Understanding Depression: More Than Just Feeling Blue Have you ever felt like you’re walking through life with a heavy backpack that only you can see? Depression is a common mental …
How to Break the Cycle of Performance Anxiety
Have you ever felt your heart race, your palms sweat, or your mind go blank when faced with a situation where you need to perform? Whether it’s delivering a presentation, …
Recognizing and Addressing the Seven Types of Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders impact millions. The National Institute of Health estimates that over 30% of adults in the U.S. have an anxiety disorder at one point or another throughout their lifetime. …
The Value of Persisting with Therapy: The Journey to Lasting Change
Starting therapy is a courageous step toward improving your mental and emotional well-being. However, as with any worthwhile endeavor, it requires persistence, patience, and a commitment to your goals. Therapy …
How to Prepare for the First Therapy Session and What to Expect
Starting therapy is a courageous step toward self-care, personal growth and greater wellbeing. However, it’s perfectly natural to feel nervous or apprehensive before your first therapy appointment. Concerns about what …
Affordable Therapy Without Insurance in New York
When you need therapy, but you don’t have insurance, it can feel like you are facing two crises at once. Whether you’re grappling with issues related to work, relationships, or …
How Much Is Therapy by the Hour?
A Guide to the Hourly Costs of Therapy in New York City Understanding how much therapy costs by the hour in New York City can help you manage your mental …
The Benefits of Ice Baths and Saunas
Ever wondered why plunging into icy waters or soaking in the warmth of a sauna feels surprisingly exhilarating? Whether it’s the shock of cold water or the embrace of steamy …
Holistic Healing: Exploring Alternatives to Anxiety Medication
Introduction: Understanding Anxiety and the Need for Non-Medication Treatments Anxiety is a normal and sometimes necessary emotion that plays a crucial role in our survival. Anxiety serves as a vital …
Embracing Inner Child Work: Reparent and Heal Your Inner Child
Introduction to Inner Child Work As you journey through life, you may find that you’re not quite living up to your full potential. Perhaps you struggle with relationships, feel emotionally …
Navigating Social Anxiety and Agoraphobia in Everyday Life
As someone who has struggled with social anxiety and agoraphobia, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to navigate everyday life with these conditions. It’s a constant battle between …
Understanding Deflection in Psychology and Effective Ways to Respond
Explore the concept of deflection in psychology and learn effective strategies to address this defense mechanism. Deflection is a common psychological defense mechanism used to evade difficult conversations or uncomfortable …
What is a Platonic Relationship? The Power of Love Beyond Romance
In today’s world, which often emphasizes romantic connections, platonic relationships offer a refreshing and fulfilling alternative. Despite popular culture often depicting platonic relationships as a consolation prize for those relegated …
Embracing Vulnerability: Overcoming the Fear of Burdening Others
Many of us shy away from sharing our emotions with others, often saying things like “I don’t want to be a burden,” “I haven’t told anyone,” or “I don’t want …
Is Flirting Cheating? Understanding Boundaries in Relationships
Flirting is often a contentious topic in relationships, as some people view it as harmless fun, while others consider it a form of cheating. Open communication and understanding are essential …
Managing Separation Anxiety in Relationships: Coping Strategies and Tips
Do you feel anxious or worried when you’re away from your partner, especially your boyfriend? If so, you might be dealing with separation anxiety in your relationship. While missing your …
Understanding Hyper-Independence: Is It a Trauma Response?
Is your desire for independence actually a coping mechanism? Uncover the connection between trauma and hyper-independence, learn how to recognize hyper-independence and seek help when needed. How Trauma Can Trigger …
Spotting your “Anger Iceberg” Can Help Prevent Your Mood from Sinking
We’ve all been there. You’re on your way out the door and your sweater catches on a doorknob, thrusting you backward. It’s a little thing, but you’re absolutely furious. In …
Square Breathing for Calmness and Clarity
Square breathing, or box breathing, is a simple technique that reduces anxiety and promotes calmness. It’s versatile and can be practiced anywhere, even in high-stress environments. This technique is very …
How People with Bipolar Disorder Think
People with bipolar disorder think differently. It doesn’t mean that they’re unpredictable, unstable, or unreliable, as common misconceptions would have you believe. If you have bipolar disorder, you can manage …
Dating Someone With Anxiety
Anxiety has become the quintessential modern affliction. Nearly 2 out of 5 college students report living with anxiety, according to the most recent Healthy Minds Study. Dating someone who experiences …
Recovering from Burnout at Work
We are in the midst of a work burnout epidemic. Stress at work from time to time might be inevitable: Big projects, tight deadlines, and competing demands seem to be …
Do you Need a Life Coach or a Therapist?
