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 understanding of yourself.

I work 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 multiracial folks trying to thrive in our society and people with trauma histories. Additionally, after working in academic science for more than three decades, I welcome working with students and professionals from academia and technology fields.

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, research in interpersonal neurobiology (especially infant-caregiver interactions) and attachment theory, 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.