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.
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.
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.
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.
Testimonials
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