Dispelling the Mysteries of Psychotherapy

As one of the premiere New York psychoanalytic therapy programs, we field a lot of questions from patients who want to understand how this sort of talk therapy compares to other techniques. The short answer is that we are principally concerned with causes, not symptoms: analytic therapy’s mission is to understand what lies behind the issues of depression, anxiety, doubt and other concerns. But there is perhaps an even simpler answer, published recently in this short column:

Psychotherapy works very simply – it enables you to see things about yourself or your life that you can't currently see and that is affecting how you feel, what you do, and what happens to you. Once you can see what has been making the things happen that have been happening, you can get your hands around it and do something to improve how you feel, what you do, or what happens to you.

The best reason to get into psychotherapy is relief: relief from pain, sadness, isolation, stress. Some of these elements originate in the world around us, but others originate from within, powered by many years of personal history. Talking through these personal stories is a way to steal their power, and to make sense of the choices we all make on a daily basis.

At PPSC, we specialize in low cost therapy, sliding scale therapy, and LGBT therapy throughout New York and the region. If you are looking for a specific area of expertise, don’t hesitate to find a therapist at PPSC today.

An Ode to Low Cost Therapy

It is an all-too-common complaint: patients are certain they need therapy, but are afraid that they cannot afford the kind of lasting care that’s likely to help. This recent article describes the mindset perfectly, listing common issues such as depression, anxiety and relationship difficulties before concluding:

Any of these types of issues can stretch a person beyond his or her ability to cope. Any of them can challenge the most creative, caring, and responsible person, You’ve tried your best. You’ve tried to look at a brighter side, to be rational, to be smart about whatever it is. But you still can’t figure things out. You still feel alone in your troubles and without the inner resources or the outer supports to change things. This is when people often go to therapy. You wish you could. But you have no insurance and you know it can be costly. The situation seems hopeless.

It’s not. Serious, yes. Hopeless, no.

That’s right: there are good options for low cost therapy in New York. You simply need to do a little homework, and to not be afraid to ask.

Here at PPSC, we proudly offer low cost therapy and sliding scale therapy to patients whose financial circumstances warrant consideration. We are deeply committed to the work of analytic therapy, and that means we make this essential mental health service available to as wide a swath of people as we possibly can.

If you’re looking for a better approach to low cost therapy, please don’t hesitate to contact the professional therapists of PPSC today.

Finding Low Cost and Sliding Scale Therapy in New York

It’s a common concern: where can I find low cost and sliding scale therapy here in New York City? The simple fact is that analytic therapy can be expensive over the long term, and many patients don’t have the financial means to make that kind of commitment. This PBS article gives you a way out. It’s a basic guide to the different avenues you may explore to secure lower fees and subsidized treatment. Although the author points toward several good sources, the most resonant advice in the piece is also the simplest:

The first place to check is with your current therapist. Many, but not all, therapists offer a fee service schedule for cash-only clients that may "slide" – that is, the fee goes down based upon your income. If you're making a middle-class salary, the discount offered by such sliding scales may not be much. But if you're in the lower socio-economic class, this discounted fee schedule can cut a regular therapist's fee in half or more.

Here at PPSC, we offer low cost therapy and sliding scale therapy across the board on a need-based basis. Our psychoanalytic psychotherapists are experienced in low cost structures, so often you simply need to engage your therapist in conversation to agree on a more viable fee.

To start your own affordable therapy in New York, contact us today.

On the Effectiveness of Psychoanalytic Therapy

Analytic therapy doesn't always play nice with so-called “evidence based medicine,” not least because long-term therapy does not neatly fit into the limited sample sizes and rapid timelines such studies rely upon. More crucially, the subjective improvements that arise from psychodynamic therapy can be hard to quantify and even harder to observe from outside; often they are subtle but essential transitions which resist easy classification. Even so, there is a growing body of research that which consistently confirms the notion that analytic psychotherapy is both useful and persistent:

However, the acid test of the efficacy of any method lies in the availability of hard evidence in the form of research. And, as it happens, we have two recent studies of psychoanalysis that offer evidence of its validity. . . .

The author goes on to describe two recent studies which have demonstrated the power of psychoanalytic therapy. The key, he says, is what makes this therapy unique: the relationship between therapist and patient, and the many ways this relationship can act as a prism for understanding the patient’s deepest issues.

We have seen precisely this dynamic yield extraordinary results time and again. If you’d like to find a therapist in NYC today, including low-cost psychotherapy and experts in many subspecialties, please contact the experts here.

