Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Dr. Meghan Downey, combines her expertise in relational psychodynamic therapy with her knowledge of mindfulness, hypnosis, ACT, eastern psychology, and positive psychology to improve the quality of her patients' lives and alleviate suffering. She helps her clients gain insight into their unconscious patterns and explore the origins of their behavior so they can create and sustain meaningful relationships and establish emotional wellbeing. Dr. Downey’s integrated approach utilizes the therapeutic relationship to facilitate awareness, growth, and positive change.
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Dr. Meghan Downey is a Clinical Psychologist who is licensed in both New York and Virginia and specializes in working with teens and adults struggling with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, pregnancy, parenting, women's issues, ADHD and trauma. Dr. Meghan Downey works collaboratively with her clients in a person-centered approach that incorporates hypnosis, mindfulness, and evidenced-based techniques to create meaningful change. In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Downey is also a certified hypnobirthing coach, and works to support women throughout their pregnancy and the birthing process.
Dr. Downey’s interest in psychology pre-dates her education. As an empath, she was captivated by emotion and human experience. Combined with her love of learning, she pursued clinical psychology throughout her higher education and received a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Molloy College’s Honors Program. She went on to receive her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. While at CIIS, she focused her research on the intersection of technology and courtship, studying the emergent norms of online dating. During this time, she received extensive training while working in a variety of settings, including school-based, private practice, and medical facilities. She broadened her experience by working with individuals suffering from a variety of challenges, including anxiety, depression, relational distress, professional challenges, addiction, and identity issues.
She completed both her pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship with Alameda Health System. During these experiences, she practiced relational psychodynamic therapy with individuals suffering from severe and persistent mental illness, including psychosis, major depression disorder, and bipolar disorder. Throughout this time, Dr. Downey was trained by Jungian, existential, and psychodynamic psychologists, and she grew into a leadership role in which she created didactic trainings and provided individual clinical supervision for masters and doctoral-level clinicians.
Following her residency, Dr. Downey transitioned to working with acute mental health concerns and gained an expertise in crisis management. After relocating to New York, Dr. Downey had the opportunity to incorporate existentialism into her practice when working with individuals coping with medical issues and end of life.
Prior to joining NY Health Hypnosis & Integrative Therapy, Dr. Downey worked as a Program Manager for Northwell Health, where she provided all administrative and clinical oversight of the OnTrackNY clinic, an innovative program for young people experiencing first episode psychosis. She partnered with researchers from Columbia University to improve evidenced-based approaches in working with first break psychosis. Her role as a leader enabled her to supervise clinicians, provide community presentations on a variety of subjects, including mindfulness, anxiety, resiliency in motherhood, and grief and loss. She also participated in hospital-wide initiatives to reduce mental health stigma and improve the culture of care.
Dr. Downey has always been drawn to alternative and holistic psychotherapy methods. She has sought out non-traditional methods using her curiosity, inquiry, and practice in order to focus on individual need, healing, and growth. She chose to further her graduate education at The California Institute of Integral Studies, where she received a dynamic and comprehensive blend of academic, cultural, spiritual, and philosophical training. She gained an expertise in psychodynamic psychotherapy, and specifically focused on the integration of mindfulness, object relations, Jungian, East-West, and existential psychology. Early in her career, she obtained additional training in traditional methods, such as DBT, CBT, and ACT. She later went on to receive training in hypnosis from the esteemed Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. In her practice, Dr. Downey merges her experience and training for an integrative, eclectic, and unique approach to nurture individual health and healing.
Dr. Downey’s therapeutic approach focuses on each individual’s psyche, attachment, personality, relational dynamics, cultural background, and individuation. She facilitates an atmosphere for reflective and collaborative psychotherapy. Dr. Downey creates a warm, validating, authentic environment in which patients can compassionately explore their concerns, practice vulnerability, and engage in self-inquiry to create meaningful change.
Dr. Downey integrates hypnosis, mindfulness, and other specialized techniques to meet the needs of each patient she works with. Her clinical approach is particularly helpful in treating a variety of challenges. This includes interpersonal challenges (e.g., relationship conflict, challenges with communication), intrapersonal difficulties (i.e., self-trust, self-esteem and self-confidence) and transpersonal issues (e.g., spiritual emergence or awakening). Dr. Downey also has a vested interest in working with individuals suffering from disordered eating, including both binge and restrictive eating, mood concerns (e.g., anxiety and depression), women's health (e.g., prenatal and postpartum challenges), and singular and complex trauma. Dr. Downey remains committed to best psychological practice through ongoing learning and training of holistic treatment modalities.
