Sam Golden Psychology
I’d guess that, intellectually, you’ve got a pretty solid sense of what would be “good” for you in life and what you “should” be doing — but still find things like feeling safe and connected in your relationships, regulating your anxiety, quieting your mind, and relaxing at the end of a long work day genuinely challenging.
Maybe you’re feeling a little directionless in life these days, or you’re looking for a way forward after a significant loss or traumatic event.
Maybe everything just feels…flat, and you can’t remember the last time you felt joy from something — anything — be it your favorite song or looking into the eyes of someone you care about.
Hey, hey!
Philosophy
Philosophy
My work exists at the intersection of relationships and attachment, grief and loss, trauma, and your body and nervous system.
That just-enough dose of connection or distraction you get from scrolling on social media, swiping on a dating app, or stressing over your work performance might help you avoid scary things like vulnerability, overwhelm, anger, or conflict…
But it’s also robbing you of the felt experience that lets you know you’re worthy, safe, valued, empowered, loved —
What if success — on your terms — wasn’t so out of reach?
the things that actually make life worth living.
You were taught that if you’re perfect enough, in the right ways, for the right amount of time, the life you want will come to you.
So you learned to impress and perform, be agreeable and hardworking, instead of how to feel fully, be yourself, go after what you want, enjoy what you have, and navigate the frictions that arise inside and out when you connect with other people.
Feeling bad or being stuck doesn’t mean you’re broken. It means the old ways your mind and body learned to keep you safe and connected in the past are no longer serving you.
That’s what therapy is for.
Not to “fix” you, but to build the awareness, the regulating capacity, and the skills to feel ready to do things differently.
To know in your mind and in your body that you’re safe enough to be strong, to be vulnerable, to be creatively, spontaneously you.
To define what success is on your terms, and then to feel that success in your bones.
To step out of survival-mode and problem-solving and rest into an open, free, full life.
Style
Warmth
I’ll invite you to confront the pain you tend to avoid in a way that feels safe and welcoming. Our sessions won’t leave you broken and drained, in a puddle on the floor each week. But we’re also not here to keep doing more of the same. We’ll dance at the edge of your comfort zone, expanding it together by stepping into the painful, scary stuff, and then stepping back into safety, comfort and strength.
Awareness
We’re going to get mindful together. I’ll help you reflect on your emotional, relational, and physiological patterns, and how they're playing out in your life. You’ll learn to recognize when these patterns serve you and when they hold you back.
Wholeness
Therapy isn't a life-hack to make you more perfect. It’s a relationship that brings more parts of yourself online. As a result, you’ll feel like you're growing stronger, more capable, more flexible, and freer to be at peace with more aspects of yourself.
The answer to what next? is not more of the same.
What Happens Next?
Consultation
1
A free 15-20 minute vibe check. Bring your questions for me. We should both leave this conversation with enough safety and curiosity to have a paid session. Schedule here.
Onboarding
2
Everyone’s favorite: paperwork. So we can transition into a psychologist-patient relationship, and create context to make the most of our first session.
First Session
3
During our first session, I find out what it’s like to live a day in your mind and body. You find out what it’s like to connect with and be seen by me. We both have a say over whether or not we’re a good fit to move forward.
Hey, hey!
I’m Dr. Sam Golden
I can do the insight thing, helping you identify patterns of struggle and success in your career, relationships, family, life path. But what I’m most excited about is bypassing the cognitive function you’ve gotten so good at, so you can stop running in circles in your head.
Instead, I focus on the felt experience. I’ll meet you where you are and match your pace, while still challenging you to sit with the parts of yourself that you don’t let anyone else see.
I’ll help you grow your capacity for self-reflection, but also give you somatic tools that open up entirely new ways of being in the world, being present in your body, and being with other people. The aim is not to close off parts of yourself you dislike, but to open up access to all the beautiful, silly, messy, powerful, vulnerable fullness that makes you, you.
And I really care.
I’m excited to get sad and scared and angry and joyful and goofy and strong and loving with you. Feelings are for feeling, life is for living- let’s help both be easier. Talk soon.
(see my credentials below)
M.F.
"Dr. Sam and I worked together for approximately three years, and the experience genuinely transformed my life. From the outset, he met me with openness and understanding - creating space to explore my self-understanding, clarifying my goals, and develop deeper awareness of my emotional patterns and dynamics with family, friends, and work (high stress environment - so fun).
What stood out the most of me was how he walked alongside me in that process rather than directing it, helping me build real autonomy and space over time. As someone who identifies as a high achiever, I also deeply appreciated that he engaged with me intellectually - finding a balance between challenge and guidance that I've rarely encountered.
I'm very grateful for the work we did together and would recommend him without hesitation."
KIND WORDS
Credentials
I’m a psychologist: a Doctor of Psychology. I received my master’s and doctoral degrees from Rutgers University. Logistically, this means more academic study and more hands-on training than a masters-level therapist. You can read my dissertation if you want (*feels nauseous about self promotion*). Practically, this means I’m able to incorporate a broad array of therapeutic theories and practices into tailoring treatment to your specific needs.
Diagnoses
Whether you have a known diagnosis or not, I support adults experiencing anxiety, depression, PTSD, C-PTSD, addiction, grief and bereavement, and childhood trauma.
I do NOT work with children, couples or individuals experiencing psychosis, OCD, unmedicated bipolar disorder, or a recent hospitalization or suicide attempt. If you are experiencing acute psychological distress, please call or text the Suicide + Crisis Lifeline at 988, or visit your nearest emergency room.
Specialties
I specialize in relational psychodynamic therapy, somatic therapy, Buddhist psychology (mindfulness + self-compassion), and trauma-informed care. My work exists at the intersection of relationships and attachment, grief, loss, and trauma, and your body and nervous-system. Read more about the tools I use here.
Every year, I volunteer as a Grief Specialist for a free, one-week overnight camp for kids that have experienced a death loss of their parent/caretaker or sibling. It's a place kids get to connect with other people who "get it," have a lot of fun, be physically active, and access their grief-related feelings. I facilitate group therapy for two groups of kids, offering a safe invitation to get deep into the parts of their experience their peers back home don’t understand.
I also volunteer at the For The Adults weekend retreat, an equivalent offering for adults who have experienced a death loss, within a peer-facilitated model. This means I’m both leading and participating in the group. My group the past two years has been a Dead Dad's Club group, and offers me a chance to vulnerably share my own experiences with loss and grief.