Something has to change. You aren’t happy where you are with your life—but you aren’t sure where to begin to make some much-needed changes to get to where you want …
Building Strong Relationships
Relationships are an intrinsic part of a meaningful life, but establishing and maintaining them takes work. Putting in the time and effort to build a strong, healthy, lasting relationship can …
3 Metaphors for Anxiety that Resonate
People who don’t struggle with anxiety often write it off as “nerves.” What they don’t know is that anxiety can be completely debilitating. It can become all-encompassing. It can cause …
How to Deal With Derealization?
Do you ever feel like you’re walking through a dream? Or as if the world around you isn’t real? This may sound like an interesting, ethereal experience. For those dealing …
5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique for Anxiety
Maybe you have a big test coming up in a class you have to pass. Perhaps you’ve decided it’s time to broach the subject of a raise with your boss. …
The Surprising Self-Care of Showing Up for Others
When we think of self-care, we often think of activities done solo. Meditation and rest come to mind, or cleaning the house, getting a facial, or exercising. We all need …
How to get Over a Breakup
Despite what romantic movies might tell us, getting over the end of a relationship sometimes requires more than eating ice cream in your pajamas—it can be a complex emotional process …
Mindful Dating
Scrolling through dating apps has become a cornerstone of modern dating, but that doesn’t mean finding the perfect partner is always easy. Perhaps you’re spending time on dating apps, matching …
How to Seize the Day, Every Single Day
Carpe diem! Seize the day! It’s a common mantra in today’s busy world. The idea is simple: We should make the most of every day. Don’t put off living your …
How to Transform Anxiety into Excitement?
About one-third of Americans experience an anxiety disorder within their lifetime. The fear and dread of anxiety constrain the lives of millions of Americans. For many, the path to relief …
Psychiatric Service Dogs vs. Emotional Support Animals: What You Need to Know
Many people keep companion animals because they bring joy and unconditional love into their lives. But some animals have an even more targeted role to play in the mental health …
Doomscrolling: Here’s How to Stop
In the first scary months of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us turned to social media for updates and information. What we found there seemed to confirm our worst fears. …
Break Free of Confirmation Bias & Limited Beliefs
The idea of confirmation bias gets a lot of attention these days, but there’s not much discussion about the ways it can impact our mental health. Confirmation bias is the …
How Often Should I Go to Therapy?
So, you’re mulling over therapy. You might have considered which types of therapy are good for you. You might have thought about how to find a great therapist. But there’s …
What to Talk About in Therapy?
Whether you are going to therapy for the first time or switching therapists, you might be wondering what you and your therapist will talk about. How can you share your …
What Kind of Therapist do I Need?
If you’ve decided to go to therapy, you’ve already passed one of the highest hurdles between you and better mental health. But now you’re facing another big question: What kind …
Is Therapy Worth It?
If you haven’t tried therapy before, you might have concerns about what lies ahead. You might suspect that therapy is costly — or that it’ll take time and effort — …
How to Get Motivated When You’re Depressed
If you suffer from depression, you know it can affect your mood and motivation any time of the year. For some of us, the holiday season is especially tough. We …
Hurt Feelings and Repairing Relationship
When someone hurts our feelings, most of us acquired a defense mechanism that attempts to make us feel better by making others feel bad. This defense mechanism might operate a …
How to be less emotional
If you are wondering how to be less emotional, you might have realized that living at the mercy of intense negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, fear or anger is …
The Importance of Feeling Seen and How to Make People Feel Seen
Feeling seen or feeling gotten is an amazing feeling of connectedness to another. It is the basis upon which trust flourish. It is a feeling of deep connection, a moment …
How to Release Anger
If you wish to release anger and not let it control you, I congratulate you. While anger is a natural emotion, uncontrollable anger can substantially hurt your own health and …
Why Online Therapy is Here to Stay
The Covid-19 pandemic has started an irreversible trend toward working together online. Online therapy (or telehealth therapy) has become a staple for millions of Americans. Here’s why online psychotherapy is …
What is the Best Insurance Plan for Psychotherapy?
