ABOUT Us
Isabel Balazs, LMSW
Isabel works with clients to strengthen their connections to themselves and others, offering a holistic and strengths-based approach to therapy. Her work is centered on building trust, empowering clients to speak freely while being met with attunement, warmth, and compassion. Isabel believes that curiosity, self-examination, and strong relationships can serve as powerful vehicles for positive change in individuals, families, and communities. She helps clients explore the complexity of their lives by weaving together past experiences with present thoughts, emotions, and sensations.
Isabel holds a BA in Public Health from Brown University and an MSW from New York University. She is currently receiving postgraduate training in the psychodynamic treatment of eating disorders at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy. Isabel has experience working with individuals facing challenges related to intimacy, identity, acculturation, eating disorders, depression, and anxiety. Her approach is person-centered, recognizing clients as the experts of their own lives, with their needs guiding the direction of each session. Isabel is kink, poly, and gender-affirming.
A lifelong New Yorker, Isabel is inspired by the ways people use public spaces for play, leisure, political organizing, and art. She draws particular inspiration from Washington Square Park and the city’s library systems.
FEE: $185
Derek Crichlow, LMSW
Derek specializes in helping clients navigate their relationships, past experiences, and the stresses of daily life through a person-centered and emotionally-focused approach. He works collaboratively with individuals to identify personal goals and develop comprehensive strategies to achieve them. Through this process, Derek aims to help clients expand their emotional intelligence, foster a healthy relationship with themselves, and cultivate meaningful, authentic connections with others.
Derek holds a BA in Psychology from C.W. Post and a Master of Social Work from Stony Brook University. His professional background and personal experiences have given him a unique perspective on the challenges of identity, relationships, and mental wellness. He is particularly attuned to the complexities of feeling judged or misunderstood due to one’s identity or sexual orientation, and he offers a safe, relatable, and supportive environment for clients.
Derek is a Black, queer, cisgender male from Long Island and believes that the qualities that make each person unique can be a source of strength and empowerment.In addition to his clinical work, Derek has a passion for modern art and enjoys discovering alternative and neo-soul music, often exploring art exhibits in New York City.
Fee: $185
Ryan M. Kull, PhD
Dr. Kull has been a psychotherapist, educator, and researcher committed to the health and well-being of LGBT+ people for nearly 25 years. Currently completing his psychoanalytic training at New York University’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis,Dr. Kull has been engaged in ongoing learning, teaching, and practice in psychoanalytic theory throughout his career. With a grounding in traditions that focus on the ways that the self emerges from complex interactions with one’s caretakers, he also draws from more contemporary thinking about the ways that the social environment shapes our sense of self and other.
Dr. Kull got his start in the mental health and well-being of LGBTQ+ people in the 1990’s as a gay man in New York City. Early in his career, he worked in grass roots organizations addressing the AIDS crisis and HIV prevention and healthcare. He received an MSW from Columbia University and doctorate from New York University, and has addressed numerous issues with his patients in private practice—including sexual and gender identity, relationship problems, self-esteem, substance use and abuse, and trauma.
Dr. Kull has engaged in numerous research activities examining issues affecting LGBT people throughout the lifespan. Dr. Kull is the author and co-author of multiple juried papers, invited book chapters, and conference panels/symposia on LGBT-related health and mental health topics. Currently he is conducting a psychoanalytically-informed study on despair and suicidality among adult gay men.
fee: $315
Ezra Yurman-Whyde, LCSW
Ezra works with individuals across the lifespan, from childhood and adolescence to adulthood. In his work with adults, Ezra has found that profound meaning can come from discussing the details of one’s life in treatment. Life experiences, particularly traumatic ones, can be hard to articulate, but Ezra partners with clients to find language for these experiences. His goal is to address the underlying questions affecting each individual’s life. While treatment can be challenging at times, it also offers validation, working toward greater relief from life’s constraints.
In his work with children, Ezra navigates issues related to school, peer relationships, or family changes that negatively impact the child’s sense of security.He has also become particularly adept at helping adolescents explore or question their gender identity and sexuality.
Altogether, Ezra has over six years of experience working with substance use, self-esteem struggles, relationship issues, life transitions, self-destructive or sabotaging behaviors, anger management, academic performance, creative inhibitions, trauma, and sexuality. Ezra received his MSW from Columbia University and is currently a PhD candidate at Smith College. He has trained at Hazelden Betty Ford, the Kings County Hospital outpatient mental health clinic, and the William Alanson White Institute. In addition to his clinical practice, Ezra writes on topics related to psychoanalysis, gender studies, and child psychotherapy
Fee: $225
James Leary, LMSW
James works with individuals and couples, specializing in the psychodynamic treatment of eating disorders, addiction, trauma, depression and anxiety. Other specialties include helping individuals with disabilities navigate mental health, working with adoptees and adoptive families, exploring identity and embodiment with LGBTQ individuals, treating substance and alcohol misuse, exploring love and intimate relationships, and working with artists confronting issues around creativity and career.
James’ patients come to therapy to confront personal suffering and explore significant questions about love, work, and what makes a satisfying and useful life. Together, they work toward improving one’s sense of agency, building the capacity for self-esteem, strengthening the ability to recognize and tolerate feelings, and enhancing vitality and creativity in work and relationships. By cultivating curiosity about the self, James believes individuals can become more aware of their disavowed parts, which, in turn, allows them to live more realistically, productively, and joyfully. His orientation is rooted in the belief that knowing oneself deeply and being honest with oneself is central to health.
James received his MSW from Columbia University. He is a fellow at The Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy where he completed a postgraduate clinical training in eating disorders. He is trained in CBT and DBT modalities. He received a BFA from The Cooper Union School of Art, where he taught undergraduate studio artmaking for many years. His history in the arts has given him a unique lens for viewing the therapeutic process as collaborative, generative, and creative.
