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Therapists:
During my years as an internist in New York City and Western Massachusetts I observed patients with significant physical problems avoid adequate medical care because of emotional factors. Many examples come to mind. When I was an intern, one woman came to the hospital with advanced cancer erupting through her skin that she had never allowed her doctor to see even though she had been in the office numerous times. Another woman was a patient at Northampton State Hospital, when I was the director of medical services. One day she delivered a healthy, full-term baby still convinced that she had not been pregnant. Then there was a man who could hardly walk because of poor circulation, yet was unable to decide to stop smoking. What was going on in these people’s minds? In these and many other situations, I was drawn to understand how their medical conditions fit into the whole fabric of their lives and what psychological issues influenced them. Eventually, after two decades as an internist and primary care physician I decided I needed to learn more so that I could help people by working directly with psychological issues. This is when I went back into training and became a psychiatrist. As a psychiatrist, and former internist I am in a unique position to work with people with a variety of difficulties including depression, anxiety and the adaptation to acute and chronic physical illnesses. I also have a specialty concentration in the area of women’s mood disorders throughout the life cycle. I offer psychotherapy to men and women (over 18 years through seniors), prescribe psychiatric medications, and provide consultation to primary care and other medical doctors. Frequently people experiencing emotional distress become stuck and are unable to utilize the strengths they already have. In therapy, I help people access those strengths as well as develop new competencies. It is also important to help patients to identify patterns of thought and behavior that perpetuate their problems. This can lead to finding alternative strategies to solve problems. In addition, there are often underlying issues, especially losses, which need to be dealt with before one can move on. In our sessions, I work to develop an environment that feels safe enough for the individual to risk facing his/her issues. I take a collaborative approach to prescribing psychiatric medication. I think it is important for patients to understand what benefits medication might offer, as well as the possible risks. In this regard, I spend a good deal of time teaching about the medications. It is remarkable how major advances in recent years have led to the increased availability of medicines that can be extremely helpful to people. I am a
graduate of Barnard College and New York University Medical School.
I completed my residency in internal medicine at Beth Israel Hospital
in New York and in psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical
Center in Worcester. I have been board certified in internal medicine
and psychiatry. Before joining Needham Psychotherapy Associates, I was
in the practice of psychiatry in Chelmsford, MA. |
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Needham Psychotherapy
Associates |
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Sheila
Nemser, M.D.