Why Psychotherapy?
“This pandemic experience is a massive experiment in collective vulnerability. We can be our worst selves when we’re afraid, or our very best, bravest selves. In the context of fear and vulnerability, there is often very little in between because when we feel uncertain and afraid our default is self-protection. We don’t have to be scary when we’re scared. Let’s choose awkward, brave, and kind. And let’s choose each other.” - Brene Brown, PhD.
Hello and thank you for visiting my website.
We are all challenged with dramatically changed roles right now. We feel vulnerable as a global community. Likely, you are being challenged as a parent, a spouse, an employee, and a citizen like never before. If you work in education, healthcare, utility, pharmacy, grocery or another essential setting it is likely you are facing unprecedented conditions.
If you are a parent in a home with school-aged children, your life may have changed dramatically.
In addition to supporting your physical wellness, why is it so important to support your mental and emotional health right now?
By compassionately studying our emotional pain and confusion and our reactions to the things going on around us, we can gain greater perspective and even experience emotional freedom. This in turn frees us up to participate with courage and kindness in our daily lives, as much as they have changed.
It’s really OK to feel anxious and scared or any other emotion you are experiencing. We can learn how to recognize and name the feelings so that we do not get psychologically frozen or disconnected from ourselves and those we love.
We really can learn to establish more effective coping mechanisms right now. Taking the time, getting still, going inward and connecting with yourself is part of an important contribution you can make to your community right now.
We can learn to embrace uncertainty.
My intention as a therapist is to help you tap into the resilience, strength, vitality and compassion you already possess in this very moment regardless of work or family environment, external circumstances, health status or financial status.
If you have a history of mental health challenges or have experienced trauma, I am here to support you with evidence-based modalities such as psychodynamic psychotherapy, dialectical-behavior therapy (DBT) and inquiry-based coaching (IBCtm).
As always, I will assist with the concrete resources you need to the best of my ability.
Please call or text me at (646) 334-2895 or email me at anne.wennerstrand.lcsw@gmail.com to schedule an online appointment. I am utilizing a HIPAA compliant video conferencing platform that integrates with Zoom.
Eating, Body Image & Substance Use Concerns
Our dramatically changed circumstances, including being in isolation and quarantine can be particularly challenging for those suffering from substance use and eating problems.
During the Covid-19 crisis, as always, I will support you in deep exploration around these concerns. I bring an intersectional lens to my work, helping my clients understand their issues in the context of culture and oppression as well as looking at the biological and psychological issues. I will draw upon my extensive experience in the field of eating disorder treatment to help you access resources to facilitate healing especially at this difficult time.
I embrace a “harm reduction” approach that is understanding, compassionate and non-judgmental. Helping my clients question and challenge their thoughts and assumptions related to problematic substances or food is a process which often reveals helpful guidance around underlying emotional-relational issues. I offer practical tools to help you cope with urges, repetitive thoughts and difficult patterns.
Consultation/Clinical Supervision
During the Covid-19 crisis, as always, I wish to support other clinicians doing this work. Many of us will be volunteering our time where we are most needed.
As a clinical supervisor and consultant, I bring over 25 years years of academic and clinical expertise to my work with licensed and licence-eligible mental health professionals.
Please feel free to reach out to me via (646) 334-2895 or by email at anne.wennerstrand.lcsw@gmail.com to inquire.