I am a Licensed LMHC based in New York. I received my Masters from Adams State University in Colorado, and I help adults who are ready to break negative patterns and find paths to healthier relationships with themselves and others. I have 10+ years experience working in various settings including inpatient settings and outpatient clinics, residential and substance use treatment, homeless shelters, day programs, and community mental health programs. I work with clients wherever they are in their journey to improve and resolve issues like imposter syndrome, ineffective communication, codependency, toxic relationships, family conflict, chronic stress and anxiety, and living with ADHD.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session together we will spend about one hour discussing your history and background, and make a plan for how you'd like to structure your goals for treatment. At the next session we will dive into the specifics of the challenges you are facing. This allows me to understand you in context, and participate effectively within your vision for treatment
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I don't shy away from the fact of my flaws or humanity and I am most comfortable being authentic to myself. I think this encourages a "come as you are" feeling in session and allows clients to release the pressure to be the "perfect client" and to just be themselves.
About Erica Mahoney
Appointments
Virtual
My treatment methods
Psychodynamic
"We can't change, what we don't acknowledge", embodies the practice of psychodynamic work. The more we understand the more we can change, which is why working to improve insight and clarify the nature of an issue is a key element to change. I use the psychodynamic method to assist clients in building insight into the nature of their challenges, identify harmful patterns, and uncover strategies for change. Psychodynamic work takes time, and involves the deep exploration of unconscious motivations, needs, and desires.
Acceptance and commitment (ACT)
We all have choice and the power to influence ourselves and others, but to what end? What can we control and what can't we? Acceptance commitment therapy is all about examining those choices and exploring what it is exactly we have control over and what we do not. Central to the practice of ACT is the idea that many of our pains and anxieties come from a resistance to the idea that much of life is beyond what we can control---what others think of us, how others behave towards us, and many of the negative experiences we encounter. I use ACT to help clients explore their own beliefs about choice and control, and examine ways to practice acceptance in their daily lives as a key to improving mood and experiencing more life satisfaction, no matter the circumstance.
Attachment-based
It should go without saying that it is our relationships that give life so much of its meaning, which is why it is no surprise that relationship conflict is one of the primary reasons individuals may seek the support of therapy. Attachement based treatment is all about the formative experiences and relationships in childhood that shape the ways in which we connect and relate to others. Attachement systems begin very early in childhood, beginning in infancy, and serve as our blueprint for how we see our relationship to others and ourselves. I work from attachment-based theories particularly often with individuals who often experience patterns of instability, chronic tension and stress, or chaos in their familial or romantic relationships. Often these clients will identify challenges related boundaries, communication issues, emotional intimacy or vulnerability, or conflict avoidance. Revisiting early experiences in childhood related to how a person was parented, related to their siblings and parents, and how the ecosystem of the family was defined, are primary areas of exploration in attachment based treatment.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
In the eyes of behavioral therapies all behavior is purposeful-- we don't do ANYTHING for no reason. Often times, we just don't understand what that reason might be. Cognitive behavioral therapy offers insight into three main aspects of experience: Thoughts, Feelings, and Behaviors. It also assists clients in defining the catalysts or "triggers" for negative thoughts, feelings, and unwanted behaviors. In treatment I use CBT to help clients reduce and challenge intrusive or negative thinking, reframe inwardly or outwardly critical or worrisome thoughts, reduce rumination, minimize feelings of anxiety- fear- or overwhelm, and manage common behaviors such as uncontrollable crying, explosive anger, self-judgement and self-criticism, and so much more. CBT creates calm out of the chaos of our many feelings and thoughts and provides clients with a sense of management over themselves and their experiences. In treatment CBT can be combined with behavioral therapies to maximize the benefits.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
What is it that you need? In solution-focused brief treatment a client is seen for 7 to 12 sessions with a focus on clarifying and defining the nature of the problem and actively seeking solutions. This method is less dynamic and exploratory of the past and focuses on immediate problem solving and solutions derived by the client's own investigations. This way of engaging is typically used for intrinsically motivated, engaged, and well-functioning clients who are more directive in their treatment and need primary support around "thinking through options" or "getting perspective". This treatment may also use aspects of reality testing to examine "what's working and what isn't", as well as some aspects of motivational interviewing, or asking oneself the benefits and consequences for various options.
