Psychologist in
New York, New York
In-person and remote services

Do you want to work with a therapist who is interactive and provides you with useful feedback throughout the session?
Or have you had a therapist who may have listened empathically, but said very little that actually helped you make changes? That won't happen with me, because I will energetically provide you with direct feedback in order to help you.
In addition, would you prefer a therapist with extensive training and decades of clinical experience? Because I believe that the feedback a therapist gives is only as good as the training and experience behind it. If all of this makes sense to you, I invite you to read on.

Dr. Stephen Shainbart, Licensed Psychologist

PhD in Psychology

25+ Years Experience in NYC

Resourceful, Effective, and Experienced

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SERVICES

Individual Psychotherapy with Adults and Adolescents
Couples and Family Therapy in New York, New York
Online and Phone Appointments Available

Meet Dr. Shainbart

Experienced Psychologist in New York NY

Dr. Stephen Shainbart is a Psychologist in New York, NY. With over 25 years of experience, he offers effective and practical, therapy services to help individuals overcome challenges and improve their mental well-being. Dr. Shainbart specializes in various areas including anxiety, depression, trauma, self-esteem, and relationship issues. He also has extensive training and experience in conducting couples therapy.

Dr. Shainbart has a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University and received his Ph.D. in psychology from Fordham University. He also completed a four year postdoctoral training program in psychotherapy, and moreover has extensive additional training in couples therapy. However, his approach is to distill this education into a practical, down-to-earth, and effective way that helps you.

Dr. Shainbart's effective approach is based in his unique mix of balancing compassion and support while also providing respectful challenges and specific feedback to facilitate your positive growth. My therapeutic goal is to help you on the one hand feel safe enough to discuss your issues, but not be so comfortable that you do not grow as a person and surmount your difficulties. After all, you're here to make positive changes, right?

What To Expect From Me

From all of this experience, I have developed various skills and resourceful approaches to guide you through the therapeutic process.

For example, one skill is my ability to identify and help you pivot away from self destructive and counterproductive patterns (often unconscious) that you may fall into.

Other skills that I offer are my use of constructive questions to build your self awareness. I also know when to be a bit firm and nudge you into greater discovery, and when to be more gentle instead.

One final point for now, and it is a very important one. My approach heavily involves exploration of your past, or what I call your “backstory.” While exploring the past may seem like a cliche about psychotherapy, that actually isn’t the case anymore. In fact, many current therapy techniques minimize the importance of one’s past experiences, and I think this is a big mistake. That is because I believe that we are all the product of our experiences in life and our relationships. We unconsciously bring the expectations, fears, defense mechanisms, perceptions, and reactions that we learned earlier in life into our current life. While all of this once may have made sense given your past experiences, this can often have detrimental consequences for your current existence. Identifying them with the goal of replacing them with patterns that are adaptive to your life today, is a major goal in therapy with me.

Let's Talk

Choosing Dr. Stephen Shainbart for couples counseling in New York, New York, is a decision grounded in expertise and innovative techniques. Unlike many therapists, I has extensive training in couples therapy in particular. I have a particular focus in a well-regarded form of couples therapy known as Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. Today, couples therapy is a major portion of my private practice, and over the decades I have helped many couples improve their relationships.

This is my approach to couples therapy: there is a patient I am treating, but my patient is neither one partner nor the other. My patient is your relationship. Of course, at times I will focus on aspects of one partner or another, but it is all in the service of improving the relationship.

Moreover, many clients end up approaching couples therapy as they would a courtroom. They talk to me as they would to a judge, making their case to me about how things are their partner's fault. This is not how I work. I am not interested in assigning blame and sending the guilty partner off to couples therapy prison. Instead, I am interested in identifying and changing perceptions, patterns, and negative cycles between the couple. I am interested in making my patient healthier.

One final note. I often find it is very helpful to delve into each partner's "backstories." Once this is explored, not only do I understand why each partner is the way they are. More importantly, it can help each individual understand their partner. It can make it easier for each person to gain more empathy for their partner's behavior. The couple then can work out more healthy ways to address each partner's underlying needs.

Instead of having each partner's "backstory" end up driving the couple apart, it can be used to facilitate mutual understanding, empathy, and love.

Let's get started.

My Approach to Couples Therapy in New York, New York