Irina Simidchieva

* I work with therapists.

* I accept UMR for Mount Sinai employees/United Healthcare Choice Plus Network - UMR insurance.

The motto of my practice is "Healing through Metaphor." I come from the belief that the therapeutic process is a creative process. A metaphor is the symbolic representation of something else. Our inner worlds, our fantasies, are already a metaphor; in psychotherapy, we metaphorically transfer feelings, thoughts, and emotions. The relationship between patient and therapist is also a metaphor: the two of them are co-creating an imaginary relationship based on their existing relationships. The therapeutic space becomes a micro-real world where we bring and repeat our past behaviors. We create a parallel imaginary reality in which we participate with our real feelings, thoughts, and desires—and that makes it meaningful and real. This relationship is what heals in therapy.

I believe that the therapeutic process is a two-person process, not one-person and the main helping tool in this is the therapeutic relationships. As a therapist, I pay special attention to therapeutic relationships because this is what heals in therapy.

In a safe, non-judgmental environment, we will have the chance to understand unconscious motivations, resolve relationship issues and change patterns of behaviors, manage stressors, gain support through major life transitions, and alleviate and manage anxiety and depression.