Professional statement
Lucy Bichsel, PhD, is a clinical psychologist working with individuals and couples in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York. Dr. Bichsel is passionate about working with people with painful family histories who find themselves in distressed adult relationships. The majority of her clients are women who feel that, no matter how hard they fight for their relationships, they end up depleted, hopeless and alone. Dr. Bichsel also enjoys working with the partners of these women, who often avoid conflict by shutting down or “problem solving,” which only further antagonizes and isolates their significant other. In her experience many people who struggle in these ways with intimacy and connection have some degree of trauma or important unmet needs in their backgrounds.
Although Dr. Bichsel helps clients identify where their behaviors and beliefs originated, she works very much in the “here and now,” diving into clients’ current needs and concerns. She describes her style as warm, direct, emotion-focused and experiential and uses a range of modalities, including Emotion-Focused Therapy for Couples (EFTc), Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Processing (AEDP), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
Before opening a private practice, Dr. Bichsel trained at and worked in a variety of New York City area hospitals, including Beth Israel Medical Center, Mt. Sinai-Elmhurst Hospital, and Bellevue Hospital Center. Throughout her career, she has treated and evaluated adults diagnosed with depression, anxiety, personality disorder, psychosis and bipolar illness. She also has experience supervising psychology doctoral students and psychiatric residents and fellows, as well as teaching as a Clinical Instructor at New York University School of Medicine.
Dr. Bichsel received her PhD from Long Island University and has been treating clients for almost 15 years. She is building her couples therapy practice and is in the process of completing intensive training and supervision in EFTc.