Dr. Patricia Hunter

Psychologist

Dr Patricia  Hunter is an integrative  psychologist and psychoanalyst. She originally trained in applied behavior analysis and was at the forefront of the cognitive behavioral revolution (helping people understand the way their thoughts determine  their feelings). Developing an interest in trauma and how it affects children in particular, she spent five more years of training to became an interpersonal psychoanalyst. Certification in Couples and Family Therapy from  the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis soon followed.  She currently teaches a course in Object Relations, (which explores how our earliest childhood experiences  determine our adult attachment styles)  at the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis. Highly skilled in IFS (Internal Family Systems) as well as EMDR, Dr Hunter believes this combination of experiences  empowers her to help her patients become more alive and hopeful about themselves and their futures, more able to create a life they can genuinely call their own. Interested in pushing herself to keep up with changes in the field,  Dr Hunter is currently studying  AEDP (Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Processing), a cutting edge therapy approach that focuses more  intensively than most therapies,  on embracing one's own emotional experience.  During and since the pandemic she has  presented  papers on politics, identity, psychoanalysis and couples therapy at national and international conferences.

Beyond TraumaDiscovering JoyAdmiring Age

“While many of us work hard to earn the right to be comfortable and avoid challenge in later adulthood, this strategy runs the risk of sending our brains the message that they no longer need to keep growing this is the worst message you can give to an organ of adaptation.”

– Colarusso
2008
Contact me by calling 917.306.4167 or online

Growing and Flourishing

"When individuals reach old age, the aging stereotypes internalized in childhood, and then reinforced for decades, become self stereotypes that contribute to unnecessary and tragic emotional and cognitive decline." Becca Levy

People can get down on themselves as they age, and develop bad habits that become ingrained. Self-statements like "I am no longer attractive" - "I have no memory anymore" - "It's hell to get old."- "I am no longer sexy"- "I have nothing to look forward to but death." can start out a little bit at a time and build on themselves until you become them! And this is unnecessary in this day and age of modern medical miracles. These statements can be modified by speaking with someone who 'gets' you, and eventually helps you, to understand yourself. Dream work and EMDR can awaken your mind, and your unconscious can begin to dream new dreams and become more supple, more creative, more energized. Yes it's true that we slow down a little as we age, and I am not suggesting we stop the process, but rather grow and flourish through it. How we think about ourselves make a gigantic difference in how we conduct our lives. Let's help you to develop new ways of thinking, and behaving, that empower you and help you master your environment, rather than letting the negative prejudices undermine your attitude. In doing so you can transform your present and future, whether it involves days, years, or decades.

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