Therapy Approach

Dr. Margolies’ is a skilled, knowledgeable, conscientious, respectful, and caring psychologist. Over the course of her career, Dr. Margolies has treated many different types of people and problems in a range of settings including inpatient (McLean Hospital), outpatient (urban and inner city in N.Y.), suburban, and private practice.

Dr. Margolies approaches therapy in a multi-dimensional, integrative way, with a mindset that prioritizes sensing and understanding each person and their particular situation as it develops. What works at one point in therapy may not be as helpful at another point and some people and problems are generally more suited to one approach versus another. (See the excerpt below from an interview with Dr. Margolies, where she discusses an example involving acting out behavior.)

Dr. Margolies is responsive and real, customizing treatment to the immediate and ongoing needs of each person, using a respectful, educational, collaborative, active approach and providing useful, relevant, explicit feedback rather than making the process of therapy mysterious

Patients and others have noted that she has a finely attuned ability to put into words what is happening in a new way that gets at the heart of the matter and resonates with them. She fully believes in and respects the capacity of the people she works to do better and live up to their own values. Holding this vision and faith in mind helps support and inspire her patients to challenge themselves and be more resilient.

In terms of orientations, Dr. Margolies treatment is informed by her understanding of psychodynamic, interpersonal and attachment-based perspectives, including elements of family systems, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT), specifically cognitive restructuring.

These modalities are within her knowledge base and integrated into her own style which is intuitive, responsive, engaging and empowering, often with a sense of humor.

Most importantly, Dr. Margolies is fully present, authentically involved and “with” her patients in sessions, rather than passive or hidden behind a prescribed persona. (The different therapies offered by Dr. Margolies are described in her article: Therapy Modalities Explained).

All the latest research corroborates that there is no one technique or modality that is superior, but the outcome of therapy is impacted for better or worse by how the therapy is conducted, the personal qualities of the therapist, and whether the therapist is sensitively tuned into the person they are treating and able to modify their approach in real time based on the patient’s developing situation, mood, and reactions in sessions.

Because of her training, experience, personality and natural way of thinking, Dr. Margolies is able to guide people in a manner that gives them a positive, personal, productive experience in therapy, while she rolls up her sleeves to find innovative, collaborative solutions that improve their lives.

When people come in truly in crisis, they typically feel pressure to take immediate action in order to feel relief. They are tempted to do things that can blow up their lives. Sometimes unconsciously they feel they need to blow up their lives out of fear or inability to make needed changes. I find that people going through this state respond well to an active, emotionally engaged, grounding approach. This involves helping people understand what is going on, slowing things down, and containing them. This takes priority over exploring the past or getting overly focused on exploring the feelings of discontent. The therapist should understand and take the discontent seriously and offer hope and active help. But the first and most important thing is to protect people from doing things that can have an irrevocable, destructive impact on their lives.

This isn’t so easy to do, but I have had success by finding where the leverage is—the bottom line about what matters to each person —and bringing into focus, in a visceral way, how things will play out step by step if they continue their behavior and thought patterns, and helping them “own” that they are choosing this.. People are often compartmentalized and need help waking up to the reality of what they are doing and thinking – and the stakes, (for example: fueling acting out through fantasy) and recognizing that this behavior is causing a portion of their distress—or intensifying it. There are many underlying reasons people act out and it is often a communication from within that has to be translated and repositioned. Even when people don’t want to be acting out, they may not be able to keep their head about them and manage temptation and intense feelings, or an “addictive” pattern, so an important part of the work here is giving people the tools to help them regain control.

This isn’t so easy to do, but I have had success by finding where the leverage is—the bottom line about what matters to each person —and bringing into focus, in a visceral way, how things will play out step by step if they continue their behavior and thought patterns, and helping them “own” this choice. People are often compartmentalized and need help waking up to the reality of what they are doing and thinking – and the stakes, (for example: fueling acting out through fantasy) and recognizing that this behavior is causing a portion of their distress—or intensifying it. There are many underlying reasons people act out and it is often a communication from within that has to be translated and repositioned. Even when people don’t want to be acting out, they may not be able to keep their head about them and manage temptation and intense feelings, or an “addictive” pattern, so an important part of the work here is giving people the tools to help them regain control.