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Brian Ackerman
Psychotherapist at Manhattan Therapy: Individuals & Couples
Brian Ackerman is a psychotherapist at Manhattan Therapy, specializing in individual and couples therapy. He holds a master's degree in Clinical Social Work from New York University (NYU) and identifies as a gay/queer man. His areas of expertise include psychotherapy related to sexuality, attachment, and trauma, with specialized training in affirming care around gender and sexuality, psychodynamic psychotherapy, and Emotion Focused Therapy for couples. Brian is also trained in Safety and Attachment Focused Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (SAFE EMDR) and is a fellow in the couple’s therapy program at the Training Institute for Mental Health.12
Before his career in therapy, Brian worked as a lobbyist advocating for sexual and reproductive health for adolescents and young people, as well as in management consulting, publishing, and community mental health. He views psychotherapy as an integral part of building a more just society by supporting individuals and relationships in developing self-understanding and compassion necessary for healing and growth.1
In his practice, Brian emphasizes a psychoanalytic approach to help clients integrate unconscious needs into conscious awareness, improving self-compassion and emotional regulation. He works with clients on various issues including gender identity, LGBTQIA+ concerns, poly/non-monogamy, kink, trauma, sexual compulsion, self-esteem, body dysmorphia, political activism, and professional development.12
Highlights
I have some exciting news to share. Last week I said a bittersweet good-bye to my clients and colleagues The Gender & Sexuality Therapy Center after almost two years, hundreds of hours of excellent clinical and peer supervision, and over 2,200 hours of therapy with clients. This week, I’m beginning the next half of my three years under clinical supervision with Manhattan Therapy - Individuals & Couples.
Given that this platform is all about our professional selves, I wanted to share a couple of observations and reflection questions developed from my lived experience and my time as a budding clinician that I hope you might find useful:
Observations:
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We are humans first and employees second. We tout the importance of leaving personal issues out of the workplace and this is often for very good reasons. However, we have to remember that our jobs can activate very vulnerable parts of ourselves and our colleagues - our fears of financial insecurity, our longing for social validation and belonging, our desire to make meaning of our lives, and other deeply personal feelings. This is normal. This is healthy. And it's nothing to be ashamed about in ourselves or judgmental of in others. Let us kindly remember that behind almost every job update announced on this platform, there is a privately experienced story of inner emotional turmoil, uncertainty, and risk, in addition to the publicly expressed story of excitement, hope, and growth.
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We are wired for attachment, and we each have unique and malleable attachment styles based on our life experiences with caregivers. Our jobs, and our bosses in particular, can be understood as type of caregiver. They are a primary source of our material security, financial resources, social status, and to some extent, the meaning we make of our lives. More often than not, we do not realize the ways in which our early experiences with authority, access to resources, and social validation shape the ways in which we emotionally engage in our relationships at work. We could do ourselves a great deal of good by examining the ways in which our attachment styles manifest with our bosses, our direct-reports, and other colleagues, so we can build more secure relationships at work and throughout our lives. For a high-level overview of attachment styles, I recommend this article: https://lnkd.in/ecvYHwzF
Reflection Questions:
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What vulnerable feelings does your job activate in you? How do you make space to feel, validate, and understand these emotions?
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How does your attachment style manifest with in your work relationships? What might help you feel more secure in your relationships at work?
Contact Me:
If you or someone you know would like to explore working or collaborating with me, please send me an email at [email protected] and let me know. I'd love to hear from you! 😀
#work #jobs #growth #attachmenttheory #emotionalwellbeing #psychotherapy
So excited to announce my first psychotherapy group at the gender & sexuality therapy center.
Working with w/White and cisgender folks to understand and process complicated feelings about privilege and fragility is a key part of my practice as a therapist. We have to feel it to heal it, and I hope this group is a new space where participants can share and grow individually and collectively toward antiracist culture and embrace of gender expansiveness.
If you know anyone who may benefit from participating in this group, please share this post and/or the link below to our groups page where you can find more details and how to schedule a phone consult. Questions via DM and email ([email protected]) are always welcome! #psychotherapy #mentalhealth #antiracism #genderdiversity #wellbeing https://lnkd.in/dk7k7S65
