hi! my name is stephanie Alirkan. i’m A licensed somatic psychotherapist & a new yorker that can’t be rushed.

welcome, curious wanderer!

Mini-Bio: A trained psychotherapist & breathwork facilitator, experienced in complex trauma, anxiety, and codependency. My integrated approach employs AEDP, Integrated Somatic Experiencing, and Breathwork.

I’ve devoted my heart to helping as many adult children of immigrants as I can heal, experience freedom, and make or re-make a sacred, safe, sanctuary within their psyches.

I can’t wait to help you feel deeply into more of yourself in order to feel more authentically yourself.

I’d imagine you’re searching for a therapist because there are parts of your life you wish to be different…

Perhaps you’re feeling disconnected, exhausted — tired of feeling irritable, lonely, or anxious?

Maybe you want to be & receive the love you never received & the acknowledgement you never got & the listener you always needed, but you don’t know where to begin or how to get there.

Together, let’s gently explore those roads not-yet-traveled, be with those younger versions of selves within, and give you what you KNOW you deserved & needed.

How do you find new ways of success & receptivity? How do you establish a life that works with your need to create art & work with you instead of against you? How do you set healthy goals and learn to care about yourself with relaxed confidence? How do you bloom into more of yourself?

“My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find peace with exactly who and what I am. To take pride in my thoughts, my appearance, my talents, my flaws and to stop this incessant worrying that I can’t be loved as I am.” - Anais Nin

Let’s tune into your deepest needs to make room for sustainable, lasting growth, together.

It’s not just a beautiful dream.

Do you wonder how it’s possible to feel both too much & not enough?

Are you struggling with?

  • Full of contradictions, constantly feel both too much and not enough

  • Perfectionism, overthinking, overly-preparing to feel good

  • Constantly rush & full to do lists

  • Trouble relaxing

  • Dread before going into work & a lot

it very well may feel like you just need a week-long spa week…when that doesn’t quite feel possible.

Enter Therapy.

  • Responsibilities pile up

  • You hear a critical voice that tells you you’re overreacting & whining, that your problems are small

  • You don’t know how to share with family and friends because most people wouldn’t understand this

  • You need tools right now

  • The vacation away won’t change how you feel - you’ve tried it

if this is your story? you’ve come to the right place.

  • You have anxiety that spirals you out all day or week

  • You can’t shake that feeling something is off

  • You ask yourself why am I constantly on?

VIRTUAL THERAPY IN NY

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VIRTUAL THERAPY IN NY *

Virtual therapy from the comfort of your home. All you need is a stable WiFi connection, a phone, laptop, or tablet with a camera, and a pair of headphones.

I work with anxious women across the state of New York.

Why telehealth?

  • no commute

  • no need to change out of your coziest clothes

  • schedule during your lunch break

my story

I was born & raised in Brooklyn, NY, a daughter of Southeast Asian & Middle Eastern immigrants. 3/5 Emotional Generator. ISFP. Taurus☉|Cancer↑|Aries☽. I’m also a Breathwork/Embodiment Practitioner.

I experienced a lot of grief in my early 20s & taught ESL in Seoul, South Korea. Travel has been a salve. I was in-and-out of therapy for grief, but it wasn’t until my later that I committed to my healing journey. In my personal life, Breathwork, yoga, Human Design, Astrology, Anthropology, K-Beauty/French Pharmacy skincare, dogs/canids, and writing/literature are a few of my favorite things.

I love that ‘psyche’ as in psychology means Soul and psychology is the study of the Soul. My bachelor’s was in Anthropology, so I’ve always had a love of people.

I value authenticity, and a spirited life—well-lived and nurtured.

RELationship therapy

Tending to the well-spring of ourselves first in order to relate beautifully with the truth of others.

speciality & Approach:

I specialize in helping brilliantly heady, overachieving women overcome feelings of anxiety, build self-esteem, lovingly hold boundaries, and let go of overthinking, so you can be live whole-heartedly and be more present for your life.

I will gently & fiercely support you, as needed - especially for the women who are not quite used to being supported - and help you feel less stuck and overwhelmed.

I use an individualized, collaborative approach utilizing your strengths, communication, learning new coping skills, and create long-lasting changes.

In my practice, I support individuals, couples, groups, mental health teams connect to inner peace & ease.

I’m trained in trauma-informed breathwork, astrology, slow flow yoga, reiki, and somatic psychotherapy. I incorporate tools and learnings that have supported me, in hopes they will bring you and yours a deep sense of clarity, belonging and most of all, homecoming.

I believe our capacity to reconnect with our mind, body and breath at once has been called to be re-established during the pandemic — and its importance will only continue to dawn on on us…

As a native New Yorker, living in Brooklyn, my lifestyle has always felt fast-paced, and my natural pace within it has always felt out of sorts, as if it was not quite a match— and so, this is continuously part of my own work.

Through everything I offer, I’m here to help you connect to your breath and in turn, yourself.

TRAUMA THERAPY

Moving the needle with your pain without getting stuck in overwhelm or fear. I help you deepen into belonging with yourself, entering into the blocks you’ve contended with for decades, so that the pain of them can lessen. If your pain scares you, know I won’t leave you with it.

BI-WEEKLY MODIFIEd/16-WEEK TRANSFORMATIONAL therapy

Over the span of 3 months, we focus on making big shifts on 1-2 major areas of your life. For example, you may want to stop engaging in a specific behavior, learn self-compassion, set boundaries with loving assertiveness, express your needs, or have true relational intimacy.

We’ll spend the first 1-2 sessions getting clear on what you want to shift & discover subconscious holdings that may be keeping the behavior/feeling state. The following sessions will follow an an intensive format.

training & credentials

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Stephanie holds a Master's in Mental Health Counseling, and a BA in Anthropology & Communication Disorders and Sciences. Her training includes Advanced Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Somatic Experiencing, and Trauma-Informed Breathwork. Her extensive academic and practical experience allow for her to offer integrative & evidence-based guidance.

    • magna cum laude, licensed in the state of New York (NY License #: 015216)

    • (2024)

  • Pause Breathwork (Breathwork for Healing and Transformation)

  • Beacons of Change NYC

  • Debra Silverman

  • Yogaworks / 42-hr CE with Mary Beth LaRue

  • Bachelor of Arts, Anthropology / Communication Disorders & Sciences double major, the State University of New York at New Paltz

receive your breath

(forthcoming - sign up below to be notified)

Receive Your Breath is an intimate digital sanctuary for building your well-spring. A space for you to let down your hair, melt, meld, soften, so you can face your world with gentle fierceness.

Here, you’ll find a cozy home base for your practices alongside a library of shorter practices to behold yourself in the moments in between sessions - insourcing your connection to Self.

It’s a personal retreat, the soft voice in your heart reminding you it is safe to slow down, let yourself be, dare, need, desire, permission to be at peace, situate your precious self.

Let’s create your sanctuary, personal Retreat. An online retreat to help you find yours in the day-to-day.

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Included in membership: Online breathwork therapy group for women who would like to experience more emotional regulation. The same small groups 6-7 max. meet most weeks of the month for several months. Access to individuals check-ins with lead therapist. $65 a week (8-week commitment) with the possibility of future alumni groups.