Lyudmila Kim

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with over 20 years of professional experience across social services, international consultancy, and clinical practice, the latter developed over the past 7 years in New York State. I hold a graduate degree in Psychology and a Master of Science in Social Work. My work is grounded in a deep belief that a strong therapeutic relationship is what makes healing possible.

I work with a diverse range of individuals, families, and couples. My clients come from a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, including members of the LGBTQ+ community, and include people living with depression, anxiety, other mood and anxiety disorders, OCD, and PTSD/cPTSD, as well as those facing difficult life circumstances such as trauma, childhood adversity, severe poverty, migration, discrimination, and domestic violence. I have a particular commitment to working with trauma survivors. When needed, I also advocate for my clients — navigating systems, resources, and services alongside therapy.

My approach is person-centered and collaborative — I see my clients as the experts on their own lives, and my role is to support them in finding their own path forward. I draw on a range of evidence-based modalities, including Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Solution-Focused Therapy, Attachment-Based Therapy, CBT, DBT, and psychodynamic approaches, tailoring my work to each client's unique needs and goals. I specialize in trauma therapy and am trained and certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), an evidence-based approach shown to be highly effective for trauma and PTSD.

The first session is an intake — we will gather some information together: what brings you to therapy, the circumstances and factors that may be contributing to what you are experiencing, and equally importantly, your strengths and resources. This is sometimes called a biopsychosocial assessment, but in practice it is simply me trying to understand you as fully as possible. My goal is to create a safe, non-judgmental space where you can share and begin to make sense of your experience. You share as much as you feel ready to share — there is no pressure to go further than you want to.

Alongside the information gathering, my main goal in the first session is to begin building a therapeutic alliance — that foundation of trust and connection that makes therapy work. I want you to feel genuinely heard and listened to, and I bring an empathic and trauma-informed lens to our exploration of your history and current challenges.

By the end of the session, I will share my thoughts on what approaches might work well for you — but the decision is always yours. You can choose to try what I suggest, ask for something different, or decide to look for another provider. That is completely fine. What matters is that you find the right fit for you.