Gabrielle E. Rieckhof (She/her)

I believe knowledge is power and having a better understanding why we act the way we do allows us to have greater agency in our lives. Because we experience the world and understand ourselves not only with our minds but also through our bodies, my approach uses traditional talk therapy (exploring cognition and emotions) and sensorimotor therapy (exploring non-verbal automatic physical habits and body sensations). Sessions may involve talking about your experiences and feelings, probing unconscious patterns, or using movement and mindfulness, all in the hopes of getting to a deeper and more authentic understanding of yourself.

I work both in person and virtually, with adults dealing with anxiety, depression, grief/loss, and relationship problems. My clinical specialties include working with women who are facing challenges at transitional points in their lives, immigrants and multi-racial folks dealing with acculturation and racism, and people with trauma histories. Moreover as a biracial individual, I work with the complexities of cross-cultural living (especially between collectivist cultures like Indian/Southeast Asian and individualistic ones like America) as they relate to issues of identity, diversity, and acculturation and affect a person’s well-being.

Additionally, after working in academic science for more than three decades, I welcome working with students and professionals from academia and technology fields and can help with issues related to burnout, imposter phenomenon, and self-worth linked to professional achievement.

I draw upon multiple knowledge bases and approaches to inform my work. These include relational psychodynamic psychotherapy as a tool to understand how the therapeutic relationship can provide insight into an individual’s style of relating to others, attachment theory and research in interpersonal neurobiology (especially infant-caregiver interactions), research on how experiences influence gene expression, and the interrelationship between mind and body and how our histories and emotions manifest in somatic patterns. What we choose as a treatment plan will depend upon your unique identity and particular needs, and will be co-constructed between us.

I received my PhD in developmental biology and genetics from Columbia University, did a postdoc at MIT in neuroscience and obtained a MA in mental health counseling from New York University. I did my clinical externship at Baruch College Counseling Center where I continue to work as a Trauma Counselor.