Relationship Trauma Therapy in NYC
I offer 45-minute therapy sessions for relationship trauma, available in person in Midtown Manhattan or virtually for residents of New York State.
I help clients process and heal from relationship trauma, including experiences of coercive control, narcissistic abuse, emotional abuse, gaslighting, manipulation, codependency, and high-conflict relationships.
You might be experiencing...
Difficulty trusting people or letting someone get close
Anxiety when a partner becomes distant or their behavior changes
Fear of abandonment or being rejected
Feeling constantly on alert for signs that something is wrong
Difficulty setting or maintaining boundaries
Feeling responsible for your partner's emotions
People-pleasing or putting your own needs aside
Second-guessing yourself or questioning your perception of what happened
Feeling guilty for leaving or staying in a difficult relationship
Missing someone even though you know the relationship wasn't healthy
Feeling disconnected from yourself or unsure of what you want
Difficulty feeling safe or relaxed in a new relationship
Fear that future relationships will end the same way
Repeating relationship patterns that you wish you could change
Feeling confused about what a healthy relationship should feel like
What is relationship trauma?
Relationship trauma refers to the emotional impact that can result from painful, harmful, or destabilizing experiences within a relationship. This can include emotional manipulation, betrayal, infidelity, abandonment, controlling behavior, repeated rejection, emotional abuse, or relationships where you lost your sense of yourself.
You don't have to identify your experience as “trauma” for it to have affected you.
Sometimes the impact is less obvious. You may simply notice that something changed in the way you relate to other people after a difficult relationship.
How I help with relationship trauma
In therapy, we'll work together to understand what happened, how it affected you, and what you may still be carrying from the experience.
We will make sense of the patterns that developed in response to what you experienced.
We may explore attachment patterns, boundaries, self-worth, trust, emotional and nervous system regulation, and how past relationships influence the way you respond to closeness, conflict, or uncertainty today.
I also incorporate somatic approaches when helpful. Difficult relationship experiences don't only live in our thoughts, they can affect how we experience things in our bodies. You may notice yourself becoming tense, shutting down, becoming anxious, or feeling the need to pull away, even if you can understand that you are safe now.
You may still feel angry, sad, confused, or even miss parts of the relationship. Healing doesn't require you to minimize what happened or pretend it didn't affect you. Therapy can help you make room for the complexity of the experience while beginning to separate your past from your present.
Frequently Asked Questions about Relationship Trauma Therapy
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You don't need to have a formal trauma diagnosis to benefit from therapy. It may be worth exploring if a past relationship continues to affect how you feel, trust, communicate, or connect with others. You might notice anxiety, difficulty with boundaries, fear of abandonment, trouble trusting yourself, or patterns that you don't seem able to change on your own.
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We'll start by understanding your experiences and how they may still be affecting you today. Together, we can explore patterns around trust, attachment, boundaries, self-worth, emotional regulation, and relationships. I also use somatic approaches when helpful, especially when difficult experiences show up through anxiety, tension, shutting down, or feeling on edge.
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Not necessarily every painful relationship experience is trauma, and you don't need to label it before starting therapy. A relationship can have a lasting emotional impact because of betrayal, abandonment, manipulation, instability, repeated rejection, or other experiences that left you feeling confused, hurt, or disconnected from yourself. Therapy can help you understand that impact without forcing it into a particular label.
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Yes. A difficult relationship can influence how you respond to closeness, conflict, uncertainty, or changes in someone's behavior—even in a healthy relationship. You might become hyperaware of signs that something is wrong, have difficulty trusting your partner, pull away when someone gets close, or need frequent reassurance. Therapy can help you understand these patterns and develop new ways of responding.
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Missing someone doesn't necessarily mean the relationship was healthy or that you should go back. Relationships can involve genuine love, attachment, hope, and meaningful memories alongside painful or unhealthy experiences. Therapy can help you make sense of those conflicting feelings without judging yourself for having them.
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Therapy can help you understand why trusting others may feel difficult and work toward developing greater trust in yourself and your ability to recognize what feels healthy for you. Rather than expecting you to simply “trust again,” we can explore boundaries, vulnerability, past experiences, and what you need to feel more comfortable in relationships.
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Repeating a pattern doesn't mean you're choosing unhealthy relationships on purpose. Sometimes familiar relationship dynamics can feel compelling even when they aren't good for us. Therapy can help you understand what may be keeping these patterns in place and become more aware of your needs, boundaries, and choices.
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That's completely okay and normal. You don't have to commit to ongoing therapy just because you're thinking about reaching out.
I offer a free 15-minute consultation where you can tell me a little about what's been going on, ask questions, and get a sense of whether therapy with me feels like the right fit. There's no commitment to continue afterward.
Sometimes taking that first small step is enough to help you figure out what you need.
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Yes. You may be in a healthy relationship and still find yourself feeling anxious, expecting something to go wrong, or becoming distressed when your partner is distant or unavailable. Past experiences can influence how your nervous system responds to situations that resemble something you've experienced before. Therapy can help you understand these reactions without assuming that something is wrong with your current relationship.
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That's okay. You don't have to determine whether your experience qualifies as trauma before reaching out. We can focus on what happened, how it affected you, and what you're experiencing now. You don't need the right label to deserve support.
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No. Therapy should move at a pace that feels manageable for you. We can begin with what feels most relevant or comfortable to talk about and gradually explore deeper experiences as you're ready.
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Yes. I offer individual relationship trauma therapy in NYC for people who are struggling with the lasting effects of difficult relationships, including trust, boundaries, attachment, self-worth, anxiety, and patterns in relationships.
If you're not sure whether therapy is right for you, you can start with a free 15-minute consultation. You can share a little about what you've been experiencing, ask questions, and get a sense of whether we'd be a good fit.
