Manhasset Therapist
Dr. Maryann B. Schaefer
Ph.D. – Counseling, Concentration in Psychology
NYS Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Fellow of American Psychotherapy Association
Phone: (516) 627-1145
If you are looking for a Manhasset therapist you came to the right place. With an office in Manhasset, New York for over twenty-five years, Dr. Maryann Schaefer is a psychotherapist within an easy, quick commute from Manhattan. She is an experienced and highly-qualified mental health professional who has been helping patients with the entire range of therapeutic issues for nearly a quarter of a century.
Sometimes we need help getting through a difficult period in life. At other times we find that we have been stuck in a “mental rut” that we cannot get out of. At these times a mental health therapist can help loosen the emotional bonds that are tying us down.
Mental Health Problems That Therapists Can Help You With
Dr. Schaefer works with individuals, children, adolescents, couples, and families to make sense of life’s dilemmas and to map the routes to a better and happier life. Many problems that a psychotherapist deals with have existed in families for years and even generations. Because of this, coming to understand these issues is the first move in learning to deal with them. Anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression, pregnancy loss, postpartum depression, grieving and bereavement, and infidelity are issues that a therapist deals with. Other issues that can be dealt with successfully in psychotherapy include parenting, learning to set limits, bullying, life transition adjustments and various types of substance abuse.
When you work with an experienced therapist, such as Dr. Schaefer, it is always a joint effort. Identifying the answers and implementing new behaviors will help you effectively to deal with the curveballs that life throws at you. Sometimes therapy sessions deal with discovering hidden truths. And sometimes the focus is on coaching to change one’s lifestyle. Therefore, the focus is always on what is therapeutic for the individual and their concerns.
How Does Therapy Help?
There are things in life that we cannot change. However, we can learn how we process life, as well as how these variables impact our lives and our emotional stability. We can learn how to address these events, and chronic situations through emotional relearning and implementing coping skills to make them manageable and, perhaps, no longer destructive. There are behaviors that we have learned that all too often make situations worse or prolong them. The first step forward in therapy is to understand that change is necessary and that professional help is available.
In psychotherapy, we work together to understand the beginnings of beliefs and coping mechanisms. Many of these go back to early childhood and are related to the bond between a mother and child. How a young child’s sense of the world and their place in it develops is a major determinant in how the world is seen and dealt with for the rest of one’s life. Learning how your family interacted and your place in those interactions is very important. These dynamics typically drive how you interact with people today, your expectations, and your responses. The goal of psychotherapy is to rediscover those early experiences and the beliefs that evolved from them. What we needed or wished to have learned as a child can still be learned as an adult by working with a therapist.
Who Comes to Mental Health Counselors for Help?
Although experienced mental health professionals such as Dr. Schaefer work with adults and children across a wide cross-section of challenges, most people can benefit from psychotherapy. Many therapy clients have a successful business and professional lives, but find it difficult to develop and maintain lasting and meaningful connections. They find it difficult to identify their feelings, to express these feelings in words, and very often to modulate how they impact on their behaviors.
In these situations, the patient and therapist work together to discover issues in the person’s early life. These can include coping mechanisms that worked great at age five, not so well at age twelve, and not at all in adulthood. Sometimes a person has been so focused on material success that they simply have never had the opportunity to develop interpersonal and emotional skills to nurture successful bonds. But, these skills can be learned, practiced, and improved upon for a better personal environment. The key is to work with an experienced therapist to define the issues involved, identify the contributing causes, and move forward to workable solutions in present-day life.
What Are the Goals of Therapy?
You may consult a therapist with particular problems in mind. And, you may discover that the problems or issues were different, or more complex, or even simpler than you believed. The first goal in psychotherapy is to discover the truth. This is both the truth as you have seen it for years and the truth as experienced by others.
The old saying that the truth will set you free really does apply to psychotherapy and other forms of mental health therapy. The more you understand yourself, your emotions, your beliefs, and your methods of dealing with life, the better equipped you are to live a happy, content, and successful life. The goals you set will come from your understanding of yourself as that understanding emerges during therapy.
As such, the goals of psychotherapy may evolve over time. It is the job of the therapist, with years of experience, to keep fact-finding and goal-setting on track. The point of good psychotherapy is to arrive at solutions that improve the quality of a person’s life. This is what you will discover when working with a Manhasset, NY therapist such as Dr. Schaefer.
How Long Does Mental Health Therapy Last?
Mental health treatment, such as psychotherapy, is meant to help us with life’s difficulties. Many patients experience some relief in a relatively short time. They learn key insights that they can put to work with relative ease. Other patients have more complicated issues that require time to uncover and explore.
Therapy may be a valuable tool for those feeling anxious. Clinical psychologists and certified clinical social workers are two popular categories of therapists. Both types of specialists have obtained specific training in psychotherapy and are prepared to assist clients in overcoming their difficulties.
Developing coping mechanisms for challenging emotions and circumstances is a systematic therapeutic strategy. Those with superior coping mechanisms might feel more in control of their lives and be more equipped to deal with stressful events. The most effective coping mechanisms for each client may be identified and developed with the help of a motivated therapist.
Cognitive processing therapy is a different therapeutic approach that has grown in acceptance. Those who have gone through trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder are often treated with this. Clients engage in cognitive processing therapy to seek out and address harmful ideas and assumptions that could be causing them suffering.
Therapy may be a helpful tool for those who are nervous or alienated to understand their emotions and create coping mechanisms. Therapists with clinical expertise can better assist clients as they explore and comprehend their feelings in a secure setting. Even insurmountable difficulties may become more manageable with the assistance of a qualified therapist.
Patients must believe their therapist gets them. A therapist who takes the time to acknowledge and affirm a client’s emotions may facilitate a healthy therapeutic connection. Clients are more likely motivated to keep working toward their mental health objectives when they feel heard and understood.
Treatment may be a highly manageable condition for those battling a range of mental health issues. Therapy may provide a secure and supportive environment for patients to learn coping mechanisms, acquire understanding, and feel understood, whether working with a clinical psychologist, a licensed clinical social worker, or a PHD in counseling, with a concentration in psychology.
Some may have deep-seated issues that require time to uncover. It could be a very treatable problem that just needs one to gain insight on a solution. The frequency of therapy visits is generally weekly with additional sessions scheduled based on mutual agreement. In Dr. Schaefer’s psychotherapy practice the treatment is always consistent in its approach and focus on what is therapeutic for the individual.
If you are feeling disconnected and in need of a NYS Licensed Mental Health Counselor specializing in therapy and other mental health issues, please contact Dr. Schaefer. Her office is in Manhasset and very close to Northern Blvd.
Dr. Maryann B Schaefer
Ph.D. – Counseling, Concentration in Psychology
NYS Licensed Mental Health Counselor
Fellow of American Psychotherapy Association
Phone: (516) 627-1145
Email: drmaryannschaefer@gmail.com
5 Travers Street Manhasset, NY 11030
Office Hours: By appointment only.
