I am a gay, white cisgender male who has lived in New York City for over 15 years. I am married, able-bodied, agnostic yet interested in spirituality (and especially astrology — shout out to all my Leo/Virgos out there!). I've lived all over the country (and outside of it) before settling in NYC, and I’ve always been an avid traveler. Both of these experiences profoundly inform who I am and have helped me appreciate the need for a multicultural approach to therapy. I love the ballet, museums, and film; and when I’m not working, I love to cook (and grocery shopping) – things I always used to do with my mother, who was a food journalist.

I’m fascinated by people’s stories. My undergraduate degree was in film and television production (as well as psychology) and I worked for many years making documentary television — shows for Discovery, Travel Channel, and Animal Planet. In this capacity I interviewed a wide variety of people, including survivors of crimes, academics, people suffering from physical and mental health challenges; and even serial killers! In doing so, I came to understand the power of the narratives we create about our lives. I eventually decided to use this experience to help people create new narratives, find new roles, and write new scripts.

I usually work from a mindfulness-based cognitive-behavioral perspective. For anyone that hasn’t heard of this, these are terms that basically mean – we will examine how your thinking affects your emotions and behaviors. By becoming aware of unhealthy thought patterns, we can learn to think differently; , which will soften our emotions And subsequently prevent self-defeating behaviors.

Beyond examining your thoughts, emotions and behaviors, we will look at our relationship, which I view as an important component of healing. Being aware of our dynamic will provide information about the ways you interact in relationships with others; as well as be a vehicle for having healing experiences of unconditional love.

To do this, I think it’s important to show that I am human too. I am not perfect; I also struggle. And to show this, I prefer not to be a “blank slate,” but to share myself and who I am (if you want to know).

I often work in a more direct manner, giving you concrete tools that you can use to help yourself; as well as skills to help you manage emotions or change habits. Of course, all of this will depend upon you! Each treatment will be a collaborative process, depending on what works best for you.

While I work with all mental health issues (anxiety, depression, anger-management, etc.), I do so through a trauma-informed lens, as that has been my main area of focus and training, both here and abroad (I trained at a refugee center in East Africa). I also specialize in issues of identity, gender and sexuality, self-acceptance and body image.

I have specific expertise in working with stigmatized groups, like LGBTQ+, HIV+, non-binary and gender-creative folx, sex workers, poly, kink, and other people from diverse sexual and gender experiences; as well as refugees and immigrants; and people living with complex trauma.

I also specialize in relationship counseling, especially with polyamorous folx (polycules, triads/throuples).

I charge $350 for individual therapy and $400 and up (depending on number of partners) for relationship therapy. Limited sliding scale fee slots are available. Payment is accepted using credit/debit cards, or HSA/FSAs.

Email me at: daniel@heartspace-therapy.com to book a free 15-minute consultation.