Depression therapy
4 Best Depression Therapists in NYC
Depression can make even the smallest things feel like work. You might be getting through your days while feeling exhausted underneath, pulling away from people you care about, struggling to find motivation, or wondering why things that used to matter just don't feel the same anymore.
At New York City Psychotherapy Collective, we offer depression therapy in NYC that’s collaborative and tailored to the way depression is actually showing up in your life. With a combination of CBT and psychodynamic therapy, our New York City depression therapists help you understand what is keeping you stuck while building practical ways to reconnect with yourself, your relationships, and the parts of life that have started to feel out of reach
Who we support
Depression can look very different from one person to the next. We often work with people who are still showing up for life on the outside, even when things feel much harder internally. Our depression therapists in NYC support:
College students and recent graduates who feel lost, unmotivated, lonely, or unsure about what comes next.
Young professionals who are keeping up at work but feel emotionally drained, disconnected, or like they are simply going through the motions.
High-achieving adults who look successful from the outside but privately struggle with self-doubt, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, or a persistent sense that they are never doing enough.
People recovering from a breakup or difficult relationship who feel rejected, depleted, or unsure how to move forward.
Adults grieving a loss who are having trouble reconnecting with everyday life or finding meaning after someone or something important has changed.
People navigating major life transitions such as moving to New York, changing careers, graduating, becoming more independent from family, or entering a new stage of adulthood.
Trauma survivors whose depression is tied to painful past experiences, emotional shutdown, shame, or long-standing patterns of disconnection.
Immigrants, first-generation adults, and people balancing multiple cultures who are carrying family expectations, identity questions, or the pressure of feeling caught between different worlds.
People who feel lonely even when they are surrounded by others and find themselves withdrawing, canceling plans, or struggling to feel close to friends or partners.
Adults who can’t point to one specific reason why they feel depressed but know they have not felt like themselves in a while.
Meet Our Therapists
Jump to the therapist that sounds like a good fit for you:
Julia LaPlaza: A good fit for emerging adults who feel stuck, unmotivated, or overwhelmed by major life transitions.
Laina Mason: A good fit for adults whose depression is connected to trauma, emotional disconnection, or feeling stuck in long-standing patterns.
Allie Soss: A good fit for adults whose depression shows up as self-doubt, imposter syndrome, or harsh self-criticism.
Johanna Bellorin: A good fit for young adults navigating depression alongside grief, cultural stress, and immigration experiences.
Julia LaPlaza, LMHC
A good fit for emerging adults who feel stuck, unmotivated, or overwhelmed by major life transitions.
Depression can make simple tasks feel enormous, especially when you are also trying to figure out school, work, relationships, and what comes next.
I help emerging adults slow things down and turn overwhelming problems into manageable steps. My work combines deeper exploration with practical strategies, helping you understand the patterns underneath your depression while finding realistic ways to create movement in your daily life.
Using approaches such as CBT, mindfulness, psychodynamic therapy, and behavioral activation, I can help you rebuild routines, reconnect with meaningful activities, and develop greater confidence in your ability to move forward.
Credentials: Licensed Mental Health Counselor with Diagnostic Privilege #013659
Specialties: Young adults, college students, depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, career and life transitions
Virtual therapy?: Yes
Laina Mason, LCSW
A good fit for adults whose depression is connected to trauma, emotional disconnection, or feeling stuck in long-standing patterns.
I have more than 15 years of experience and understand that low mood is rarely an isolated problem. Sometimes depression develops alongside trauma, loss, difficult relationships, or years of putting your own emotional needs aside.
I help you understand the thoughts, emotional wounds, and protective patterns contributing to how you feel today. My approach can incorporate Internal Family Systems (IFS), trauma-focused CBT, DBT, compassion-focused therapy, somatic work, and other evidence-based techniques based on what you need.
Together, we can work toward greater self-compassion, agency, and connection to the parts of life that have started to feel distant.
Credentials: Licensed Clinical Social Worker #082556
Specialties: Depression, trauma, sexual trauma, major life transitions, perinatal and postpartum concerns, LGBTQIA+-affirming care
Virtual therapy?: Yes
Allie Soss, LMHC
A good fit for adults whose depression shows up as self-doubt, imposter syndrome, or harsh self-criticism.
Sometimes depression has a particularly convincing voice. It tells you that you are not doing enough, everyone else has figured life out, or there is something fundamentally wrong with you.
I offer a warm, accepting space to challenge that voice and better understand where those beliefs came from. I work with clients navigating depression alongside self-esteem concerns, relationship stress, transitions, and difficulty setting boundaries.
Through CBT, mindfulness, psychodynamic therapy, and person-centered approaches, I'll help you recognize depression triggers, develop coping strategies for low moods, and replace constant internal criticism with a more grounded sense of self-trust.
Credentials: Licensed Mental Health Counselor with Diagnostic Privilege #013301
Specialties: Depression, anxiety, self-esteem, imposter syndrome, relationship concerns, life transitions
Virtual therapy?: Yes
Johanna Bellorin, LMSW
A good fit for young adults navigating depression alongside grief, cultural stress, and immigration experiences.
Major transitions can leave you questioning where you belong, who you're becoming, and whether life is moving in the direction you expected.
I work with young adults experiencing depression alongside grief, breakups, cultural and family pressures, immigration-related challenges, and the uncertainty that can follow college or other major changes.
