Psychotherapy in NYC with Margaret Shanley
Individual Therapy
Helping adults struggling with trauma, anxiety, complex PTSD, depression, and more find healing and growth.
Psychotherapy is an umbrella term for any style of talk therapy that helps people work through and change difficult patterns, situations, and behaviors in their lives.
You are not your story. No matter what you’ve been through, psychotherapy helps guide you toward safety, self-compassion, and healing.
As your mental health therapist in NYC and throughout New York, I’ll help you get there.
Why psychotherapy?
Trauma can cause or worsen problems like PTSD, complex PTSD, anxiety, depression, a variety of mood disorders, relationship issues, and ADHD and other neurological disorders.
Psychotherapy with a right-fit practitioner helps you work through everything from immediate distress to old simmering wounds. It provides techniques for reframing your struggles, teaches you new ways to cope, and challenges the unhelpful narratives you have about yourself and the world.
Whether you’ve never tried psychotherapy before or you simply haven’t been able to find a right-fit therapist, you’re in the right place. I know firsthand how important it is to find a psychotherapist who shows unconditional care, respects you, and whose personality aligns with yours.
As your psychotherapist, I’m here to guide you through trauma toward healing.
Here’s what I help my clients overcome in our psychotherapy sessions:
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Post-traumatic stress disorder is a response to experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. PTSD may be accompanied by flashbacks, panic attacks, changes in behavior and mood, difficulty sleeping, nightmares, and more. It takes a great toll on physical and mental health.
Events that may cause PTSD include:
War experiences
Sexual violence
Vehicle accidents
Relationship betrayal
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Complex post-traumatic stress disorder arises from a series of recurring traumatic experiences. It often results in behavioral change and living in a state of persistent nervous system upheaval. Due to its complex nature, it can severely impact your life and current relationships.
Situations that might lead to c-PTSD include:
Childhood trauma
Chronic pain or illness
Patterns of abuse
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Chronic anxiety is characterized by a general sense of dread, restlessness, distress, racing thoughts, and uncomfortable physical sensations. It frequently accompanies other types of disorders, such as eating disorders or neurological disorders like ADHD. Anxiety is often the underlying factor in problems such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, relationship struggles, and lack of self-trust.
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Depression is another response to trauma and can co-exist alongside anxiety or other disorders. Depression may involve dissociation, apathy, numbness, or inability to connect with others.
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A history of abuse, childhood trauma, attachment wounds, or unhealthy past relationships can all impact the way you show up in your current relationships. You might struggle with things like relationship anxiety or avoidance, a lack of trust in other people, inability to be vulnerable or intimate, or staying with a dangerous partner.
If you are having suicidal thoughts for any reason, please call or text 988 right away or go to your nearest ER.
Psychotherapy can be life-changing.
If you’re curious about psychotherapy, I invite you to give it a try. It can change the course of your life.
Regardless of the modalities we use, our psychotherapy sessions will help you:
Find safety in your body so you can get back to baseline, regulate your emotions, and feel secure.
Improve relationships with friends, romantic partners, coworkers, and family.
Gain skills to break free from your distressing symptoms.
Change unhelpful patterns in your world so you can choose your responses rather than reacting from a place of fear or habit.
Respond to stressors from a foundation of self-trust and confidence within yourself.
Find self-compassion and peace so you can live a life that feels aligned and satisfying.