When Anxiety Strikes Young

It is not an uncommon sight these days: a teenager, laboring under the gargantuan expectations of today’s schools, suddenly struggling to breathe. The episode is just one of the many outward symptoms of an anxiety disorder; for other people, the issue can manifest as an ongoing sense of dread, panic or overwhelm. Because anxiety can strike at any age, many schools have found themselves hard-pressed to handle each case with the appropriate care:

School counselors and nurses alike have cited increased amounts of stress, pressure, social media, and divorce as causes for this surge in anxiety that has not only affected the teens who suffer but school administrators trying to help their students.

As one administrator put it:

Sevier said she now encounters students with anxiety on a “daily basis.” Thirty years ago, Sevier said she dealt with more “normal” teenage issues, such as conflicts with parents, friends, and significant others. Now, Sevier said she sees more severe cases of anxiety.

Some forms of anxiety respond well to drugs or cognitive-behavioral therapy. Other kinds of anxiety may require a more psychoanalytic approach, as patient and therapist together explore the early experiences that have given rise to the disorder.

Seeking anxiety therapy in New York gets easier when you can tap into a network of analytic therapists who have received special training in easing these symptoms. At PPSC, we are proud to offer low cost psychotherapy for teenagers and adults in search of a lasting solution to anxiety.

To learn more, please contact us here today.

Talk Therapy Can Prevent Suicide

An interesting study caught our eye this week: researchers in Denmark followed many thousands of patients suffering with depression, and found that a number of good outcomes were associated with talk therapy:

For up to two decades, the new study followed people who’d attempted suicide once, and found their risk of future suicide declined by more than 25% if they’d received just six to 10 sessions of psychotherapy. Considering that people who have attempted suicide once are significantly more likely to contemplate it again, talk therapy – especially over an extended period of time – may hold a lot of promise for those in the most extreme form of mental pain.

It is an encouraging result which echoes a number of similar studies showing that talk therapy may be just as good as, and in some senses even more effective than, medication alone in the treatment of depression.

Interestingly, the effect was significant enough to persist even after several years:

The participants who’d taken part in talk therapy were 27% less likely to commit suicide again in the first year than people who didn’t have therapy—they were also 38% less likely to die of any cause. The difference was still the same after five years of follow-up, and even remained after 10.

Depression therapy, or psychotherapy aimed at alleviating the symptoms of depression, can take many forms, from cognitive behavioral techniques to more in-depth analytic therapy. Whether you are looking for standard or low-cost therapy, we invite you to contact the experts at PPSC today for a lasting solution to depressive feelings.

Low Cost Therapy Interest on the Rise

It is hardly a novel idea to suggest that psychiatrists, as a group, tend to be less inclined to take insurance than those in many other medical specialties. The reasons for this reluctance are manifold, including flattening insurance support for mental health issues, and the hassle of managing insurance copays through a private practice. But a recent study shows that the numbers have grown stark indeed:

The study, published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, found that 55 percent of psychiatrists accepted private insurance, compared with 89 percent of other doctors.

Likewise, the study said, 55 percent of psychiatrists accept patients covered by Medicare, against 86 percent of other doctors. And 43 percent of psychiatrists accept Medicaid, which provides coverage for low-income people, while 73 percent of other doctors do.

Not everyone can pay out of pocket for analytic therapy, of course. Which is why there is growing interest in low cost therapy here in New York and across the country.

Finding a good low cost therapy is easier than it may sound: Simply reach out to the professionals at PPSC for a referral. Affordable psychotherapy is always in reach if you know where to look. And insurance shouldn’t ever have to play a starring role.

Explore the Cutting Edge of Psychoanalysis at the PPSC Annex

Regular readers already know that the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Study Center has two principal missions: to bring people affordable psychotherapy in New York City, and to offer advanced psychoanalytic training to professionals. One of the most enjoyable dimensions of this second mission is that our faculty puts together several fascinating workshops for therapists each year. Read through the titles and you will find seminars that cover a number of goals, subjects and pain points New York psychotherapists are likely to encounter.

The full list is here. You can see from the page that our faculty does it all, addressing such diverse topics as:

• The Adoption Experience: An Exploration into the Lives of Adoptive Parents and Adoptees
• Heal the Pain, Restore the Trust: How to Treat Infidelity in Couples
• What is EFT? An Introduction to Emotionally Focused Therapy
• CBT: Bridging the Worlds of Psychodynamic and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies

For professionals at any level, these workshops represent a unique and valuable chance to plunge deeper into some of the field’s most pressing topics. And for patients, these titles offer a bit of insight into the deeply curious and constantly evolving faculty of PPSC.

Check back often for the latest listings, and please don’t hesitate to contact us for more information about all the PPSC Annex has to offer.