ANNA NATHANSON, LCSW

Psychotherapy • New York, NY

FAQ

You may have questions for me before we start working together — either about my therapeutic style or about what to expect from therapy in general. I hope to provide answers to each of your questions in a way that makes you feel seen and supported.

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It’s also possible you’re not quite sure which questions to ask! If you’d like, click below to learn more about some of the questions I'm asked most frequently:

The fact that you’re considering therapy probably means that you can benefit from it! I’ve worked with many first-time therapy-goers (and was once one myself!), so I’m happy to take the lead during the first few sessions, prompting you with questions and asking you to elaborate when I think that will be helpful to the work. Over time, I’ll hope that the space will start to feel like a place where you can open up about what’s on your mind and, collaboratively, you and I can discover patterns and work to understand you better. Something I think many folks find comforting is that there is no wrong way to do therapy and I’ll be there every step of the way.

I like to say that progress isn’t always linear. I believe deeply in there being a dialectic, a both/and: you can live with depression and feel contentment; you can hate your body right now and understand that it needs nourishment and care. We don’t have to solve every problem for you to experience light and joy now. We’ll set goals early on (and those goals can be really specific, like setting boundaries with a loved one or using recreational drugs less frequently, or really general, like getting curious about yourself). Having these goals as benchmarks will mean that we both have something to refer back to and adapt to as we go. A few ways I’ve seen past clients benefit from our work together: noticing negative self-talk and taking steps to reframe and reduce it, processing past traumatic experiences in a healthy and integrative way, becoming more active in their social relationships, and communicating with partners more effectively.

I have been told that I am deeply empathic and perceptive. My hope is that as we get to know each other, our therapeutic bond will deepen, and we’ll both be able to bring up aspects of therapy that aren’t working quite right. It’s my intention to make this experience useful for you, and I will work hard to make sure that you get out of it what you would like, even if the path there may sometimes feel circuitous.

When we first meet and talk about your goals of therapy, we’ll discuss how long it might make sense for you to be in therapy for. I believe that therapy is something that anyone can benefit from at any point in their lives, but also understand that there are likely specific reasons you’re seeking therapy with me right now. In some cases, short-term work (10-15 sessions) may be effective; in others, a year or more of work might make more sense.

It’s hard to name a typical length of therapy — everyone’s needs, goals, and circumstances are so different! As I noted above, sometimes the most helpful thing for you right now might be a skills-based, structured therapy, and sometimes the most helpful thing for you right now might be a more open-ended, exploratory therapy. Often, in reality, it’s some mix of the two. Depending on how structured the style and how specific your goals, therapy can last anywhere from a few sessions to a few years.

You are welcome to reflect on what is bringing you to therapy right now to share with me. You are also welcome to reflect on what might be preventing you from being open and motivated to be in therapy right now and share that with me, as well. During our first session, I will also ask for you to complete a client contact and intake form with birth date and medical and psychiatric history/family history. You can also bring along a copy of your insurance card if you would like to look into whether you can be reimbursed for part of your therapy fees through out-of-network reimbursement. (If that doesn’t mean anything to you, I'm happy to provide more information!)

Schedule a free 15-minute consultation call