Michael Y. Simon

Therapy should never be "one size fits all." It should be rooted in a consistent, deep effort to understand who you are and what you need. Therapy should also be practical and offer some fairly immediate results, even though bigger change takes time. ​ Therapy isn't a religion. You don't have to believe in it to receive help. You just have to want to try. It's ultimately about collaboration, and the formation of a helpful relationship. Key Areas of Focus include: Working with and supporting artists and musicians; Relationship difficulties; Coping with Depression, Anxiety and other mood disorders; Working with Adolescents and Pre-adolescents; Self-esteem, reaching your goals and quieting the “inner critic"; Healing grief and loss; One-to-One Parenting Consultation and Support; Parenting through separation and divorce; Navigating the world of the independent school and; Dealing with Chronic Pain/Impact on Relationships. I work from a cognitive-interpersonal perspective, utilizing the insights and empirical research based in Control-Mastery theory, along with the tremendous and growing insights in the developmental sciences. Control-Mastery theory emphasizes and is centered around the idea that people come in to therapy with an unconscious plan to work on their difficulties, and to remove the obstacles that prevent or interfere with the pursuit of normal development goals. Therefore, my view is extremely positive and progressive—that people come to therapy with a wish and real willingness to master their difficulties and not to remain stuck in old, unhelpful patterns. When you enter therapy, you will be entering a collaborative process whereby you assist me in understanding both what your goals are and what beliefs, attitudes and behaviors might be undermining your conscious and unconscious life goals. You will find in our work a great deal of respect from me for your abilities to communicate just what you need—even if you have trouble talking directly about what you want. I work with adult individuals, couples, families and youth, and specialize in working with teens and their families.