Therapy isn't just for crisis—it's a sign of strength

Ever wondered if therapy is only for people in crisis? Ready to challenge what you think you know about mental health support? Justena Kavanagh, founder of NYC Counseling and psychotherapist with over 20 years of experience, joins us to dismantle the myths and misconceptions surrounding therapy.

Justena shares her fascinating journey from corporate consulting and ABC News to discovering her true calling in psychotherapy. With warmth and candor, she explains why she finds human behavior and emotions endlessly fascinating, comparing psychology classes to "dessert" while other subjects felt like "meat and vegetables." Her story demonstrates how following your genuine interests—even later in life—can lead to profound professional fulfillment.

The conversation tackles the persistent stigma around seeking mental health support. Justena eloquently explains how many of her clients are high-functioning professionals who excel in their careers but struggle with relationships or emotional regulation. She challenges the notion that therapy is only for those in crisis, emphasizing that seeking support is a sign of strength, not weakness. "Therapy can be very expensive," she notes, "but not going can be much more costly"—a powerful perspective on the hidden price we pay when avoiding emotional care.

What if a few therapy sessions could dramatically improve your relationships, well-being, and quality of life? Connect with NYC Counseling at nyccounseling.com or call 212-777-6922 to discover how accessible, targeted mental health support might be exactly what you've been missing. Isn't it time to give yourself the same care you'd readily seek for other aspects of your life?

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place
where local businesses andneighbors come together.
Here's your host, GarfieldBowen.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to Good Neighbor Podcast Live.
Are you in need of a mentalhealth counselor?
Well, one may be closer thanyou think.
Today we have the pleasure ofintroducing your good neighbor,
Justina Canova, with NYCCounseling, Justina how are you?
Doing today.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
I'm all right, thank you.

Speaker 2 (00:40):
Listen, we're excited to learn all about you and your
practice.
Tell us about your company.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
Listen, we're excited to learn all about you and your
practice.
Tell us about your company.
Sure, my name is JustinaCavanaugh.
I've been a psychotherapist inNew York for over 20 years and
over 10 years ago I started agroup practice named NYC
Counseling and it's sort of anextension of what I was doing
solo, just to be able to servemore people and have a wider

(01:06):
variety of times and fees andspecialties available.
So we're pretty generaloutpatient mental health
psychotherapy practice and wesee mostly individuals as well
as adults, families, both withyoung children, older children,
couples and groups.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
What brought you into this whole space of mental
health?
What attracted you to thisfield?

Speaker 3 (01:35):
I've always been fascinated by human behavior and
relationships and emotion, andrelationships and emotion.
And I went into college and Iwould take psych classes that I
sort of thought of as dessert,but I needed to eat my meat and
veggies and then I said, no, Ican major in it.

(01:56):
And despite majoring in it, Idid not remotely consider
working in it.
So I first worked in consultingand then I worked in at ABC
News and it was during a leaveof absence that someone said to
me all you do is read psych, whynot work in it?
And I thought, oh my God didn'tabsolutely.

(02:18):
And it was a real light bulbmoment.
So since then I've been doingthis for over 25 years and I'm
endlessly fascinated by it.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
So you just said, let me skip everything else and
stick with the dessert.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
And I think what's beautiful is what?
What?
What's my dessert is someoneelse's?
You know, there's things I'dreally rather not do that people
love doing and have aprofession in, and that's what
some people will say how do youdo your job all day?
Isn't it so depressing?
And I said not to me, to me,like cocktail party chatter is

(02:56):
depressing, or keeping it supersuperficial.
I think anything real is veryalive and I don't know.
It seems better than what isnot discussed.

Speaker 2 (03:09):
What are some of the myths and misconceptions in the
industry?

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Oh boy, I think there are huge myths and
misconceptions about mentalhealth and I'd say also massive
stigma.
I think most cultures andfamilies I don't think there are
many cultures and families thatembrace sort of mental health
care.
It seems that it's justgenerally.

