Experiential Dynamic Therapy (EDT) For Parents

Who We Are

Carolyn Broudy, MD, MS

Dr. Broudy is a board-certified psychiatrist and the Founding Director of The Family Connections Center in Western Mass., a group practice supporting the emotional health of families with young children. She received her M.D. and M.S. from NYU School of Medicine, and completed her psychiatry residency and a fellowship in Women's Mental Health at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.

She subsequently completed the Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and the American Psychoanalytic Association Fellowships. She has taught at the Smith School of Social Work, and worked as a consulting psychiatrist for the state-wide program Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Project for Moms.

Deborah L. Pollack, Ph.D.

Dr. Pollack is a clinical psychologist and psychology professor at Utica University and SUNY Upstate Medical University. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duquesne University and completed her internship at SUNY Upstate Medical University. She has worked across various settings, with a speciality in clinical health psychology.

She has provided psychotherapy training and supervision for doctoral students in clinical psychology at Syracuse University and SUNY Upstate Medical University for the past 15 years. She is certified as a teacher and supervisor of Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. She is also certified in Perinatal Mental Health (PMH-C) by Postpartum Support International.

The Holding Space: A group for moms to build emotional resilience

Mother holding child The Holding Space is a 12-week group therapy for moms with postpartum anxiety and depression. We strive to offer a space of hope and healing where mothers’ feelings can be held with compassion, acceptance, and non-judgment. Designed by a psychiatrist and a psychologist with decades of experience treating mothers with anxiety and depression, the group helps participants learn to:

Reduce anxiety
Decrease self-criticism
Manage emotional triggers
Increase self-acceptance
Be more present with themselves and their kids

2021 - 2022 groups will be held online via zoom with two group leaders (either Dr. Pollack or Dr. Broudy and a therapist co-leader). Group sessions will be once a week for 90 minutes for 12 weeks.

The Holding Space is part of a pilot study project led by Deborah Pollack, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychology at Utica College. The study is supported by a grant from the American Psychological Foundation.

Participants will be asked to complete several brief interviews and questionnaires, all online, so that we can study the effectiveness of the group.

To participate in the group you must:

Be 18+ years old
Have current symptoms of anxiety and/or depression that started or worsened within one year postpartum
Have one or more children under 5 years old
Have internet access to participate in online group sessions
Further eligibility will be determined over a screening interview

We encourage and welcome inquiries from individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color; identify as LGBTQIA+, and/or from marginalized or under-represented populations.

Please contact us below for further information! New groups are forming now

Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) for Postpartum Anxiety and Depression

In the current study, we are looking at whether a 6-month course of ISTDP can effectively treat postpartum depression and anxiety, and promote other benefits, such as improving the mother’s experience of mothering and reducing her risk of relapsing.

Participants will be asked to complete several brief interviews and questionnaires, all online, so that we can study the effectiveness of the treatment.

To participate in this study you must:

Be 18+ years old
Have current symptoms of anxiety and/or depression that started or worsened within one year postpartum
Have a child under the age of 3

We encourage and welcome inquiries from individuals who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color; identify as LGBTQIA+, and/or from marginalized or under-represented populations.

Please contact us below for further information! This study is currently underway.

What is ISTDP?

Intensive Short-Term Psychotherapy, or ISTDP, is a psychotherapy approach that can offer rapid relief from psychological and emotional suffering. This method was developed beginning in the 1970s by Dr. Habib Davanloo, who studied thousands of video recorded psychotherapy sessions to understand which techniques in psychotherapy bring about the most rapid and profound change. Combining these techniques, he developed ISTDP, which has now been proven to be effective in numerous studies and for multiple conditions

In ISTDP, the therapist takes an active, engaged stance to help the client identify their goals as well as the protective mechanisms that prevent them from meeting these goals. Trauma and other challenging childhood experiences can lead us to develop mechanisms that help protect us in childhood, but later in life, can lead to symptoms of depression and anxiety, and keep us stuck in unhealthy patterns.

ISTDP uses powerful techniques to help clients build the capacity to regulate their anxiety so they can relinquish their old protective mechanisms and tolerate their underlying emotions. As clients experience these often previously unconscious emotions, they begin to feel less depressed and anxious, more authentically connected to themselves and more intimately connected to others.

OVERVIEW