ABOUT Debbie melamed
I am a clinical psychologist and a Fellow in the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, an experienced therapist with twenty-five years in the field, and I specialize in treating anxiety problems at SohoCognitive, my downtown NYC psychotherapy practice.
Sophisticated CBT is my experienced, practical approach to doing therapy, and it’s an outgrowth of my unique background in the field.
Originally trained and working as a psychodynamic talk therapist, I later completely re-oriented my practice when I fell in love with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and all it could do. Over time I came to see that I was practicing CBT in a new way, with more depth and individual tailoring, and the result is what I came to call “Sophisticated CBT.”
With Sophisticated CBT my aim is for my clients to leave my office with a fresh perspective, feeling more in control, and with the tools and support they need to make lasting changes in their lives.
I focus my clinical practice in two areas. The first is treatment for specific anxiety problems like panic attacks, OCD, or public speaking anxiety, and the second is treatment for what people think of as regular “talk therapy” issues. That means we work on relationship or dating troubles, career goals, the difficult boss at work that keeps someone up at night, and so on. Often people come in for the former, but stay a bit longer to sort out the latter.
My other passion at work is in training and supervising experienced talk therapists who are unfamiliar with (or even skeptical about!) the benefits of a sophisticated CBT approach. By spreading the word to these therapists, I like to think I’m opening an important dialog and having a positive impact on their clinical work, and ultimately on the patients that they see.
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I completed my advanced training in CBT at the foremost Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research in Philadelphia, in a comprehensive post-doctoral program that is unfortunately no longer offered. I am a Fellow and a Certified Trainer/Consultant in the Academy of Cognitive Therapy. These credentials are awarded to professionals who are skilled CBT clinicians and also serve as supervisors and trainers for other developing cognitive behavioral therapists. In addition, I serve on the Credentialing Committee for the Academy, evaluating candidates for Academy membership.
My early professional training includes a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the City University of New York. I interned at St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital, and early in my career worked in inpatient psychiatry at Metropolitan Hospital in NYC. Prior to expanding my private practice to full-time, I was a Supervising Psychologist and the Coordinator of Group Psychotherapy services in the Outpatient Psychiatry Department at St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York.
Besides clinical work, I have maintained a teaching & supervision practice, and for years have run a comprehensive workshop series called “CBT for Psychodynamic Therapists.” These are seminars and supervision groups for NYC mental health practitioners who want to broaden their horizons, but prefer to learn from someone who understands and respects their baseline orientation. It’s been a rich experience, as many of the members have stayed on for years through different learning opportunities.
In addition, for eight years I was on faculty at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University, helping to shape the next generation of cognitive therapists. At Ferkauf, I taught the CBT supervision seminars to doctoral students, and I also served as the Assistant Director of the CBT Clinic for Anxiety and Depression.
I am licensed clinical psychologist in New York State, the as well as an approved provider of continuing education. My current professional memberships include the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and NYC-CBT, of which I am a Founding Member.
Sophisticated CBT
MY Journey AS A THERAPIST
I originally trained in a specialty known as “psychodynamic” psychotherapy, which is the open-ended, exploratory talk therapy historically practiced in New York City. While this approach does provide support and can help patients gain insight into the origins of their problems, as a therapist, I grew increasingly impatient with its glacial pace and limited impact on my clients’ day-to-day lives.
At one point, searching for a more useful approach for a client who sought help for her panic attacks, I decided to teach myself the basics of cognitive therapy for panic and anxiety. I was immediately awed by the results in our work together. Not only did this woman experience dramatic relief, but as I introduced the cognitive approach across my practice, the response was overwhelmingly positive. My clients actually started to feel more in control, and to leave my office with a fresh perspective and an effective set of tools to use when they faced challenges. I was totally energized and eager for more.
EVOLUTION OF SOPHISTICATED CBT
Over the next couple of years, I continued to immerse myself in the cognitive-behavioral model and techniques, and became skilled at treating panic attacks and other anxiety disorders. I pursued advanced training at “the source,” the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research, and became a Fellow and a Certified Trainer/Consultant in the Academy of Cognitive Therapy.
It was exciting to immerse myself in this new way of thinking and working, and to see my clients benefiting and enjoying it as well, but all along colleagues would ask me, how does all of this fit with all you believe about the importance of the supportive therapy relationship, of understanding people’s complex backgrounds, and trying to help people change for the long run? I came to see that, having grounded myself in those principles for so long, that approach is in my bones, and I believe it’s that kind of clinical sophistication that informs my cognitive work every day.