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Elizabeth Kleinman, MA, NCPsyA

Relationship & Couples Counseling
New York New York 10019

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About  Elizabeth Kleinman

When I first began my analytic training I knew that I wanted couples therapy to be an important part of my practice. I am passionate about couples work because I believe that healthy relationships are the bedrock of a good life; that is a life in which the best of each partner can flourish and the couple can be a team as it navigates and supports one another when the going gets rough. Relationships are, however, often very challenging. Many fail or, at best, just hobble along with little satisfaction. I have been working with couples for 23 years and I continue to have the conviction that there are ways to make sense of the chaos, hopelessness and loneliness that couples often feel. 

This a concise description of how I work:  Each person comes to therapy with a history, both present and historical. The here and now is the primary focus: what are each person's complaints and experience of the other? Then I get a history of each, of the family constellation, ways of relating to parental figures and siblings, early memories and trauma. An important aspect of the work is for each to bear witness to everything their partner says and to learn to listen well. The past is the context or backdrop for the present, as I help each member of the couple to move back and forth between each and to begin to understand how they are connected. As each one feels more and more understood, first by the therapist and then by his/her partner, each can gradually make space for another point of view without feeling threatened. As they are helped to listen to each one's feelings, gradually building an environment of safety and one in which vulnerability may emerge, a new and more productive dialogue will develop. The couple is now ready to look at how each one's subjective experience intersects with the other's. "Do I hear my very critical mother when my husband says he prefers the dress I wore last night? And then I bite his head off".

The goal is to help each one become aware of and able to define the assumptions, projections and repetitions arising out of past models and experience that press buttons which then creates conflicts and feelings of not "being gotten". This gets in the way of intimacy, growth and keeps the couple from getting in touch with what initially brought them together.

If this sounds familiar; if it is your story please don't waste more time. Contact me at 212-980-4664


TRAINING AND QUALIFICATIONS

I received an M.A. degree from Columbia Teachers College after which, some years later, I attended four Psychoanalytic Institutes:

Institute for Expressive Analysis: clinical psychoanalytic training

Training Institute for Mental Health: 2 year training in Couples Therapy

Training and Research Institute in Self Psychology: 2 year program

Post Graduate Institute for Group Therapy: 2 year program


I received a B.S. degree from The Juilliard School in violin and have played professionally for many years. I bring a creative sensibility to my work with patients, particularly with couples, in that I am trained to listen well; to hear the individual voices, the dissonances and the counterpoint, while not losing sight of the whole dance. Most importantly though, the study and performance of music has expanded my ability to feel and respond to many different emotions both in myself and in each member of the couple. 






Contact Information

Phone Number
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Street Address
37 W 57th Street
Suite, Apt, Other
Suite 601
City
New York
State
New York
Zip Code
10019
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License Certification

What type of license/certification do you hold?
Licensed Psychoanalyst
License Number
000179-1
License State
NY

Education

Graduate School/University
Teacher's College Columbia
Highest Degree Earned
Master of Arts
Graduation Year
1966
Gender
Female
Therapy Settings
In Office

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