Health insurance plans are not created equal. Some are far superior than others regarding their coverage for psychotherapy, their costs, the scope of their in-network therapists and their out-of-network benefits. Choose wisely!
Using the Acts Of Service Love Language in Everyday Life
LMHC, Founder and Clinical Director of MMHC, Natalie Buchwald, talks about why it’s useful to know your love language. She talks about how, for people to thrive in a relationship, …
Does Health Insurance Cover Therapy?
Yes! health insurance cover psychotherapy (also known as talk therapy, or simply therapy). There is a persisting perception that talk therapy is not covered by insurance, but it is covered.
4 Alternative Healing Modalities to Try at Least Once
Alternatives healing modalities to talk therapy include energy healing, acupuncture, hypnotherapy and kundalini yoga. Try them in combination with talk therapy or alone.
Is Acts of Service Your Love Language? And What Does That Mean?
LMHC Founder and Clinical Director of MMHC, Natalie Buchwald, talks about why it’s useful to know your partner’s love language. Read the full article here
How to Prepare in Case You Get Sick With COVID-19 – How to Talk to Your Kids About Illness
Natalie Buchwald LMHC and founder at Manhattan Mental Health Counseling, advises parents on how to explain covid scenarios (for instance, mom gets sick with covid, and someone else will be …
How Pets Can Have a Positive Impact on Mental Health
Natalie Buchwald, LMHC, founder and clinical director of Manhattan Mental Health Counseling in New York talks about how pets can increase our happiness, relieve stress, help us stick to routines …
5 Emotional Regulation Skills
Emotional regulation is a skill. You can learn strategies to regulate your emotions and live a more emotionally balanced life. 5 emotional regulation skills are described in this post.
Your Device Addiction Negatively Affects Your Children
This article was written by Natalie Buchwald, LMHC and Founder of Manhattan Mental Health Counseling. It covers how parents’ addiction to devices leads to behavioral problems, impaired language development, and …
How to Get Through Father’s Day If You’re Having a Hard Time
This article talks about a range of reasons why Father’s Day may be difficult for some people. For some, this boils down to having difficult family members. It is ok …
6 Ways to Maintain Your Mental Health while Stuck at Home
In this article, Natalie Buchwald LMHC, founder of Manhattan Mental Health Counseling, discusses 6 ways you can maintain your mental health while confined to your home (during a pandemic for …
How to stop a panic attack when you feel it coming on
When you feel the signs of a panic attack coming on, it is important to know what you should do in the moment. Here are 7 techniques can you can use.
Gaining Weight is OK
This Everygirl article sheds light on why body confidence issues and eating disorders are so pervasive in our culture due to news articles and social media constantly focusing on weight …
Rage Cleaning is a Healthy Way to Cope with Stress
In an interview with Romper, Natalie Buchwald, LMHC, founder of Manhattan Mental Health Counseling, talks about how rage cleaning is a good way to channel feelings of stress and anger. …
The incredible Power of Gratitude
Gratitude can be cultivated. People who practice being grateful show significantly higher level of happiness. What does it mean to be grateful?
Tips for Getting the Most Out of Online Therapy
The following tips will help you make the most of online therapy: create a quiet and comfortable space, remove distractions and protect your privacy.
How To Strengthen Your Mental Health While In Isolation
During the Covid-19 pandemic, writers at AskMen spoke with a number of experts to shed some light on why isolation has such a negative affect on the human psyche. Owner …
How to Deal with Financial Stress in the Age of COVID-19
Although your loss of income may be out of your control, there are steps you can take to alleviate the financial stress and protect your mental health.
The Power and Danger of Disconnecting from Ourselves
We have an uncanny ability to disconnect from ourselves and our feelings. Our subconscious contains a powerful mechanism that allows us to create distance from our own feelings, emotions, and desires for long periods of time.
Succeeding in Therapy: Tips for Making the Most of the Opportunity
Once you make the decision to seek therapy—whether to process a traumatic event, treat a specific mental illness or to improve your overall health and well-being—you’ve taken a huge step …
Coping with Stress During the Coronavirus Outbreak
In just the span of a few weeks, the American way of life has gone through a monumental, if temporary, change. The global coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) has caused the suspension …
How to Find the Best New York Psychotherapists
Living in New York City and wondering how to find the best New York psychotherapists? We outline some tips on getting the help you need.
