Anne F. Malave

I am a clinical psychologist-psychoanalyst in private practice. My main focus is on providing psychotherapy to individuals, couples, and small groups. I treat adults and adolescents. I work in both short-term and long-term, intensive treatments. My treatment orientation is interpersonal/relational with a pragmatic and practical clinical approach. I put an emphasis on the importance of relationships, and of helping people improve the quality of significant relationships that may be negatively affected by, or contributing to the person’s emotional difficulties.

I work with general issues that trouble people, such as anxiety, depression and other mood disorders, relationship difficulties, and developmental transitions. I also have 2 areas of special interest.

My first main area of special interest is in helping people face infertility/fertility challenges, from diagnosis through resolution, either through fertility treatments, third party reproduction, adoption or child free living. I run small groups for General Infertility, Donor Egg Conception, and Parenting After Egg Donor Conception. I help people find ways to talk about donor conception/surrogacy and adoption origins and other related matters with their children and other significant people, and also how to deal with unwanted and intrusive questions and comments. Besides providing psychotherapy/fertility counseling I also consult with fertility clinic, egg and sperm bank, and adoption agencies, and I provide Psychoeducational Interviews for Intended Parents, and Psychological Evaluations of Egg Donors and for Inter-Country Adoption. I also wotk with donor conceived persons and people who have been adopted.

My second area of special interest is in the areas of eating disorders, compulsions, and addictions (mainly food, alcoholism and substance abuse). I believe that addiction problems are the central issue of our time, as so many people deal with the challenges of feeling out of control and overwhelmed with disturbing feelings by using a substance.

In all my work I aim to conceptualize people’s lives in terms of both the typical and common experiences associated with their particular problem as well as the unique features related to their own specific life experience. I seek to find a way for people to recognize and build on strengths, expand coping methods, and reach towards personal growth and the promotion of resilience.

As an immigrant who has lived in different cultures (born and raised in England, I have lived in New York since 1976) I have a particular interest in cultural complexity, as well as in differences of all kinds. I strive to help people find ways to maintain their individuality while integrating and finding ways to belong “inside the circle”, in community with others.