Expert Gestalt Therapist | Melissa Bennett-Heinz

As a Gestalt therapist, I welcome you to take part in a collaborative therapeutic relationship for exploration and growth.

I provide individual and group therapy to women and men who see therapy as an opportunity to expand their self-awareness and engage in a productive process of discovery and profound healing. I specialize in working with individuals who struggle with perfectionism, setting boundaries, codependency, and with making their own needs a priority. Our work together is built on a foundation of trust and openness, in which every part of you is invited to be known.

As a therapist to therapists, I draw on my extensive academic training and experience across clinical settings to counsel other mental health professionals and provide career guidance through clinical supervision.


Expert Gestalt Therapist | Melissa Bennett-Heinz

As a Gestalt therapist, I welcome you to take part in a collaborative therapeutic relationship for exploration and growth.

I provide individual and group therapy to women and men who see therapy as an opportunity to expand their self-awareness and engage in a productive process of discovery and profound healing. I specialize in working with individuals who struggle with perfectionism, setting boundaries, codependency, and with making their own needs a priority. Our work together is built on a foundation of trust and openness, in which every part of you is invited to be known.

As a therapist to therapists, I draw on my extensive academic training and experience across clinical settings to counsel other mental health professionals and provide career guidance through clinical supervision.

The Gestalt Prayer

“I do my thing and you do your thing. I am not in this world to
live up to your expectations, And you are not in this world to
live up to mine. You are you, and I am I, and if by chance we
find each other, it's beautiful. If not, it can't be helped.”

– Fritz Perls, 1969

Gestalt Therapy Techniques

All of You is Welcome Here

Gestalt psychotherapy is a therapeutic approach that promotes healing based on the belief that human beings are self-regulating and have an innate ability to adapt to the environment around them to live a fuller life. The goal of Gestalt therapy is not to change you. Rather, my role as a Gestalt therapist is to help you recognize the patterns you've developed in adapting to the world around you, and reveal the inner resources and resilience you already possess.

Many of us have had traumatic emotional experiences and developed ways to cope through separation and fragmentation – shutting down or cutting off parts of ourselves. In therapy, I invite every part of you to be known – those you love, those you don't, and those you don't even realize exist.

This form of therapy requires trust and openness, and a safe environment to develop curiosity about your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. From this foundation, I serve as your guide in developing a present-centered awareness, so you can embody an internal shift and experience living as an integrated whole.

Learn More About My Approach to Gestalt Therapy

Individual + Group therapy

If you're like many of my clients, you're ready for something different.

You may feel as if you've spent your life pleasing others at the expense of yourself. Or that you've been a chameleon for too long, always adjusting who you are to fit in. You've been afraid to speak up, set boundaries, set limits, say no. Like many of my clients, you're feeling overwhelmed by unexpressed emotions and may experience anxiety, depression, or low self-worth, or you deal with perfectionism, shame, trauma, grief, or PTSD. If you're a woman, you may be used to quieting your own voice and sacrificing yourself for the needs of others. You might also be dealing with the changes menopause brings – emotionally, physically, and culturally.

Now you're prepared and willing to sort through the layers and overcome your emotional issues – to identify the outdated narratives taught by your family of origin, culture, and society, and to explore the patterns you've created to cope and survive. You're ready to do what it takes to create a new awareness and relationship with yourself in order to fully experience life.

Explore Individual +
Group Therapy Services

Group Therapy Services:
Areas of Expertise

  • – Anxiety

  • – Depression

  • – Low Self-Esteem

  • – Perfectionism

  • – Shame

  • – Trauma and PTSD

  • – Relationships

  • – Grief

  • – Codependency

  • – Women's Issues
    – Men’s Issues

Therapy for Therapists + Clinical Supervision

Working with other professionals in the field is one of my greatest passions.

Therapists, social workers, and mental health counselors come to me for counseling, career guidance, and clinical supervision. I draw on my rigorous academic training and extensive clinical experience to help you develop and expand your skills, including incorporating the use of specific Gestalt techniques.

Explore My Services
for Therapists

"The power of human connection and the healing that takes place when one is truly seen and held is nothing short of miraculous."

– Melissa Bennett-Heinz

About Me

I received my degree in clinical social work from Columbia University, with a concentration in health, mental health, and disabilities.

