Dr. Ellen Kessel

I am a licensed clinical psychologist with experience in hospital, residential, outpatient, and private practice settings. I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Stony Brook University, completed my clinical internship at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and completed postdoctoral research training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

I work with adults and youth facing anxiety, depression, trauma-related symptoms, relationship difficulties, identity concerns, emotion dysregulation, life transitions, and personality-related struggles. My clinical background also includes psychological assessment and diagnostic clarification for individuals with mood disorders, co-occurring substance use, and longstanding interpersonal difficulties.

My style is warm, thoughtful, direct, and engaged. I help clients make sense of what they are experiencing while also building greater flexibility, self-trust, and capacity for change.

My approach is integrative, relational, and evidence-informed. I draw from psychodynamic therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, mentalization-based therapy, and developmental perspectives.

In therapy, I pay close attention to emotions, relationships, coping strategies, and the ways earlier experiences can shape current reactions. I help clients better understand recurring patterns, strengthen boundaries, clarify what they feel and need, and develop more flexible ways of responding to themselves and others.

I believe therapy should be both reflective and practical. Insight matters, but it is most useful when it helps people feel less stuck and make meaningful changes in how they relate, cope, decide, and move through their lives.

In the first session, we will talk about what brings you to therapy now, what has been difficult recently, and what you are hoping will change. I will ask about your current symptoms, relationships, history, strengths, and prior experiences with treatment. My goal is to understand the full context rather than reduce you to a diagnosis.

You do not need to arrive with everything perfectly organised. We will work together to make sense of what feels most important and begin identifying goals for therapy. By the end of the first few sessions, I aim to give you a clearer understanding of how I am thinking about your concerns and how we might work together in a focused, collaborative way.