Photos by Erica Reade photography
Therapy for the full complexity of your life.
Depth-oriented, psychodynamic work with individuals & couples in NYC
Therapy is one of the strangest and most meaningful things you can do for yourself. You sit with someone who begins as a stranger and share things you may never have said out loud. And, when the fit is right, things begin to shift, because being genuinely known by another person is powerful...and increasingly rare.
The people I work best with are curious about themselves and how they experience others and the world around them. They're often hurting or feeling stuck, yet they make the profound choice to show up anyway, and that means a lot.
Whether you're pursuing therapy for yourself or alongside your partner, you don't need to arrive with the right words or a neat list of what's wrong. Therapy is where we figure that out.
Who I Work With
I work with adults navigating a wide range of experiences. Some are managing well on the surface while quietly carrying more than they let on; others are in the thick of it. What they share is a readiness to look carefully at what's going on.
Many of the people I see are:
• professionals, graduate and undergraduate students, and others navigating demanding environments — in fields like law, tech, entertainment, media, and consulting — where anxiety is what keeps everything moving
• people who are good at holding it together and are tired of needing to
• adults repeating a pattern in relationships — the same argument, the same distance, the same ending — who want to understand what's underneath it
• couples caught in recurring conflict, distance, or disconnection, who want to understand what's underneath and look for a way back to each other
• individuals whose inner voice is harsh, perfectionistic, or relentlessly self-critical
• people carrying an emotional weight, navigating inner conflict, or feeling overwhelmed in ways that have started to affect the parts of their life that matter most
• people in a life transition — a new role, a new city, a loss, a choice they’re struggling to make — who want more than a coping strategy
• adults who have done therapy before and are looking for something deeper this time
If any of this sounds familiar, a 15-minute consultation is the easiest way to see if working together feels right.
My Approach
What we do together is a lot like an investigation. We'll explore your history, sense of self, relationships, and the bigger questions underneath: what you're living for, whether the life you're building actually reflects who you are, what meaning looks like for you on an average day.
My approach is psychodynamic and relational, which means we pay close attention to the patterns that shape how you experience yourself and others — including what shows up between us in the room, which is often where the most useful material lives. I draw on practical tools like mindfulness, coping strategies, and concrete problem solving when useful, and I attend to what you notice in your body alongside what you think and feel. The deep work and the day-to-day nitty-gritty aren't separate. They belong together.
For couples, I use Gottman Method Couples Therapy as the foundation of the work, integrating it with a psychodynamic and relational sensibility as a means to attend to both the patterns that organize a couple's difficulties and the deeper histories each partner brings.
Reaching out to a therapist can feel like a big step. You don’t need to know what to say. You don’t need to describe everything. A short note is plenty.
A free 15-minute phone consultation is the easiest way to tell if we might be a good fit. We’ll talk briefly about what’s bringing you here, you can ask anything you’d like, and we can decide together whether it makes sense to meet. There’s no pressure either way.
You can click the button below to fill out a brief contact form, email me directly, or call. I typically respond within two business days.
Phone: (201) 256-1273 · laura@laurarothkopftherapy.com