How Biofeedback Helps Reduce Chronic Pain
We all feel pain from time to time. When you stub your toe or burn your hand on a hot stove, your body alerts you to the fact that something …
The Benefits of a “Low Information Diet” for People with Mental Health Issues
A few years ago, in his book The Four-Hour Workweek, entrepreneur Tim Ferriss introduced an innovative concept called the “low-information diet.” The concept is to limit one’s intake of unnecessary …
5 Children Books that Offer Deep Lessons about Self-Care
With millions of Americans dealing with anxiety, stress and other issues, it’s little wonder that self-help is now a $12 billion industry—more prosperous than Major League Baseball. For whatever pain, …
Exploring the Benefits of Biofeedback Therapy
In our modern society, most of us can’t get through the day without a certain amount of stress. Between the demands of school, jobs, family and other factors, most Americans …
Understanding How Sliding Scale Therapy Works
Psychotherapy is a useful tool for people in many difficult circumstances. Deciding to see a psychotherapist is the first step to getting relief. It can present light at the end …
How to Find a Therapist in NYC
Some people have equated the process of finding the right therapist to “dating around,” and you may have some dud dates before you find “the one.” To help you navigate this complex process more easily, we’ve compiled the following brief guide to help you narrow the search for the right psychotherapist in NYC.
The Benefits of Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is commonly recommended for the treatment of depression and/or anxiety. Because psychotherapy centers largely around self-exploration, it can be highly useful for people seeking to improve themselves and know themselves better, those wanting help reaching their goals, and those who simply want to live a life free from harmful habits and past conditioning.
4 Meditation Techniques that Can Improve Awareness and Mental Health
Meditation takes many forms. Let’s turn our attention to four of the more common meditation techniques. Each of these practices takes a slightly different approach to awareness, and they can even be used to complement each other.
5 Journaling Exercises to Get to Know Yourself a Lot Better
We often can’t explain our own feelings. We may see ourselves act or respond or feel a certain way, but we don’t really know why. While certain mental illnesses are …
Getting Over Negative Self-Talk
All humans experience some variation of negative self-talk, and if we listen to it, that voice can bring us down. But we don’t have to let it hold us back. The voice can be tamed, become quieter and less intrusive.
Top 5 Scientific Findings on Meditation/Mindfulness
Whether you’ve been meditating for years or are skeptical about the claims made by mindfulness evangelists, these 5 scientific discoveries are worth a look.
5 Tips for Rebooting Your Brain
We have the ability to “reboot” our brains and make new neural pathways. Let’s explore some techniques to empower your brain to reset itself.
What is Transcendental Meditation?
Transcendental meditation (TM) is a form of meditation that involves going beyond, or transcending, thoughts to experience being alive in a fundamental way. Underneath the loud surface layer of thoughts lies that state of Being, an enjoyable place of stillness beyond our conscious awareness. TM is a method to reach that deeply calm place.
How to Let Go of the Expectations of Others
You can certainly benefit from the input of others, but not if it means squishing your inner voice. Your life is yours and yours only. You are in the best position to know what is best for you. Don’t let the expectations of others get in the way of being true to who you are.
What is Emotional Reactivity and How to End the Cycle
What is Emotional Reactivity? When we feel stressed, angry, or hurt, we tend to react impulsively. We are in a state of fight-or-flight and tend to react emotionally, that is, …
Different Types of Psychotherapy Explained
Here’s a quick guide to the most widely-practiced therapeutic approaches: CBT, DBT, Psychodynamic, Humanistic, Gestalt, Person-Centered therapies.
Five Myths About Therapy Debunked
Misconceptions have plagued the mental health field for decades. In the information era, though, it’s easier than ever to fact check many of the most common myths about treatment for depression, anxiety and beyond. Even with search engines at our fingertips, misconceptions still persist. If you’re considering therapy but have reservations, it’s worth exploring the truth behind many of the most common myths about the process. Here are five:
TRAUMA—YOURS AND EVERYONE ELSE’S
No matter how hard we try to create a world for ourselves that is rational, predictable, and under our control, things still go wrong. Reality is unpredictable and lacks regard for our feelings. Traumas, big and small, repeatedly interfere with our lives.
What Does It Mean to Be “Present”?
Being Present means being fully conscious of the moment and free from the noise of internal dialogue. It’s often associated with feelings of stillness and peace. Sensations often seem sharper. …
The Connection Between Social Media and Mental Illness
Natalie Buchwald LMHC, founder Manhattan Mental Health Counseling, warns about the potential health risks of being on social media. This article talks about the impact social networks have on our …