Hilma af Klint, Group IV, The Ten Largest, No. 3, Youth
How I Work
I practice psychodynamic psychotherapy — a form of therapy that attends closely to feelings, psychological conflicts, and relational patterns. In my experience, symptoms mostly don't come "out of the blue" and often carry psychological meanings and significance. When therapy goes well, people develop a richer sense of and comfort with their inner life and insight into how it impacts their world. We might discuss things like dreams or fantasies; ways we protect ourselves from what is difficult to know, feel, or do; and the many conflicting feelings our wishes, goals, and desires can stir up. This work usually involves learning about parts of your self you weren't acquainted with prior. With this often comes symptom relief and a greater capacity to live life with freedom and choice.
In therapy, some folks benefit most from being listened to and understood closely; others from more structure, excavation, interpretation, challenge, or willingness to sit with conflict. I try to be attentive to what each person needs rather than defaulting to a single approach, and I recognize this is something I learn alongside a person. While I offer my expertise as a psychologist, it's also important to me that you decide what you want in your own life — you're the one who has to live with it, after all! As a psychologist, I do not provide psychiatric medication, but I collaborate with several psychiatrists who are skilled therapists themselves to develop an integrative treatment plan when this is of interest.
Training and Specializations
I am trained in several empirically studied therapy styles that have been tested in clinical trials, including panic-focused and trauma-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy and transference-focused psychotherapy for personality disorders, cognitive therapy for depression, and prolonged exposure therapy for PTSD. However, while it can sound terribly cliché (sorry!), every person and every therapy is unique. What I mean to convey is that while I draw on scientific evidence when I can and when it seems useful for a treatment, it's important to me to help create a therapy that responds to who you are, not some theoretical patient.
I work with patients experiencing anxiety and panic, depression, PTSD and complex trauma, and personality disorders, including chronic and treatment-resistant presentations. I also work with difficulties that do not map neatly onto a single diagnosis or broader questions about relationships and self-understanding. I have conducted clinical research on psychodynamic psychotherapy for PTSD in LGBTQ populations and have particular experience in working with folks for whom LGBTQ minority stress and identity-related trauma are part of the clinical picture.
Supervision and Teaching
I really genuinely enjoy working with training psychotherapists to help them learn the art and music of therapy. I supervise doctoral trainees, psychology interns, and psychiatry residents in psychodynamic psychotherapy at Long Island University-Brooklyn and at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center. I also provide supervision of experienced clinicians within an ongoing clinical trial for PTSD at the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System. I have led clinical trainings at VA NY Harbor Healthcare System, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore, and Harvard/McLean Hospital.
Practical Information
I am licensed in New York State and am currently accepting new patients for individual psychotherapy. I offer sessions in person in Manhattan and via telehealth, on a private-pay basis. I can provide documentation for out-of-network insurance reimbursement (typically 60–80% of the session fee).
To inquire about treatment or availability, I can be reached at 347-391-4189 or at jack.keefe@gmail.com (with the caveat that email is not a fully confidential medium).