Aviva Gitlin
Psy.D
I have a Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology, I have been in practice in clinical facilities since 1989, and have been in full-time private practice as a therapist working with individuals and couples since 1999.
I am an integrative therapist. I draw on several therapeutic traditions including psychodynamic therapy, systems theory, and Internal Family Systems theory (IFS) in my practice. I believe that people live fruitfully when they are emotionally in tune with themselves and are meaningfully connected to others.
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Qualifications
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I began my education in psychology as an undergraduate at University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. My work as an individual therapist began while studying for my Masters degree in Psychology at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. My training and work then continued when I moved to New York in 1993 and subsequently received my Doctorate degree in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University, NY. The experience of having lived on three different continents and in completely different cultures has given me a rich appreciation of the impact of culture, socio-economics, and immigration on both individual and couple dynamics, and family life.
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Experience
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My post-doctoral training in psychology has allowed me to immerse myself in contemporary approaches to individual and couples therapy.
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In 2008, I graduated psychoanalytic training at the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (WCSPP).
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For the past seven years, I have participated in a monthly supervision group with renowned couples therapist, Esther Perel, in which we have focused on eroticism and "aliveness" in relationships. I have also trained in contemporary understanding of adult sexual intimacy.
With extensive experience training professional therapists in psychodynamic therapy,
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I currently head the Curriculum Committee of WCSPP where I am also a faculty member. I teach an advanced seminar on dreams, and a seminar on sexuality.
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I am also an adjunct faculty member of The Ferkauf School of Psychology at Yeshiva University, where I have supervised students since 2005.
Aviva's dream group has been a wonderful experience. Like poetry, it has shown me that
each word counts and a whole psyche is revealed in a few brush strokes and phrases. It has been astonishing to see a portrait of a person levitate from the page — Margot Rubenstien MD