What Sits Underneath
Psychodynamic Therapy in Brooklyn, NY
Depth-oriented psychodynamic therapy, online anywhere in New York State, for professionals, creatives, and thoughtful people navigating anxiety, low mood, life transitions, and the weight of holding it all together.
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Psychodynamic Therapy for High-Functioning Anxiety and Depression
From the outside, you're fine. The work gets done, the calendar holds, the people around you lean on you. Inside, it's quieter and harder to name - a low hum of anxiety, a flatness that outward success does not explain, a mind that won't fully switch off, a sense that something is off even when nothing is wrong.
Psychodynamic therapy is a way of listening beneath that surface. It asks what the pattern is protecting, and what changes when you stop holding it alone. This is steady, relational work for high-functioning adults in New York who are used to being the capable one.
Who Psychodynamic Therapy Helps
People come to psychodynamic therapy for different reasons. Often it's one of these:
- Chronic anxiety or a constant internal pressure
- Depression or a persistent low mood that competence has been covering
- Life transitions - career, separation, relocation, parenthood
- The sense that something is off despite outward success
- Creative block, or a lost sense of vitality
- Difficulty relaxing, trusting, or releasing control
- Relationship patterns that keep repeating
What Is Psychodynamic Therapy?
Psychodynamic therapy, sometimes called psychodynamic psychotherapy, works from a simple premise: the things that run your life most powerfully are often the ones you're least aware of. Old patterns, early relationships, and feelings you learned to set aside don't disappear - they shape how you work, love, and rest today.
Rather than handing you techniques to manage the surface, we follow what's underneath. We pay attention to what repeats, what you avoid, and what happens between us in the session. Over time, the patterns become visible - and what's visible can finally change. In New York, where a great many people are very good at functioning, this is often the first place the functioning gets to stop for an hour.
The Psychodynamic Approach to Treating Anxiety and Depression
Psychodynamic treatment for anxiety starts from a different question than most: what is the anxiety protecting you from? Worry stands guard against something - disappointment, exposure, stillness, a feeling waiting underneath - and when we slow that moment down, the question changes from how do I get rid of this to what is this asking of me.
The psychodynamic approach to depression is similar in spirit. Low mood in high-functioning people is rarely a blank absence. It is often something turned inward: a grief without a name, an anger with nowhere safe to go, a self held to a standard no one else is held to. We find what the flatness is standing in for. Where a structured tool would help, I bring it in, and where medication is part of the picture I am glad to coordinate with a psychiatrist. The work itself goes to the pattern underneath, so that what changes stays changed.
Psychodynamic Therapy vs. CBT
CBT tends to target a specific symptom with structured tools, and it can work well for that. Psychodynamic therapy goes beyond CBT to explore the roots of where our feelings and biases may come from, to look at what function they may be playing within our psyche, and to develop a more compassionate base from which we are able to interrupt maladaptive patterns. The two are allies - where CBT's tools are useful, I integrate them into the psychodynamic work. It simply does not stop there. For thoughtful people who've already tried the tools and want to go deeper, the depth-oriented approach often fits better.
Working Together Online
Every session is held online, so we can work together wherever you are in New York State. For many of the people I work with, the hour happens from an apartment in Manhattan or a home office three counties away.
My Approach: Psychodynamic and Gestalt Therapy
This is steady, relational work - grounded in Gestalt therapy, psychodynamic theory, and over 20 years of clinical experience.
I think of psychotherapy closer to its original meaning: soul attendant work. Less about fixing you, more about attending closely to what's actually happening in you - the feeling you talk over, the moment you brace, the thing you almost said. In a relational, psychodynamic approach, that noticing is where the real work lives. The Gestalt, humanistic, and existential strands of the work are described in their own article.
You can read more about Avi and this practice, or explore the couples therapy and grief therapy work that grows from the same approach.
Psychodynamic Therapy FAQs
What is psychodynamic therapy, and what does treatment look like?
How is psychodynamic therapy different from CBT?
Is psychodynamic therapy available online?
Can psychodynamic therapy help with anxiety?
Does the psychodynamic approach help with depression?
Do you offer brief psychodynamic therapy?
What happens in a psychodynamic consultation?
Do you take insurance?
Start Psychodynamic Therapy
If something here landed, that's usually the sign. You don't need to be in crisis to begin - you just need to be curious about what's underneath. A psychodynamic consultation is fifteen minutes and free.
Limited availability. Online, anywhere in New York State.
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In Their Words
My husband and I found Avi when we were in a dark place. Avi was thoughtful, patient with us - and funny!
My husband and I found Avi when we were in a dark place. Avi was thoughtful, patient with us - and funny! We didn't know what we were looking for, but we found a fellow artist. He's so soulful, and he has this magical ability to help you unwind yourself. For that, we're grateful. We've asked him to work with our teenagers, family members, even friends. He's truly singular.
Since working with Avi, I've grown into the person I want to be - more self-aware, confident, and in touch with my needs.
Since working with Avi, I've grown into the person I want to be - more self-aware, confident, and in touch with my needs. He's truly exceptional, and working with him has been a gift!
Avi Steinhardt was an amazing counselor for myself and my family. His kind understanding, and knowledge helped me.
Avi Steinhardt was an amazing counselor for myself and my family. His kind understanding, and knowledge helped me get through a very stressful part of my life, being a single mom.
When I speak with Avi, I feel more than heard. His patience has allowed that enlightenment to occur organically.
When I speak with Avi, I feel more than heard. His patience has allowed that enlightenment to occur organically, and though the positive impact on my life has been nothing short of massive, the process has always felt simple, human, and caring.
Avi has helped us better understand ourselves and each other, which has had a meaningful impact on our relationship.
We came to Avi because we felt trapped in arguments that would end with neither of us feeling understood. Avi has helped us better understand ourselves and each other, which has had a meaningful impact on the quality of our relationship. We feel more trusting and appreciative of one another and experience less escalation during times of conflict.