Preeya Desai, Ph.D.
Limited Permit Psychologist
Midtown + Brooklyn Heights + Virtual
I believe that everyone can benefit from therapy whether you find yourself in acute distress or wish to understand yourself and your patterns on a deeper level. Therapy allows for a safe space where you can explore, process, and reflect on your emotions, relationships, and past experiences in a way that reduces distress and promotes increased self-awareness. As a therapist, I find that a strong therapeutic relationship is an important facet of our work together, allowing me to support you as you navigate life challenges, mood changes, trauma, or loss. To facilitate this, I maintain a highly collaborative, genuine, and empathic stance in treatment that allows us to develop treatment goals together and move through therapy at a pace that works for you.
Although my treatment orientation is primarily psychodynamic and relational, an important part of my therapeutic process is meeting patients where they are. Therefore, I integrate various treatment modalities in therapy to tailor treatment to your individual goals and needs. I aim to help patients understand the effect of past experiences and relationships on their current functioning and interpersonal patterns. However, I also work to provide patients with tools and techniques that allow for more targeted symptom relief. I have experience conducting Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), evidenced-based trauma focused treatment such as Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), short-term treatment, and mindfulness-based treatment.
I have worked with adults with diverse histories who have experienced trauma, anxiety, depression, health-related mood disturbances, and relationship difficulties. I welcome patients of all backgrounds, race/ethnicities, sexual orientation, and religions. In treatment, I aim to create an accepting space in which I can work to understand patients’ individual connection to their identities and the way this may affect their current functioning.
Training
I received my Bachelor of Arts with a major in Psychology from Barnard College. I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Long Island University-Brooklyn. Throughout my training, I worked in a variety of clinical settings including the Bank Street School for Children, the LIU-Brooklyn Psychological Services Center, Gouverneur Hospital (NYCHHC), and the Brooklyn VA. I completed my pre-doctoral internship at the New York Harbor VA Healthcare System-Manhattan Campus.