Michael Braverman, LCSW-R
 

My Personal Background

I’m the son of an immigrant from Turkey and a native New Yorker who was raised in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn.

I was born and raised on Manhattan’s Upper West Side in the 1980s. The neighborhood was different then than it is now - it was a diverse area. My neighbors were from Ethiopia, Haiti, Vietnam and the Dominican Republic.

Moreover, it was economically diverse – strong rent stabilization laws in the city at the time ensured that middle class families could afford to live there. Adequate federal funding for low income housing meant there were NYCHA building two blocks away and Single Room Occupancy buildings on the other side of my block. This allowed me to see people with less privilege than I had, and the struggles they faced. Witnessing that inequality had a profound effect on me.

The neighborhood was also a hub of LGBTQ life in the city. I witnessed a great deal of loss as the AIDS epidemic struck that community. I had LGBTQ people in my life from a young age, and have always tried to be an outspoken advocate for their equal treatment.

I spent my adolescence and early 20s involved in the DIY punk rock scene on the Lower East Side. I volunteered at the ABC No Rio cooperative arts center on Rivington Street, where I helped put on all-ages performances in a space that prioritized inclusivity and had a strict zero tolerance policy against performer with racist, sexist and homophobic lyrics. I played in bands and made lifelong friends, many of whom followed similar career paths (teachers, social workers, civic leaders.)

At the same time, I became involved in political activism, protesting sweatshop conditions for immigrant laborers in the garment industry and mistreatment of the City’s unhoused population.

After college, I worked a variety of jobs. I coded HTML and Javascript during the Dot Com boom. I worked as a research coordinator at New York State Psychiatric Institute. I worked security at a bar on the Lower East Side. I spent several years working for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation as an inspector. It the latter role, I got to see parks and playgrounds in every neighborhood in all five boroughs. Once again, I saw inequality, as the facilities in parts of the South Bronx, Far Rockaway and Brownsville were neglected and dilapidated, and those on the Upper East Side were clean and safe.  

I then decided to return to my interest in psychology and mental health. I learned about the Master of Social Work degree, and how it would enable me to do psychotherapy and to advocate for social justice. This seemed like the perfect combination of two of my passions.  

I now live in the Hudson Valley with my wife and two children, but I always keep one foot planted in my childhood home of NYC.

In my spare time, I train and assistant teach in Hung Ga Kung Fu at Yee’s Hung Ga in Chinatown. I have trained at this school for over 18 years and have attained the rank of “Jo Gow” (the equivalent of a “black belt.” My martial arts training has informed my work in social work and psychotherapy, and has enriched every aspect of my life – mental, physical and spiritual.

My Experience

I’ve been working in mental health in and around New York City for over 15 years. I did my graduate field work working with people with AIDS in Harlem and working with at-risk youth in Spanish Harlem. I began my postgraduate work on inpatient psychiatric units in hospitals in Brooklyn and Queens, as well as in a residential setting in the Bronx, where I worked with young adults aging out of the foster care system. I then moved on to community mental health clinics in Queens, and then, in 2019, I opened my private practice in Manhattan and in the Hudson Valley. My practice became full-time in September of 2020.

Throughout my years, I’ve worked with clients from all backgrounds, struggling with many different problems - from schizophrenia to struggling with typical life transitions and everything in between.

Having worked with such a diverse array of people with such a variety of challenges, I feel confident that I can help most people who want to improve their mental health.

I also pride myself on knowing when a challenge is beyond my expertise, and have the humility to know when to help potential clients find someone who is better-equipped than I am to help.

My background in social work leads me to place a premium on social justice and making care as accessible as is possible. To this end, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I cut my out-of-pocket fees in half. I regularly see low fee clients referred to me through Open Path Collective.

I also do an hour of pro bono work per week. At the beginning of the pandemic, a friend of mine took his own life. In his honor, I want to make sure that I am doing my part to make quality mental health care accessible even to those who cannot afford to pay any amount of money.

My Training

I am a Beck Institute-Certified Cognitive Behavioral Therapist.

I earned my bachelor’s degree in psychology from New York University’s College of Arts and Science, and my master’s in social work from New York University’s Silver School of Social Work.  

I subsequently began training at the Beck Institute in Philadelphia, PA. The Beck Institute is named for Aaron T. Beck, the 100-year-old founder of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, who, until his death in 2021 at the age of 100, remained involved in the research and training that took place at the institute.

I have completed in-person trainings at the Beck Institute on depression, anxiety, personality disorders, PTSD, schizophrenia, couples’ therapy and on integrating mindfulness with CBT. In addition, Michael has just begun is fifth ten-week block of supervision with Beck Institute faculty member, Dr. Robert Hindman.

I have undergone additional training at the Albert Ellis Institute and the Linehan Institute.

If you are considering several possible therapists, one question to ask is what their training in CBT has consisted of, (especially if they are not transparent about this training on their website / social media.)  No modality of psychotherapy, nor any other discipline, can be acquired by attending a webinar or reading a book.