Barbara Freedman,MSW, LCSW

Barbara Freedman,MSW, LCSW

Professions: Clinical Social Worker, Counselor, Psychotherapist
License Status: I'm a licensed professional.
Primary Credential: Licensed Clinical Social Worker - 081503/R PSYCHOTHERAPY PRIVILEGE
Secondary Credential: LCSW - 11294 and 006080

Offices

421 New Karner Road
Suite 8
Colonie, New York 12205

My Approach to Helping

People arrive at a therapists office, having tried their best way of getting along in the world, regardless of age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation and so forth. A universal reason for seeking outside help is distress in a primary relationship. Relationship strife causes suffering, confusion and profound misery. Often relational troubles have their origin and are embedded in our earliest relationships dating back to childhood. In therapy, I help individuals understand how early relationships with parents, siblings and significant others impacts relationship troubles in the here and now. A solid therapeutic relationship offers an opportunity for exploration and understanding one's own mind at the deepest level. This can facilitate healing, new pathways of relating, greater authenticity, and living a life that's true to oneself. Trusting one's own mind provides a knowing that despite life's challenges and ambiguity, our center will hold and not break apart, even when life tosses us around. Processing loss and making room for grieving is essential for well being and emotional health, now and later. There are clinicians who offer rapid new age symptom relief interventions that promise to heal trauma in several sessions. Such a cure does not exist. Many of the individuals making these claims also pretend to be experts in neuroscience. All of us are touched by grief, loss, transition and trauma. This is the very nature of life. Rather then perceiving grief as an adversary to be quickly dismantled and discarded, it may be far more productive to reappraise the value of grief; as humanizing, a potential road to self discovery, increased resilience and other life affirming qualities.

More Info About My Practice

From the mid eighties through the mid nineties, I worked as a primary adolescent and family psychotherapist on a Stanford University inpatient child psychiatry unit in San Jose, California. Adolescents and families presented with depression, anxiety disorders, trauma, divorce, parent child conflicts, attachment issues, sexual orientation and identity disorders, to name a few. Areas of intense treatment focus in my work with adolescents and families centers around helping parents understand what is healthy self esteem and ways to grow it in their children. Adolescents who are grounded and feel good about themselves are able to make healthy decisions about relationships, limit setting and boundaries. In treatment, I help parents facilitate their child's short and long term goals. Current research shows that adolescents are the most stressed out population in the in the country. No wonder, with all the pressure to compete in every arena; social, academic, athletic, material-also known as the "pseudo" riches. Children and adolescents have a very narrow window, if they have one at all to dream, to play with ideas and to "just be" vs. perform and achieve.

Average cost per session: $100 plus/ Cash, check, credit card. Sliding scale offered based on need. Out of network insurance available.

Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With

Group starting September 2016- Becoming and practicing gratefulness; how the new science of gratitude can make you happier! This group will focus on ways to cultivate and sustain a path forn practicing gratefulness in a warm and harmonious milieu.The practice of gratitude is simple, yet transformational. Becoming grateful in the day to day shofts our focus from what life lacks to a more present state of experiencing abundance. We begin by identifying what makes us grateful and how to tap into feeling grateful in the face of adversity and life's uncertainty. Science supports that consistent gratitude practice changes our brains, improves immunity, makes us healthier and more resilient. It increases our sense of well being and makes it far more possible to manage and embrace the value of our day to day struggles, whatever they are...

How Psychotherapy Can Help

This particular group locates our attention on ways to experience and sustain a state of gratefulness; full/abundance vs emptiness, vibrance vs deadness, the sense of having the riches vs the feeling of deprivation. We begin by identifying what makesn us feel grateful- group members will explore and share activities/stategies that promote and enhance one's experience of gratitude. Breathing exercises and mindfulness will be layered into the group experience. A gratitude practice lowers blood pressure, stimulates increased resilience, empathy and well being.

Ages I Work With

  • Teens
  • Adults
  • Elders

Languages

  • English

Groups I Work With

    Many college age and young adults I see in my practice are experiencing difficulty launching themselves in the next phase of life, college, work, graduate school; they are ill prepared to manage life on their own. Issues concerning identity, relationships, study and work inhibitions and self initiative are all vital to the the young adult's development. Mastery of these germane psychological issues in the therapeutic relationship increases an individual's internal sense of security, competence, agency and potential for success now and throughout the life span.
    I also work with middle aged and aged population. Issues pertaining to the aging process; grief, loss, illness, greater concern about what the future holds and worry whether one will find a secure place in it are key. Overcoming loss, regrets and working through unfinished business is tantamount to restoring an inner world that provides consolidation, security and peace for the aging individual.

Client Concerns I Treat

  • Abortion / Post Abortion Issues
  • Academic Concerns
  • Addictions and Compulsions
  • Adjusting to Change / Life Transitions
  • Adoption / Reunion Issues
  • Aging and Geriatric Issues
  • Anger
  • Anxiety
  • Attachment Issues
  • Bipolar
  • Blended Family Issues
  • Body Image
  • Breakup
  • Bullying
  • Cancer
  • Career Choice
  • Caregiver Issues / Stress
  • Child and/or Adolescent Issues
  • Chronic Pain
  • Communication Problems
  • Depression
  • Divorce / Divorce Adjustment
  • Family of Origin Issues
  • Family Problems
  • Gambling Addiction
  • Grief, Loss, and Bereavement
  • Health / Illness / Medical Issues
  • Identity Issues
  • Individuation
  • Internet Addiction
  • LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Issues
  • Life Purpose / Meaning / Inner-Guidance
  • Men's Issues
  • Midlife Crisis / Midlife Transition
  • Mood Swings / Mood Disturbance
  • Obsessions and Compulsions (OCD)
  • Parenting
  • Posttraumatic Stress / Trauma
  • Relationships and Marriage
  • Self-Actualization
  • Self-Confidence
  • Self-Esteem
  • Sex Addiction
  • Shame
  • Stress
  • Trust Issues
  • Women's Issues
  • Workplace Issues
  • Young Adult Issues

Types of Therapy

  • Integration of different therapy models
  • Internal Family Systems (IFS)
  • Mindfulness-Based Interventions
  • Parent Work
  • Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
  • Psychodynamic
  • Relational Life Therapy
  • Relational Psychotherapy
  • Self Psychology

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