(03:36):
I'm generally poo-pooed, but Ithink, and I think that comes
from a lot of lack of awarenessof what it is.
I think it feels verythreatening to people,
threatening to the status quo,sort of threatening to the way
things are.
And so, god, I have so much tosay but I'm struggling to think

(03:57):
of where to go with it.
I mean so generally, I thinkthere's a lack of understanding
about it and an aversion to it.
In terms of misconceptions, Ithink the massive misconception
is that you have to be in direstraits and somehow weak or

(04:22):
vulnerable to need it, and Ithink that's not remotely true.
I think people can benefit fromit even when they're not in
acute pain.
I think it's even better whenyou're not in acute pain, and
that it's really a sign ofstrength to reach out for not
for help, but I mean reach outfor support.
We get help in so many areas,whether it's taxes or exercise

(04:49):
or the like.
There's so many areas in whichwe're happy to consult with a
professional, and yet mentalhealth is not an area that a lot
of people think it's okay toget help with, and so, anyway, I
could go on and on, but that'sthe gist of it, I think.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Do you think more male or female will reach out
first?
Which one?

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Definitely statistically female.
I think in the same vein thatwe as a culture I think it's you
know shows vulnerability.
I think, as a culture generally, more females are.
Females are more comfortablewith vulnerability, but that's

(05:36):
not to say men, don't?
It's just there's statisticallyfewer men who reach out for it.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
I guess we'll go to the gym and work it out.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
In fact, I always think of all the people who are,
whether it's your trainer, yourhairdresser, your bartender.
I mean, there's a millionpeople that people are getting
therapy with but, you know,might not be trained in it, yeah
, yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:02):
But might not be trained in it.
Yeah, yeah, you talked aboutthe type of people that you
treat.
Just explain again who's yourtarget audience and how are you
currently attracting them.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
Again, it's not so specific but I would say as a
general theme.
We see a lot of people who arevery high, functioning in
certain areas of life and that'soften academic, financial,
professional, maybe athletic orsocial and struggling in other
areas of life which tend to berelationships or emotional, and

(06:42):
by emotional I don't meanmassive mood swings, but using
substances to cope with certainfeelings or workaholism or all
sorts of behaviors, to kind ofstay steady in their feelings.
So I guess you kind of give themlike a mental massage, huh, so

(07:05):
I guess you kind of give themlike a mental massage huh, yes,
but not always a massage.
That, yeah, I mean.
Sometimes it doesn't feel,sometimes you feel worse to feel
better, and other times it'sthe other way around.
In fact, what I hear more thananything is God, I wish I'd
started this sooner, or I wish Ihad more time for it started
this sooner, or I wish I hadmore time, for I mean most
people who, who, who, weighedinto therapy.

(07:26):
They're more, they're feelingmore than overdue and really
wish they had done so sooner.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Have you ever thought about doing your own podcast?

Speaker 3 (07:36):
I have in fact absolutely, and there are
certain just general mentalhealth, but also certain areas
of of specialty and expertisewhich I've considered uh
highlighting in a podcast.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
I know you say this type of work is, as you would
say, dessert.
But when you're not so busyrunning your business outside of
work, what do you like to dofor fun?

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Ideally, if I have access to water and snow sports.
I love them.
I love sort of kite surfing,wakeboarding, skiing, those
surfing anything in the water orsnow I like.
But I can't say I do that on aweekly basis.
But those are some things I doto get away.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Justine, if we were to narrow it down to one thing,
tell our listeners one thingthey should remember about NYC
counseling.

Speaker 3 (08:41):
I was going.
I mean it sounds sort ofnegative, but sometimes I say
therapy can be very expensive,but not going can be much more
costly and we really see thatwith relationship breakdown,
with health breakdown.
There's so many places in whichI often say a little bit of

(09:04):
therapy goes a long way.
You don't need to embark on amassive multi-year, multiple
time a week therapy orcounseling to get a lot of
benefit from it.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
Very well, listeners now probably just have one word
on their lips right now, andthat's how?
How can we get more informationon NYC Counseling?

Speaker 3 (09:51):
Sure.
Our website is nyccounselingcom.

Speaker 2 (09:53):
Phone number is 212-777-NYCC, which is, I think,
6924.
No 6922.
Info at NYC Counseling.
Those would be a few roots inlisten.
Justina, we really appreciateyou being on your show.
We wish you and your businessthe very best, moving forward
well, thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (10:02):
Thank you for having me thank you for listening to
the Good Neighbor podcast.
To nominate your favorite localbusinesses to be featured on
the show, go to GNPLivecom.
That's GNPLivecom, or call877-934-3302.