Psychology & Mental Health Blog | Dr. Michael Brustein, PsyD
Specializing in anxiety, depression relationships & self-image
Psychology & Mental Health Blog | Dr. Michael Brustein, PsyD
Specializing in anxiety, depression relationships & self-image
When Therapy Words Go Mainstream: Emotional Burnout
Burnout is real. The problem is what happens when the word becomes too easy to use. Dr. Michael Brustein, PsyD Clinical Psychologist, NYC 5 min read Burnout has fallen in with a bad crowd. Narcissism, gaslighting, OCD — words that once had a more specific meaning and...
CBT in NYC: Beyond the Basics
. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) promises something appealing: change your thoughts, change your life. But there's something the technique can't do alone A woman sits in therapy, convinced she's "completely worthless" after losing her job. Her therapist asks her...
The Gift Inside Social Anxiety
Social Anxiety and the Fear of Being Seen In many careers, the ability to speak in front of others—confidently, fluently, as though you belong there—is the difference between visibility and invisibility. You don’t get promoted for thinking well in silence. You...
The Ogre Complex: What Shrek Teaches Us About the Hell Realm
Last weekend, watching my daughter perform in her school's production of Shrek, I found myself unexpectedly undone. In the pivotal scene, Shrek—a massive green ogre who has spent his life as a feared outcast—overhears what he believes to be Princess Fiona calling him...
Anxiety Therapist in NYC: When Your Worry Goes Deeper Than Deadlines
When Anxiety Isn’t About the Presentation You lie awake at night. But not because of tomorrow’s meeting. You’re successful. Your relationships are stable. Your life looks good on paper. Yet something feels persistently off. Maybe you wonder if this is really what you...
Panic Attack Therapy in NYC: When Anxiety Feels Like a Crisis—and a Clue
"Next thing I know, I'm sweating, I can't breathe, I'm going down…"That's how Tony Soprano described his first panic attack. In that moment—outside a backyard BBQ, collapsing in front of his family—TV's most powerful mob boss introduced millions to a kind of suffering...
The Costanza Method: What Seinfeld Can Teach You About Depression
Feeling stuck in depression? George Costanza's "do the opposite" breakthrough isn't just sitcom gold—it's also backed by science. Sometimes the very thing we're trying so hard to avoid doing is exactly what sets us free. George Did the Opposite—and It Worked In...
The Scroll-Trance & the Borrowed Self: How Social Media Hijacks Identity—and How CBT Helps You Reclaim It
A deep dive into how the search for 'What's wrong with me?' becomes a scroll-fed identity crisis—and how CBT therapy for anxiety or depression offers a slower, saner alternative. 1. The moment the room disappears You open TikTok to "quickly" check why you keep missing...