ABOUT MEREDITH SOUTO, LCSW

Trauma Therapy in New York

You might be ready to take the leap to start therapy, encouraged by others or your own curiosity to make change in your life or reclaim yourself.

Maybe you are ready to deepen previous self-work or engage with different kinds of therapies. Maybe you have a vivid vision of the life you want and the person you’d like to be.

Fantastic! Transformation is possible for you.

However, maybe the idea of a ‘leap’ sounds exhausting or flimsy.

Maybe the idea of looking into the murky waters of your complex self and your lifetime of experiences is terrifying, and if one more person asks you about your ideal future or self, you’re going to scream.

Maybe therapy hasn’t yielded the results you’d like, possibly even feeling too overwhelming or underwhelming to keep up with it. Or maybe you have felt intermittently better but the results fade when life gets in the way. Maybe you’re not entirely sure it’s possible to feel better or if you even deserve to feel relief.

Fantastic! Transformation is also possible for you.

Our bodies are built for survival and learning, which is both incredible and irritating.

Painful experiences can teach us that we are bad, unsafe, or shameful. We can get stuck in survival mode, living in a loop of repetitive behaviors, fracturing trust in ourselves, and holding ourselves back.

However, it is possible to teach our brains and bodies that we are safe.

We can find patterns in our thoughts, understand context, and create new pathways in our brains that shift not just what we know about ourselves, but what we feel and believe about ourselves.

Together we will help you:

  • Affirm your strengths.

    You developed tools to survive– while some of these tools might not be helpful in your present life, that doesn’t mean the craftsmanship is shoddy.

    The keys for healing are already in you, it’s just about bringing them out and fortifying them.

  • Deconstruct experiences.

    Understand how your feelings and behaviors are informed by experience, memories, and the systems around you. Recognize how structures of oppression not only create and exacerbate symptoms, but also label them ‘symptoms’ in the first place.

    Recognize how experiences may have created false narratives about yourself, that all or even just small parts of you might believe, and how these narratives inform the thoughts you have, how you experience emotions, and the choices you make.

  • Understand the science.

    Understand the scientific reasoning behind symptoms, through psychoeducation and fostering curiosity about patterns in your symptoms and behaviors.

    By understanding the role of the nervous system, neural pathways, and how our brains process information, we seek to gain a realistic understanding of issues rather than personalize, moralize, or blame.

Meredith Souto, LCSW

Therapy is a service, not a cure. You deserve to find the service that works best for you, and you don’t have to just swallow whatever is given to you. Whether you’re seeking out therapy for the first time, or have had unhelpful past therapy experiences, I still believe it’s important that you know what this will look like so you can decide if it is right for you.

In therapy with me, clients can expect to get a better understanding of what they’re experiencing and have more compassion for themselves. They can also expect to get insight and perspective on their symptoms without judgment.

When we work together, we form a team committed to being curious about you.

Credentials

  • Licensure: Licensed Clinical Social Worker

  • Education: Columbia University School of Social Work

  • Special Trainings & Certifications: Completed EMDR Training (2020, National Institute for the Psychotherapies), Certificate in Trauma Studies (2022, National Institute for the Psychotherapies)

Outside of the Therapy Room

When I’m not in my therapist role, I’m still constantly reflecting on emotions and patterns in behavior. 

Nothing brings me as much joy as musing over small interactions I witness in the city around me, especially the emotionally loaded ones. Everyone’s got big feelings in NYC, so I’m in the right place.

In my free time I like to pick up new hobbies, learn new languages, psychoanalyze TV characters, and engage in near-constant efforts to get my cat’s attention.