perspectives and unhealthy behaviors that keep you stuck or fuel your attraction to people who are not good for you. Together, we can explore a plan for self-acceptance and change.

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Couples Therapy

Romantic relationships can be hard work that requires attention and support along the way. Couples therapy is a method of psychotherapy used to help two people in a relationship gain deeper understanding and insight, resolve conflict, and build a healthier partnership. A therapist can help identify relationship patterns, uncover hidden intentions or expectations, and help couples that feel they are stuck in a rut. 

Couples often seek out therapy in times of conflict and crisis.  Usually, issues stem from the need to be loved, accepted, or understood. Couples can get stuck in negative patterns; as resentment builds up, one or both individuals may withdraw and become bitter or unhappy. The longer these unhealthy patterns are allowed to set in without any intervention, the harder it is to restore the deep connections that make up a healthy relationship. 

Couples counseling is a useful intervention for concerns related to, but not limited to: sexual difficulties, jealousy, premarital counseling, chronic health issues, death/loss, infertility, finances, loneliness, substance use, or frequent conflict. The focus of the counseling is the relationship itself because it is a different and separate entity from the individuals involved. Each person brings their own family patterns, culture, expectations, and values to the relationship. Our approach focuses on the individual’s responsibilities to the relationship, to shape and build the partnership into one that helps them feel more deeply loved and connected to one another. With the help of therapy, you can reconnect and reignite the friendship and passion in your relationship.

Premarital counseling can be one of the best decisions you make when you are undergoing the transition from dating to a committed relationship or marriage. Counseling provides a safe and neutral place to explore important topics, such as your views on monogamy or spiritual/religious differences, to more practical things like, where you will be happy living, or what are your attitudes about retirement planning and money? 

Our approach is to talk about the positives/things the couple agrees on first and explore what led them to seek premarital counseling. We then identify and address the existing challenges and potential areas of conflict. Hot topics are finances, plans for children, family dynamics, and overall expectations of marriage.  

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We work with all levels of an organization to enhance employee engagement and to create an environment of psychological safety that will improve productivity and outcomes.

We offer the following consultation services

• Leadership coaching & development – individual and groups
• Group & Team meeting facilitation
• Conference/workshop facilitation
• Change management strategies
• Group Clinical Training & Supervision (Including Organizational Camps held at the Island of Crete, Greece)

Organizations can get “stuck” and caught up in negative vicious cycles that interfere with productivity and morale and destroy the culture. Leadership needs to do something different when the same way of doing things is no longer working. The situation calls for disruptive change. Using the values of democracy and emotional and social intelligence, and applying the tools of civic engagement, we help leaders and teams overcome barriers to innovation and productivity to achieve engagement and results. Please contact us for a free consultation to explore what we can do for your leadership and organization.

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• Private Group and Individual Getaways & Corporate Groups Experience memories that will last a lifetime, with your friends, family, or colleagues held at the Mental Wellness Retreats, Island of Crete, Greece (Packages will be offered for 5-7 days).

• Women’s Groups – An Individualized Mental Health Program For Women. Offered only to Women and Transgender/ Transsexual  Women – survivors of trauma, PTSD or transitional stress related life issues – held at the Mental Wellness Retreats, Island of Crete, Greece (Packages will be offered for 5-7 days).