Shoshana Krohner, PhD
Therapy with Individuals and Couples
I work with a wide range of needs, from people seeking insight to those looking to address problems in their relationships or mental health challenges. Although I work effectively with lots of different patients, I specialize in anxiety and trauma, parents and couples, and chronic pain.
I use different approaches depending on what seems most helpful and needed. I mostly draw from psychodynamic therapies and somatic therapy, but also use cognitive-behavioral therapy at times. My therapy style is collaborative, warm, and direct.
Therapeutic
Approaches
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy
Psychodynamic therapy helps people understand how your past experiences and early relationships shaped who they are today. This process can lead to you having more freedom to make choices and feel a sense of control in your life.
Mentalizing Focused Therapy
Mentalizing-focused therapy helps people slow down to get curious about what is happening inside their mind and others' minds. It helps you pause and wonder about the hidden feelings or needs driving a difficult moment, to support making helpful changes in behavior and communication.
Somatic Therapy
Somatic therapy is a body-based approach that can help the nervous system move out of a "stuck" survival mode or anxiety. By paying attention to and working with your body’s internal signals, you help your nervous system regain its natural balance.
Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy
When emotionally-charged experiences feel too intense or "unsafe," our brains treat them as a threat and can trigger painful sensation as a danger signal. In EAET, we focus on safely experiencing these emotions so that your brain can relearn safety and turn off the pain signals.
Specializations
Areas that I have particular expertise in
Anxiety and Trauma
I help people reduce anxiety and trauma symptoms by working with both the mind and the body. We’ll use "body-based" tools to calm your nervous system in the moment, while also looking at your past to understand why you feel and react the way you do.
Chronic Pain
Long-term pain is often tied to how the brain and emotions process stress. I use specific therapies, including Emotional Awareness and Expression therapy (EAET) and somatic therapy, to help rewire those brain patterns and calm the body’s physical response to get to the source of the pain.
Couples
I help couples move past surface-level arguments to find the real reasons they feel stuck. We'll work on building a deeper emotional bond while also learning practical tools for better communication and problem-solving.
Parenting
I help parents who feel overwhelmed or are struggling to understand and bond with their child. I use an approach called "mentalizing," which helps you get curious about the feelings behind your child's behavior so you can respond with more calm and connection.
Background and Training
I received my PhD in Clinical Psychology from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. I completed my predoctoral internship at Emory University / Grady Health System in Atlanta, GA. I also completed postdoctoral fellowships in New York City at the New School for Social Research, where I researched trauma psychophysiology, and at Albert Einstein College of Medicine / Montefiore Medical System, where I researched and trained in mentalizing-focused therapy for parents.
In addition to working with patients, I contribute to research and scholarship on chronic pain treatments and parent-child attachment. I also teach and consult with other clinicians who work with chronic pain.
To get in touch for chronic pain training and consultation, please visit painpsychologygroup.com