Joy

Ripplinger

My clinical work in Manhattan is flourishing with clients who live in their heads. They are anxious or depressed, and they are trapped in the middle of their thinking mind. It’s the worst sort of imprisonment. I know; I’ve been there. The mind of an anxious and/or ...

June is Gay Pride month, culminating this Sunday, June 24th with the NYC Gay Pride Parade. Gay Pride means many things to many people, but it usually involves taking a positive stance against discrimination and violence directed toward LGBTQ+ people, promoting their self-affirmation, ...

Growth inevitably requires change. No matter how hard we try, things never stay the same. Sometimes we avoid change and sometimes we embrace it. People change, relationships change and organizations change… Citron Hennessey is pleased to announce our new offices at ...

We all do it. Whether it’s the Manhattan Transportation Authority (MTA), our significant other, or the weather, we love to complain about it. Some of us complain more than others; it almost seems as if complaining is at the center of their identity. You know who I’m ...

I am so excited about the Winter Olympic Games. While I’m not an avid sports fan, I feel we owe it to these dedicated, passionate, and extremely gifted athletes to pay attention to what they’re doing. Beyond the sheer physical strength and stamina that’s necessary ...

With the holidays and the end of the year upon us, everyone wants a break. We’re tired. 2017 was a difficult, intense year for many of us personally and for Americans collectively as well. The mental health counselors at Citron Hennessey come across many people in Manhattan ...

Recently, I was listening to a Sounds True podcast in which Linda Graham, author of Bouncing Back: Rewiring the Brain for Maximum Resilience, was describing some findings from neuroscience about how babies see and experience the world. It turns out the preverbal infant ...

In my last post, I wrote about how the ACT model of therapy creates the conditions for growth and healing. I thought it would be useful to spend my next few blogs writing specifically about each component of the ACT approach in more detail. The 3 main components of ACT ...

“All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else.” – Buddha As a therapist, I’m clearly interested in what gives rise to mental health issues ...

The other day, I was passing through one of those quaint East Village gardens on a sunny afternoon and paused at a small patch of wildflowers that seemed especially happy about the warm weather. These flowers were about 10 inches tall, bright yellow, and literally quivering ...

I’m in love with my smart phone. There; I said it. “Love?” You might ask. “Really?” Really. The other night, I couldn’t find my phone. It was time for bed, and my phone was nowhere to be found. I tried calling it from my ostensibly obsolete landline, but since ...

I have a contentious complainer that lives inside my head, who is really good at pointing out everything that is “bad” about everything. When my inner critic is the only inner voice I listen to, I feel grumpy, reactive, stuck and judgmental. Sound familiar? It turns ...

March is Women’s History Month. According to the Women’s History Month website, we are “paying tribute to the generations of women whose commitment to nature and the planet have proved invaluable to society.” When I think of women’s history, I also think about ...

As shocked, heartbroken and horrified as I was last Wednesday morning at hearing the news that Donald Trump was to be our next president, I also had to quickly find a way to talk about it with my children, my students and my clients. As the week wore on and I sat with ...

Anyone living in New York would agree this is one of the most fast-paced, aggressive, competitive and impersonal cities in the world. Out on the sidewalk, most of us New Yorkers impatiently swerve quickly in and out of pedestrian traffic, jammed with clueless, camera-wielding ...