As a bilingual therapist, I also offer therapy in English and Spanish and bring a warm, approachable, trauma-informed style to sessions. Using CBT, mindfulness, grounding strategies, and other tools, I'll help you process what you're carrying while finding healthier ways to move through difficult emotions and relationships.
Credentials: Licensed Master Social Worker #116737; advanced training in couples therapy through the Ackerman Institute for the Family
Specialties: Depression, young adult concerns, cultural stress, life transitions, immigration-related stress, relationships
Virtual therapy?: Yes
What Sets Our Practice Apart From Other Depression Therapy in NYC
We know there are plenty of options for depression therapy in New York. But finding a therapist is about more than choosing someone who lists "depression" as a specialty. You need someone who understands how depression is showing up in your life and knows how to adjust therapy accordingly. At New York City Psychotherapy Collective, that means:
We balance insight with practical change. Understanding where depression comes from can be powerful, but insight alone may not help you get out of bed tomorrow morning. Our therapists combine deeper psychodynamic work with practical approaches such as CBT, mindfulness, behavioral strategies, and grounding techniques.
Your treatment is tailored to you. Depression can be tied to trauma, burnout, relationships, grief, perfectionism, cultural pressures, major transitions, or several of these at once. We draw from different therapeutic approaches rather than expecting every person to fit one treatment model.
We understand high-functioning New Yorkers. You can meet deadlines, answer emails, show up for friends and family, and still be depressed. We work with people who may look like they are managing well from the outside while feeling depleted, numb, or overwhelmed underneath.
We look beneath the symptoms. Coping skills matter, but we also want to understand why certain patterns keep returning. Depression therapy in NYC can help you explore relationships, earlier experiences, beliefs about yourself, and emotional patterns that may be contributing to depression.
Our team brings extensive clinical experience. Collectively, our therapists bring more than 75,000 hours of clinical experience to their work with clients.
We prioritize therapist fit. Depression already makes initiating things difficult. Our matching process helps narrow down your options so you don’t have to endlessly scroll through therapist directories trying to figure out who might understand you.
Why Postponing Therapy Keeps You in a Cycle of Depression
When you're depressed, reaching out for help can feel like one more thing you don't have the energy to do. You may tell yourself that you will start therapy when work settles down, when you feel more motivated, or when things get "bad enough." The problem is that many of the behaviors depression pushes you toward can also reinforce it.
Withdrawal can turn into deeper isolation
Depression often makes you want to cancel plans, stop answering messages, or spend more time alone. That may feel easier in the moment, but prolonged isolation can leave you with fewer opportunities for connection and support.
Avoiding tasks can make everyday life feel even more overwhelming
When your energy is low, putting things off is understandable. But as responsibilities accumulate, guilt and stress often grow with them. Eventually, relatively small tasks can start to feel impossible.
Negative thoughts have more time to become convincing
Thoughts like "nothing is going to change," "I'm failing," or "everyone else is doing better than me" can become familiar enough that they begin to feel like facts. Depression therapy gives you space to examine these patterns rather than automatically believing them.
You can lose touch with the things that once made life meaningful
Depression often leads people to stop doing things because they don’t feel enjoyable anymore. Unfortunately, withdrawing from hobbies, relationships, movement, creativity, and other meaningful activities can further reduce opportunities to experience connection or accomplishment.
Coping alone can become another exhausting responsibility
You may have spent months, or years, trying to push through. NYC depression therapy doesn't mean giving up your independence. It gives you another person to help you understand the pattern, experiment with different ways of responding, and make changes that can feel difficult to create alone.
Starting therapy for depression in NYC doesn't require you to feel motivated first. Sometimes beginning therapy is one of the steps that helps motivation gradually return.
Frequently Asked Questions
-
That doesn't necessarily mean all therapy isn't a good fit for you. Sometimes the therapist, approach, timing, or goals simply weren't the right match. At New York City Psychotherapy Collective, we take a flexible approach and draw from different therapy styles rather than using the same method with everyone. We also help you find a therapist who feels like the right fit. We can help you look at what felt unhelpful before, what you want to be different this time, and what kind of support may be a better fit now.
-
There is no single approach that works best for every person. CBT can help address negative thought and behavior patterns, while psychodynamic therapy can help you understand deeper emotional and relational patterns. Other approaches may be useful when depression is connected to trauma, grief, stress, or emotional regulation. Our NYC depression therapists tailor treatment rather than relying on one method for everyone.
-
Not necessarily. Whether medication makes sense is an individual decision that you can discuss with your therapist and an appropriate medical prescriber. NYC Psychotherapy Collective focuses on talk therapy rather than medication management, but your therapist can collaborate with or recommend outside providers when medication evaluation would be useful.
-
There is no universal timeline. It depends on how long you've been struggling, what may be contributing to your depression, your goals, and the type of support you need. Your therapist will work collaboratively with you and can regularly check in about your progress rather than expecting therapy to follow a predetermined timeline.
-
Outpatient therapy isn't the right level of support for every situation. If you need intensive daily care or multiple therapy sessions each week, a higher level of care such as an intensive outpatient or partial hospitalization program may be more appropriate. We can help connect you to recommended programs when appropriate.
If you're experiencing an immediate mental health crisis or are in danger of harming yourself, seek emergency or crisis support rather than waiting for a regularly scheduled therapy appointment.