Christopher Rushton

Most people don’t start therapy because life is going well. They start because something hit hard—a trauma, betrayal, loss, burnout, panic, or a moment when the life they built suddenly stops working. I work from a simple premise: crises change identity. The question is whether that change happens unconsciously through fear and avoidance—or deliberately through recovery and growth. My approach, CRUSH: Identity After Impact, helps people stabilize after the storm and reclaim control of their lives. Using trauma-informed methods including EMDR, along with practical tools from CBT and DBT, we reduce the intensity of anxiety, intrusive memories, anger, and emotional overwhelm so you can think clearly again and begin rebuilding. But symptom relief is only the beginning.

Real change requires understanding who you became because of what happened to you. Drawing from Jungian depth psychology and Adlerian lifestyle theory, we examine the deeper patterns—beliefs, roles, and identities—that formed earlier in life and often get shaken during crisis. The goal is to come through impact stronger, clearer, and more aligned with who you actually want to be.

Working on Rikers, crisis counseling after 9/11 and Hurricane Sandy, training at Columbia University, and my own personal tragedies have prepared me for this. I do not have all the answers. You, on the other hand, likely hold the keys that you'll need to open the door. Together, let’s find those keys, and let’s open the door. Crush is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Check out our + reviews on Zocdoc.

Crush is an LCSW in New York Connecticut, and New Jersey. Insurance approved in NY (United Health Care, Anthem BCBS, Aetna, Cigna, Oscar, Oxford, Quest) and in NJ (UHC, Aetna, Cigna, Oxford, Optum, Quest).

Check out our 60+ reviews on Zocdoc.

Write to Crush at [email protected]

And for more information, please visit CrushCounseling.com