I offer psychotherapy for adults suffering from depression, anxiety, OCD, and related conditions. I specialize in cognitive behavioral therapy, but also integrate other evidence-based practices, tailored to your background, needs, and preferences.

My practice is full remote and online. I see clients who reside in New York and Connecticut. I offer teletherapy through a secure and private video therapy platform. My practice is small and part-time, I offer therapy mainly on the weekends, but we will work together to find a time that works best for you.

I offer free consultations, just click on the “contact” button above and fill out a brief form and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

You can reach me via our contact form or by email: pelhamcbt@gmail.com‍. Please note that email communications may not be fully confidential.

I take the Northwell Health employee insurance plan. All other services are “out of pocket.” I will offer you documentation that might help you receive out of network reimbursement from your insurance company. Fees will be discussed during our free consultation call.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a brief, structured, goal oriented type of psychotherapy or “talk therapy.” It is based on the idea that what you think, how you think, and what you do can affects your emotions and contributes to psychological problems. For example, you might tend to criticize yourself a lot (what you think), or constantly focus on the negative parts of a situation (how you think), or avoid things that you need to do or that you are afraid of (what you do). Each of these things might make a bad mood worse, and if you do them consistently, they can lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety. In CBT, a therapist teaches you tools that help you make changes in these unhelpful patterns. A lot of the ideas from CBT are common sense, but are often hard to do. For example, a therapist might help you figure out whether your self-critical thoughts are exaggerated, or might help you face your fears. In CBT, you and your therapist work together to understand your problems, and to develop skills for managing distressing emotions and situations. A big part of the therapy is practice at home, where you will be asked to try out the skills you learn in the session. The ideas and techniques that are used in CBT are supported by scientific research, and CBT providers keep up with new developments in the research literature to constantly improve their practice.

Yes! There are thousands of papers finding that CBT is helpful for many psychological problems. These include depression, panic attacks, phobias, generalized anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, social anxiety, eating disorders, attention problems (like ADHD), addictions, chronic pain, and even bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. What’s more, many of these studies find that CBT is just as helpful as medications, and sometimes its effects last longer (meaning that you are more likely to stay better after CBT than if you were taking medications). We think this is because CBT gives you skills that you can use to help you manage challenges and prevent your problems from returning.

Maybe! It might be helpful to review some things from your past to help you better understand how your problems developed. However, the focus of CBT is the present.

Both CBT and medications can be helpful. Sometimes, people can better with therapy alone. On the other hand, medications are sometimes necessary depending on your specific problem. Combining medications and CBT can also be better than either by itself. It is best to contact a medical professional to discuss medications, and I will work together with your prescriber to ensure you are getting the best care.

No. This is a common misconception about CBT. The goal of CBT is to help you think and react realistically to situations. Sometimes situations are bad, and “thinking positive” about it would ignore how bad it really was! But, there might be healthier ways to react to the situation. You will also focus on how changing what you do might help you with your problems.

A big part of CBT is tracking how well you are doing, so that both you and I will have an idea of whether you are moving toward your goals. We will be measuring your progress along the way, often by using standardized, scientifically backed measures of progress, but also informally. This practice helps keep us on track and lets us both know how well treatment is working for you.

CBT is intended to be short-term. Most conditions can be treated in 16-24 sessions, or about 3-6 months. The goal of CBT is to make you your own therapist, so that you can get back to living the life you want to live without needing to go to weekly therapy. But people have different needs, so in some cases it will take a longer, and sometimes people need ongoing care. I’ll work with you and your other providers to figure out what is best for you.

Ask me! Most therapists are very open about the process of therapy and we’re happy to answer any questions you might have.