About

I became a therapist because I believe in the power of honest conversation. Not the polite kind. The real kind. The kind that makes space for everything you've been carrying alone.

My story

I've been doing this work for over fifteen years. I started in community mental health, working with families in crisis. The kind of situations where there's no room for clinical distance or theoretical frameworks. You show up, you listen, you figure out what needs to happen next.

That experience shaped everything about how I practice now. I learned that people don't need a therapist who has all the answers. They need someone who can sit with them in the uncertainty, ask hard questions, and trust that they have the capacity to find their own way forward.

These days, I work primarily with individuals dealing with anxiety and trauma, and with families navigating the kinds of conflicts that can feel impossible to resolve. I also work with couples who are trying to figure out if they can make it work, or how to end things with dignity if they can't.

I'm trained in EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and Emotionally Focused Therapy. But I'm not precious about modalities. I use what works. My approach is direct, collaborative, and focused on helping you do the actual work of change, not just talk about it.

Grace Berman portrait

What I believe about therapy

You're not broken

You're responding to impossible situations with the tools you have. Therapy isn't about fixing you. It's about expanding your toolkit and understanding why you do what you do.

Feelings aren't the problem

Anxiety, anger, sadness—these aren't malfunctions. They're information. The problem isn't that you feel them. It's what you do with them, or what you've learned to do to avoid them.

Change is slow (and that's okay)

I'm not here to give you five quick tips or a hack that will transform your life. Real change takes time. It's messy. It requires you to sit with discomfort and try things that might not work.

You know yourself better than I do

My job isn't to tell you what to do. It's to ask questions, point out patterns, and create a space where you can think more clearly about your own life. You're the expert on you.

Therapy should end

I don't believe in lifelong dependence on therapy. The goal is always to help you get to a place where you don't need me anymore. Some people need a few months. Some need years. But there should always be an end in sight.

Context matters

Your struggles don't exist in a vacuum. They're shaped by your relationships, your history, your culture, the systems you live in. Good therapy pays attention to all of it.

Background & training

Education: MSW from Columbia University School of Social Work. BA in Psychology from NYU.

License: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in New York State since 2012.

Training: EMDR Level 2 certification, IFS Level 1 training, Emotionally Focused Therapy for couples, trauma-informed care, adolescent development.

Experience: Community mental health, private practice, crisis intervention, family therapy, individual therapy with adults and adolescents.

Approach: Integrative. I draw from psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and somatic approaches depending on what each client needs.

Who I work with

I work best with people who are ready to be challenged, who can tolerate discomfort, and who want more from therapy than validation. I work with individuals ages 16+, couples, and families.

I'm not currently accepting new clients, but I maintain a waitlist and can provide referrals to colleagues whose work I trust.

Get in touch