PSYCHODYNAMIC THERAPY | NYC & BROOKLYN
Attachment work, relationship patterns, and somatic awareness.
I help people understand the patterns they're stuck in and actually change them, not just explain them.
About the practice
On Knowing, and Still Being Stuck.
Most of the people I work with are already fluent in their own story. They can tell me exactly what the pattern is, when it started, why it makes sense — and still, nothing moves.
Understanding a thing and being free of it are not the same skill. You can defend a relationship brilliantly and still not leave it. You can achieve the thing and feel nothing when you get there.
My job is not to hand you more insight. It is to notice what is happening between us as it happens, not afterward. It is to stay with what has not yet been said, because eventually, it wants to be known.
Knowing why something happens and actually changing how you respond are two different skills. This is where we build the second one.
AREAS OF FOCUS
A Few Places To Start
Anxiety
Many clients arrive with a low, persistent sense of unease — overthinking conversations, second-guessing decisions, or feeling a quiet pressure they can't fully explain. Together, we look at what the anxiety may be pointing to underneath.
Anxiety Therapy →
Attachment
Many of the ways we relate — to others and to ourselves — are shaped early, often outside of awareness. With more awareness, those patterns become less fixed and more open to change.
Attachment Therapy→
Relationships
Relationships often bring patterns into sharper focus. The work explores the dynamics that continue to show up — how you attach, what you expect, what feels difficult to trust or express.
Relationship Therapy→
New Moms
The transition into motherhood can be disorienting, even when it's deeply wanted. This work creates space for all of it — the visible and the unspoken — so that you don't have to navigate it alone.
Therapy for New Moms →
My Approach
How I Can Help
Ready to learn more? Rates, insurance and cancellation policy.
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The work pays attention to the patterns that shape how you relate to yourself and to others including the ones you've never named.
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Experience isn't just cognitive, it's held in the body too. Attention goes to the physical sensations and emotional responses that come up alongside what you’re saying— and what they're actually telling us. -
The relationship between us is part of the work, not separate from it. How you connect, how much you trust, and the patterns you fall into all show up here too while it's actually happening, not just when you describe it afterward.
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Training in psychoanalysis and yoga philosophy both point to the same thing: your mind, your body, and your relationship history aren't separate stories. They're one story, told in three different registers.
▸ Getting started is simple.
Fill out a short contact form, or send an email — I read every message and reply within one to two business days to schedule a call.
Reach Out
We spend 15-20 minutes on the phone, no pressure or commitment either way. It’s your chance to ask questions, and mine to understand what’s bringing you in.
Hear back
If it seems like the right fit, we will find a standing weekly time and I will send you session details before we meet.
see if it’s a fit
MEET the THERAPIST
Alissa Friedlander, LCSW
I’m Alissa — a psychodynamic and relational therapist based in Brooklyn. In practice, that means I'm less focused on what brought you in this week than on what keeps repeating — the pattern more than the presenting problem.
A few things I pay attention to, because they matter more than people expect:
▸ Our Relationship. How you show up with me is usually a preview of how you relate to everyone else.
▸ Your Body. Years of practicing yoga taught me that what is unspoken often shows up first in the body. I pay attention to the physical cues that show up before you have language for them.
▸ The Layers. What you are telling me and what is actually going on underneath are not always the same story. That gap is usually where the real work happens.
Frequently Asked
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Psychodynamic therapy looks at what a pattern is doing and why it developed in the first place, rather than only managing the symptom it produces. It's built around the idea that understanding something and being able to change it are two different things and the work happens in that gap.
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Adults navigating anxiety, relationship patterns, life transitions, or a version of themselves they don't quite recognize anymore. You don't need to be in crisis to start — most people aren't.
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Individual therapy that's psychodynamic and relational, with training in somatic and attachment-based work woven in. You can see the full breakdown of specialties under Areas of Focus.
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Not a quick fix, and not a fixed program. This is ongoing, relational work — I'm not neutral in the room, and how you and I relate to each other becomes part of what we learn from.
More questions? Read the full guide to the therapy process →