BARBARA PFINGST, LMSW
Licensed in: NY, NJ
Works with: Individuals (age 15+)
Languages: English, ASL
Focus Areas and Specializations
Trauma/PTSD and Anxiety
Starting the journey toward healing—especially when you're living with trauma, PTSD, or anxiety—takes tremendous courage. If you're feeling a desire to understand yourself more deeply or make sense of your experiences, you're not alone. I work with individuals who are sensitive, thoughtful, and ready to reconnect with their inner strength, even if that path feels uncertain or overwhelming right now.
Living with trauma or chronic anxiety can leave you feeling disconnected, stuck, or overwhelmed by thoughts and sensations that seem out of your control. But these struggles do not define you—they are normal and expected responses to pain that your system has carried for a long time. Together, we can begin to explore what’s beneath the surface in a way that feels grounded and manageable.
Whether you're navigating panic, flashbacks, grief, or just a desire to feel more at peace, our work will focus on building resilience, self-compassion, and tools that truly work for you. Healing is not about fixing what’s broken - it’s about rediscovering what has always been within you. And I’m here to walk alongside you on that journey.
Spirituality and Dream Work
Spirituality often serves as a meaningful component of psychological well-being, shaping values, guiding life choices, and supporting a sense of purpose. Whether you are seeking to deepen spiritual practices, explore existential concerns, or understand how spirituality informs your worldview, our work together can support this exploration. Dreams can serve as a vital gateway to the unconscious, offering symbolic guidance and revealing inner conflicts, archetypal themes, and paths toward integration. Using a holistic, integrative approach, we will consider the interplay between cognitive, emotional, and spiritual dimensions to facilitate greater alignment between your internal experiences and the choices you make in your life.
Grief and Perinatal Loss
Grief and loss—whether due to the death of a loved one, perinatal loss, or other significant life changes—can be deeply traumatic and disorienting. These experiences often bring waves of pain, numbness, guilt, or even a sense of unreality. For many, grief is compounded by feelings of isolation or the pressure to “move on” before they’re ready. In a trauma-focused therapy setting, we recognize that loss can be both a psychological and physiological experience, stored in the body and nervous system.
I offer a safe, compassionate space where you can begin to process this grief in a way that feels grounded and manageable. Whether the loss is recent or long ago, together we can explore the emotions, memories, and somatic responses that arise, using approaches that may include somatic awareness, trauma-informed narrative work, and mindfulness-based tools. Your experience is valid, your story matters, and you do not have to navigate this journey alone.
Deaf Friendly
As a hearing, Deaf-friendly clinician, I am committed to providing a supportive and accessible environment where we can work together to address the unique challenges you may be facing, using tools and techniques that align with your needs and preferences.
Collaborative and Client-Centered Approach
In our work together, I draw from evidence-based approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to help identify and shift unhelpful thought patterns, Motivational Interviewing to support your inner readiness for change, and Somatic Processing to gently reconnect with the wisdom of your body. These methods are integrated into a compassionate, non-judgmental space where your pace, safety, and autonomy are always respected.
If you’re ready to begin this journey of meaning-making and self-discovery, I would be honored to walk alongside you. Together, we will uncover the insights that lead to a more fulfilling and intentional life. Please reach out if you feel called to explore further. I look forward to the possibility of working with you and supporting you in creating a life of depth, purpose, and peace.
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About Barbara
I earned a Master of Social Work from Fordham University and a Master of Spiritual Guidance from Sofia University. I have additional training in working with dreams, SoulCollage, meaning making, as well as Focusing, which is a technique that can increase your mindfulness and assist in personal transformation. Whether you're interested in building resilience, finding the right path, or simply seeking a way to quiet the mind, we can work together to build practices that resonate with you and support your unique healing journey.
