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
The First CBT Therapist: How Marcus Aurelius Pioneered Modern Therapy
How Marcus Arelius pioneered thought work before it had a name - and why it matters. It's 170 AD, somewhere along the muddy banks of the Danube. Inside a military tent, by the flickering light of an oil lamp, the most powerful man in the world sits hunched over a wax...
What Your Workout Says About Who You (Secretly) Are
Our fitness routines might be the most honest stories we tell about ourselves. At first, it seems like a joke headline, or a BuzzFeed quiz: “What your gym routine says about your personality.” But then you notice the spin class filling up at 6:00 a.m.—the same...
The Long Arc of Self-Discovery: From Building a Self to Letting It Go
From Building a Self to Letting It Go On the strange necessity of self‑absorption—and the even stranger art of releasing what we’ve built. A Dinner‑Party Glimpse Last week, at a small dinner party, I watched a man in his forties narrate—with boyish enthusiasm—his...
Attachment Styles: Understanding How We Love, Cope, and Connect
The Way We Love Is the Way We Live Attachment, Ambivalence, and What We Learn to Expect "We begin life in a room we didn't choose, with people we didn't ask for, learning how to love. Love became a strategy for survival. But maybe now it can become something else....
Ruminating: A path to anxiety and psychological indigestion
While cows spend 7 to 10 hours daily ruminating for healthy digestion, excessive human rumination leads to psychological distress. Constantly replaying negative events amplifies them, triggering anxiety loops and associated emotions like worry, sadness, or...
The Anxiety Trap: When Playing It Safe Keeps You Stuck
How avoidance becomes the very thing that feeds our fears There's a cruel irony at the heart of anxiety: the very thing that feels like it's protecting us is often what keeps us trapped. We avoid the networking event, skip the difficult conversation, or turn...
The Four Truths: A Self-Reflection Tool for Healing, Growth, and Therapy in NYC
Sometimes the hardest part of healing is knowing where to begin. The Four Truths framework offers a gentle, grounded starting point—inviting you to acknowledge pain, examine patterns, imagine new possibilities, and take meaningful steps toward change. Whether...
Buddhist-Informed Psychotherapy in NYC: Where Ancient Wisdom Meets Modern Practice
Integrative therapy in Manhattan combining Buddhist psychology with evidence-based approaches Buddha Had Patients Before Freud Had Theories Here's what's absolutely remarkable: Gautama Buddha was history's first systematic psychotherapist. He had...