Abbi Klein, LCSW

As a naturally sensitive person, I've always been drawn to the link of our environment and the body's experience on our mental and emotional wellbeing. Early in my career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I was drawn to learning about the nervous system and how emotions live in the body, dedicating myself to the study of yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda; both via formal 500-hour training programs and a five-year apprenticeship assisting my Ashtanga teacher, experiential learning has always been a must for me. This has taught me about the aliveness of the therapeutic relationship and how somatic work is not just about our experience in our individual bodies, but our bodies in relationship to each other and the world at large. From there, I've studied psychotherapeutic modalities of Gestalt therapy and Relational Psychoanalysis, bringing all parts of the Self, including different aspects of identity and social justice into my work. As Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy has been coming back into the mainstream in recent years, I realized, just like all of my other experiences that had guided me, why couldn't I draw on my healing from my own psychedelic explorations? Psychedelics with therapeutic support can be the ultimate experiential path toward connection and integration of the many facets of the Self and more authentic relationship with others. In order to expand my offerings, I recently completed a yearlong course in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy through the Integrative Psychiatry Insitute and have begun offering Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy in my private practice. Outside of the therapy room, my favorite spiritual practice is to connect with nature - whether by spending time by the ocean, snowboarding, or just looking for the magnificent trees here in Brooklyn - the divine is always present, even in the mundane.