Andrew Kaplan, LMHC
Message from Andrew
Welcome! I’m glad you made it here. Simply considering therapy is a positive step. It suggests a powerful intention: the intention to live a more contented life. A bit about my approach. We start with the story of why you came to therapy — the situation, feelings, thoughts, and goals that brought you here. If you are having intense discomfort, such as anxious feelings that are keeping you from doing what you need to do in your daily life, we might work on coping techniques that can provide some immediate relief. From there we can go deeper. Going beyond the story of your discomfort to the roots of it — the roots of what hold you back from a fuller life. We’ll use all facets of your experience, including your physical responses to everyday situations and conversations. It's very much about "in the moment," because when we slow down and investigate that moment, so much information is there. Please schedule a free phone consultation with me and feel free to read my responses to the Q&A at the bottom of this web page in order to learn more about me and to better assess our fit. I look forward to being there for you and to helping you on your journey to happier and more easeful life.
About Andrew's practice
Weekdays 9am - 5pm
Weekdays After 5pm
$$$
Sliding scale
Directive
Reflective
Body-based
In-person available: No
Virtual available: Yes
Fear of Failure
Loneliness
Life Transitions
Indecision
Commitment Obstacles
Family Dynamics
Existential Crisis or Transition
Anxiety
Oxford
OON only
United / Oxford
Aetna
NY
Why state matters
Get to Know Andrew
If I have never been to therapy before, what should I expect? How do I know if I should go, and how do I start?
If you're considering therapy, that's a sign you can benefit from it. In therapy, you and I build a relationship that's all about you - your feelings, desires, and goals. Through our conversation you will learn about other relationships that shape your life. Relationships with the important people in your life and with parts of yourself, such as the parent, the doer, the dreamer, the critic, and the child who still lives within you. Most of my clients have found that as they give voice to these parts of themselves, symptoms like anxiety lessen and fall away - because they are no longer repressing their authentic selves. In the process, they've broken old patterns, built on strengths that they didn't even know they had, and have built happier and more contented lives.
What led you to become a mental healthcare practitioner?
Since I was a child, I’ve loved stories. I loved thinking about why people do what they do and about the words they used to tell their tales. At first, this love drew me to writing. But even while working as a writer, I was learning about psychology. Besides reading on the topic. I experienced the transformative power of therapy first-hand as a client. Therapy helped me deal with pain and change my life. Through this process I became passionate about what is possible through therapy. As time passed I realized that I wanted to spend as much of my time as possible doing something meaningful to me. And I wanted to help people in a more direct way. So I gave up everything I was doing, went back to school, and became a therapist.
From your perspective, what is therapy?
Therapy is a journey to a more authentic and contented life. By that I mean a life in which you are more truly yourself. A life in which you are in touch with your true values, goals, and feelings. And have the freedom to act on them *when you choose to do so.* (Rather than reacting without really knowing or being in control of what you are doing.) Much of our discomfort (feelings of anxiety and sadness) comes from the fact that we doubt our own perceptions, that we tell ourselves it's wrong to want or feel certain things. If you pretend to be okay – that is, if you live in denial of what you feel and what you know to be important and true – how can you feel okay? For that reason, the process of therapy involves the process of highlighting your values and finding ways to act on them. So that you can live authentically, instead of repressing feelings and living in opposition to yourself.