Dr. Richard Shadick

Licensed Psychologist

(212) 477-3360

Have you suffered a loss from a divorce? Lost a loved one in unexpected or traumatic circumstances or perhaps to suicide? These are some areas of my expertise but I have broad experience in many areas. Please read on to learn more about the work I do. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or visit the links to the left to learn about my clinical and research work.

I work with teens,  adults, and families. I have particular expertise in those who have experienced divorce, survivors of trauma, and those who have lost loved ones to suicide. I also work extensively with college students with such issues as academic performance, identity, and substance use. I am certified with American Association of Suicidology as a suicide prevention specialist. 

With my clients I create a safe and supportive environment and find that clients are better able to openly explore their feelings in that way. I strive to understand the concerns my clients come to me with and to empower them to effect change in their lives.

I practice therapy primarily from a psychodynamic perspective, which means that I believe one's previous relationships and experiences have an influence on one's present problems. By exploring both the past and the present, clients are better able to develop relationships and make changes in their lives. I also work from a cognitive-behavioral approach when there are specific problems that need to be worked on in a brief period of time.

What can you expect in a first meeting? You will get an opportunity to talk about the concerns you are experiencing as well as the history of your problem. We will also talk about your broader life so that I may understand who you are as a person. At the end of the meeting you will be able to ask questions and hear my ideas about how to develop solutions for your concerns.

 

Office Location:

currently practicing remotely

 

 

Change the associations...cure the suicide

July 08, 2013  /  Richard Shadick

A lengthy article in the NY Times, "The Suicide Detective" discusses a psychologist's work to try and understand the phenomena of suicide. Dr. Matthew Nock uses the Implicit Association Test (I.A.T.) to ascertain, with some impressive accuracy, who is likely to kill themselves. Excerpted below is his "take-away" message from the I.A.T. research and how he applies it to treatment. He seems to be saying implicitly (pun intended) that Sigmund Freud and Aaron Beck are correct about the suicidal mind. It also suggests that our belief that psychotherapy, particularly the kind that incorporates mindfulness, is the curative agent for individuals who struggle with suicide is correct.

Here is the excerpt from the article:

"Right now, we ask people if they’re suicidal,” Nock said. “And if they say yes, we give them medication to try and make them less depressed or less anxious or less psychotic or to have a more stable mood. And then we talk to them. We do talk therapy. And essentially talk them into not being suicidal anymore. And this over all as a strategy for many people does not seem to be curative.” But if doctors could see which patients are suicidal at a given moment, they might be able to retrain their self-destructive thinking based on their test scores. If, as the I.A.T. seems to suggest, associating yourself more with dying than with living increases your risk for suicide, breaking that association might decrease it. To find out, Nock is developing computer tasks that he hopes could help get people, through rote practice, to identify more with being alive than dead. His researchers are also starting to test whether training people to think more positively about the past and the future makes them less likely to attempt suicide. Nock often talks about “turning levers,” as if he were a railroad-switch operator manning an existential junction. “Can we think of suicide as resulting from problems with memory or cognition or attention?” he said. “And if so, can we then turn levers on those things to make people less likely to think about suicide? So, it’s not giving a pill; it’s giving a training.”       

Comment