“With a little courage, so much is possible.”
Olivia C. Padelukas, Licensed Therapist & Founder of Liv Mental Health
About Liv Mental Health
Therapy is more than understanding what’s happening. It’s about creating the space to experience something different.
At Liv Mental Health, we believe meaningful change begins with feeling seen, becoming curious about what is, and making room for new possibilities. Therapy can offer a place to slow down, notice what is often overlooked, and explore what becomes possible when we approach ourselves and our relationships with greater awareness.
What We Believe About Therapy
Beyond insight.
Sometimes we already know a lot about ourselves. We know what we’re anxious about. We recognize the patterns we repeat, and may even understand how they developed.
And yet, understanding why something happens does not always change what happens.
We can know that we’re being hard on ourselves and still hear that critical voice. We can understand that we tend to pull away when we feel vulnerable and still find ourselves doing it.
When we have space to slow down and become more aware of what’s happening within us, we can begin to experience things more directly, rather than only understanding them intellectually or from a distance. We can notice what’s happening as it unfolds, stay with it a little longer, and begin to discover what else might be possible.
For us, therapy is not only about gaining insight. It’s about developing the capacity to stay present with your experience, meeting it with greater awareness and curiosity, and creating more room for something different.
Making space for something new.
We can become so accustomed to certain ways of thinking, feeling, and responding that they begin to feel like the only possibilities available to us.
Anxious thoughts can start to feel like certainty. Self-criticism can feel like truth. A way of relating can feel inevitable, even when we know it’s no longer serving us.
The therapeutic space can make room for something different.
By slowing down and paying attention to what’s happening in the moment, we can begin to notice experiences that might otherwise move quickly past us: a sense of confidence, an impulse to speak up, a feeling of connection, or a moment of calm.
Over time, we can develop the capacity to stay with these experiences long enough for them to become more familiar, expanding our sense of what is tolerable and possible.
A therapeutic relationship that makes room for change.
The relationship between therapist and client is part of the work.
We strive to create a space where you can be honest about what’s happening without feeling judged or pushed toward a particular outcome. You do not have to have everything figured out or even know exactly what you are feeling. Often, the most meaningful work begins when we slow down enough to notice what is there, including the things we may be trying not to see, say, or feel.
We believe safety is a foundation for exploration, not the destination. A strong therapeutic relationship can give you enough room to take risks, notice what happens, and return to the work when something does not go as planned, or celebrate when it does.
We offer individual, couples, and family therapy, as well as group therapy, in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Our services
-
Individual therapy offers space to slow down, become more aware of your experience, and explore the patterns, relationships, and experiences that shape the way you move through the world.
Therapy can help you better understand what is happening within you, notice what may be difficult to see on your own, and create more room for choice in how you respond, relate, and move forward.
You might be looking for support with:
Anxiety or “overthinking”
Burnout, work-life balance, or feeling overwhelmed by expectations
LGBTQIA or identity concerns
Perfectionism or self-criticism
ADHD and the emotional impact of attention or executive functioning challenges
Trauma
Life transitions, or questions about what you want next
Parenting, family relationships, or changing roles within your family
-
Couples therapy focuses on what happens between people. We work with couples navigating communication difficulties, conflict, disconnection, resentment, changes in roles or responsibilities, and the ways mental health, ADHD, trauma, chronic illness, and other challenges can affect a relationship.
-
Family therapy creates space to better understand patterns within a family and how each person experiences and contributes to them. We work with families navigating conflict, communication difficulties, changing roles, parenting challenges, and significant life or mental health concerns.
-
Groups offer a different kind of therapeutic experience, bringing people together around shared experiences while creating opportunities for connection, reflection, and learning. Our groups vary over time and may focus on specific concerns, experiences, or stages of life.
Our Clinical Approach
Our work begins with curiosity about the person in front of us. Every client comes to therapy with a history of experiences and relationships that have shaped how they understand themselves, relate to others, and move through the world. We are interested in that history, not simply to understand where patterns came from, but to understand how they continue to show up in the present and what might become possible with greater awareness and choice.
Our clinicians draw from a range of therapeutic approaches, adapting the work to the person, their needs, and what emerges in the room. Across approaches, we believe clients bring important knowledge about themselves into the therapeutic process. Our role is to help make space for that knowledge to be noticed, explored, and understood.
Different therapeutic approaches can shape the pace, focus, and feel of therapy, including what sessions may look and feel like. Learn more about what therapy can look like and how different approaches shape the experience in the room.
-
The relationship between client and therapist is an important part of the therapeutic work. What happens between us can offer a window into how you experience connection, trust, vulnerability, boundaries, and being seen by another person. By paying attention to what emerges in the therapeutic relationship, we can notice patterns as they happen and begin to discover other ways of experiencing connection and relating to another person.
-
Our early relationships can shape what we come to expect from others and what we believe about ourselves. Attachment-based therapy helps us understand how these experiences may continue to influence closeness, trust, independence, conflict, and connection in the present.
-
We are curious about the experiences that have shaped each person and the meanings they have made from them. A psychodynamic perspective helps us look beneath the surface of current patterns, while a person-centered foundation keeps the individual, their experience, and their own perspective at the center of the work.
-
Sometimes we understand something intellectually but have difficulty experiencing it differently. We use the present moment to slow things down and notice what is happening emotionally, physically, and relationally. Paying attention to the body, emotions, impulses, and what happens in the room can offer information that may be difficult to access through conversation alone.
-
We recognize that people develop ways of coping and relating in response to what they have experienced. A trauma-informed approach considers the impact of these experiences without reducing a person to their history. We work with attention to safety, choice, pacing, and the ways past experiences may continue to shape the present.
-
Therapy is not only about identifying what is difficult or what needs to change. We also want to understand what has helped you get here, the capacities you already have, and the ways you have adapted to challenges. These strengths can become important resources as you consider what you want for your life and relationships.
-
No single approach fits every person or every moment in therapy. Our clinicians draw from different therapeutic traditions and strategies based on the individual, their goals, and what the work calls for. This may include creative arts, mindfulness-based practices, and other therapeutic tools that help make the work more accessible, meaningful, and useful.
Finding a good fit.
Each person who comes to therapy brings something distinct, so it makes sense that no single therapist will feel right for everyone. Take your time exploring our clinicians’ bios to learn more about their backgrounds, and the way they work.
What matters isn’t necessarily a perfect match on paper, but whether something about a therapist’s presence or approach resonates with what you’re looking for right now.
If you’re still wondering what makes a good fit, you might find our founder’s note on finding a good fit for therapy helpful.