Dr Hunter is a psychologist and psychoanalyst. She is interested in helping people move from feeling DEAD, meaning shut down, numb, and uninspired, to feeling RED, like the color, full of passion, vibrancy and light-in other words, from feeling unimaginative or gray, to feeling full of psychic energy, and more creative about the little things AND big things. She knows how to help you understand what you dream about and why, what your unconscious parts might be trying to tell you. Trained in psychology, psychoanalysis, IFS (Internal Family Systems), EMDR, and CBT, Dr Hunter knows how to help people develop better emotional habits ,that are life sustaining instead of life denying. Along with her private practice, she teaches and supervises candidates at the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis and previously taught at the Suffolk Institute for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy.
Dr Hunter believes that patients should have a voice in their therapy and she asks her patients 'how are we doing.?' Negative feedback is as important as positive and she welcomes it all. No relationship, even the therapy relationship, is perfect and fine tuning is part of the process. Building trust and a feeling of emotional safety is her first priorty and everything flows from there.
Dr Hunter has a full time practice in New York City, in person and by telehealth depending on preference. Some people insist on in person sessions initially ,and then find that zoom calls are every bit as effective. Others don't. It all depends.
Dr Hunter feels strongly about helping couples caught in vicious cycles of criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling. The renowned researchers John and Julie Gottman call these bad habits the FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE. Dr Hunter likes helping couples turn themselves around, so their relationships can have more fun, surprise and meaning at their core. She also welcomes couples struggling with trust and long term feelings of disappointment. These patterns take time to tease out, untangle, and rebraid into patterns that are softer and more meaningful.
Finally, as she has grown older, she has also grown more interested in helping people transform depressed and inflexible thinking patterns about the aging process, into more youthful and life sustaining ones. She thinks our older years should be our best ones.
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“While many of us work hard to earn the right to be comfortable and avoid challenge in later adulthood, this strategy runs the risk of sending our brains the message that they no longer need to keep growing this is the worst message you can give to an organ of adaptation.”
People can get down on themselves as they age, and develop bad habits that become ingrained. Self-statements like "I am no longer attractive" - "I have no memory anymore" - "It's hell to get old."- "I am no longer sexy"- "I have nothing to look forward to but death." can start out a little bit at a time and build on themselves until you become them! And this is unnecessary in this day and age of modern medical miracles. These statements can be modified by speaking with someone who 'gets' you, and eventually helps you, to understand yourself. Dream work and EMDR can awaken your mind, and your unconscious can begin to dream new dreams and become more supple, more creative, more energized. Yes it's true that we slow down a little as we age, and I am not suggesting we stop the process, but rather grow and flourish through it. How we think about ourselves make a gigantic difference in how we conduct our lives. Let's help you to develop new ways of thinking, and behaving, that empower you and help you master your environment, rather than letting the negative prejudices undermine your attitude. In doing so you can transform your present and future, whether it involves days, years, or decades.