I completed my residency at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and I've been a practicing therapist since 2002. I was introduced to the Gestalt method by my first clinical supervisor, who used the approach to guide the way she lived her life and our work together. That’s when I consider Gestalt Psychotherapy to have found me.

learn more about me

Testimonials

"Melissa Bennett-Heinz is a highly qualified, trained and seasoned psychotherapist with a unique and impactful approach to serving he beloved clients. I got to know Melissa in recent years through a community we were involved in. Her ongoing commitment to her personal growth and development of admirable!" JJ

"I sought consultation from Melissa for my private therapy practice as I wanted to change the business structure but felt stuck. Melissa is absolutely brilliant! She helped shift my mindset about business by helping me unravel the layers that were preventing me from taking any action. I felt supported and understood the entire time and had gained a clear understanding of what I needed. I cannot say enough good things about her - she is more than worth the cost." AS

"Melissa has this way of being genuine which makes it incredibly simple to feel connected and open."

Melissa was the first therapist among several I had, who I felt truly understood me. She took the time to ask questions, and listened to hear what I had to say, not what she wanted to respond with or say back. I felt seen, honored, and respected. She also challenged me and cared enough to say things that so many others have shriveled back from, she was always honest and direct, even when it may have been painful for me to hear. I might not have been ready, but she said things in a way that I could accept. My relationship with Melissa has been life changing and extraordinarily powerful. If you're looking for a therapist who truly cares and values the work she does, stop looking, you have found her.

"Melissa is really, really good at what she does. I am an analytical person working in a high intensity, high pressure field. I don’t do “feelings”. Or more accurately, I haven’t learned how to deal with feelings. Melissa is changing that. She is kind, compassionate, and creates a space of safety that allows me to learn and grow, to become a more complete person. It’s only been a few months, and the constant anxiety and internal pressure that I have lived with for so many years has decreased dramatically. I feel stronger and better able to cope with, well, life. I cannot recommend Melissa highly enough."

- LH

"Melissa was such a wonderful counselor in my healing journey. She challenged me to look deeper into my strengths when I doubted myself and she taught me how to accept praise for my hard work in mending old wounds. She always displayed exceptional professionalism, helpful guidance, and gentle kindness. I highly recommend Melissa Bennett-Heinz for therapy services." 

-KLC

“Something Melissa taught me in therapy, ‘You have to decide you are sick and fucking tired of being sick and fucking tired.' If you are, then you must contact this woman! She is extraordinarily skilled, educated and talented. Through my therapy with Melissa, I stopped being a victim, I learned to take responsibility, and I grew up. I was an emotional child in an adult body. Today, that emotional child is a part of me but not running my life.” –JA

“I cannot recommend Melissa’s approach enough to anyone who really is ready to make some changes. I have been in therapy on and off for many years, seeing all kinds of practitioners who specialize in one thing or another – CBT, psychoanalytic, DBT, EMDR, existential and others that I don’t remember. They each helped a bit at the time, but I continued to struggle. I have been working with Melissa for a few years and she has helped me change my entire way of living from the inside. I have made important and profound changes because I can identify what I am actually doing in life and show up in a new way. I have found that I don’t have to stay small and scared and let everything happen to me. I have some say in my life choices. Melissa taught me that my voice is important and matters.” –LH

"Being able to work with Melissa was truly a blessing. She is very kind, empathetic, insightful, and a great therapist.” – SD

“I was put in therapy as a kid and prescribed medication for years. I was stricken with anxiety when I sought help again from a therapist, expecting more of what I had already received. Melissa singlehandedly demonstrated that a therapist can care, work hard to help you help yourself, and [help you] make some drastic changes in your life for the better.” –MC

“One thing I know to be very true of Melissa and her approach: She will always tell you the truth. Too many people lied and told me what I wanted to hear, or didn’t say shit. Her approach is warm, authentic, and genuine. (She also kicked my ass.) I have trust issues with everyone and Melissa did not expect me to trust her. In fact, she told me she didn’t want me to trust her until she earned it. Our relationship has been the most impactful relationship in my life.” –DMK

“I have worked with Melissa for years. I walk away from every session feeling confident and empowered to put the tools and suggestions to use. To say she has completely transformed how I process my emotions and handle my interpersonal relationships would be an understatement. I truly feel that I have the skills to work through any adversity in my life.” –KS

"Meeting with Melissa has changed my life in many ways. She's helped me find tools that reduce my anxiety in moments of panic and relieve everyday stress. I now feel comfortable expressing myself and being seen by others. Thoughts that once kept me from going outside are now accompanied by reminders of how I am supported in my life. Melissa is a very authentic, attentive, and caring person. She brings thoughtful images and practices into therapy and challenges you to think creatively. Doing Gestalt therapy, I've experienced growth that I couldn't have imagined for myself a year ago." –BO

“I appreciate everything Melissa has done to help me process and work through things. I feel like I am in a much better place than I was two years ago and I’m confident that I can continue improving. Now I trust that I know what to do when life gets tough.” –HP

“Melissa was the first person who told me that my opinion was important, she wanted to hear it, and that my voice matters.” –LB

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