Ellen Hyunyoung Park, Psy.D.
Licensed Clinical Psychologist
New York License#: 024786
New Jersey License #: 35SI00703600
341 East 79th Street
New York, NY 10075
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Professional Profile
Writing
Clinical Approach
I am a psychodynamically oriented clinical psychologist whose work draws from a range of psychoanalytic and psychodynamic traditions rather than adhering exclusively to any single theoretical model. My approach emphasizes understanding each person as an individual, with attention to their unique history, experiences, relationships, and psychological development.
Although psychodynamic thinking provides the primary framework for my clinical work, I remain open to perspectives from other therapeutic approaches. Different patients bring different needs to treatment, and I believe that clinical work should remain responsive to the individual rather than requiring the individual to conform to a particular model.
My clinical perspective is also informed by training in neuropsychology and cognitive neuroscience. In psychological and neuropsychological assessment, I use standardized methods and established assessment procedures while considering each individual’s broader clinical context. My background across these areas allows me to approach assessment and treatment from multiple perspectives.
Why I Write About Freud
Much of my writing explores the work of Sigmund Freud and the history of psychoanalytic thought. This does not reflect an exclusive identification with classical Freudian theory. Rather, I am interested in Freud because of his foundational role in the development of psychotherapy and because many questions raised in his writings continue to appear, sometimes in substantially different forms, across contemporary approaches to psychological treatment.
Returning to original texts also provides an opportunity to distinguish Freud’s own ideas from the ways they have subsequently been interpreted, revised, rejected, or incorporated into later theories. My interest is therefore historical and scholarly as much as clinical.
More broadly, this blog examines contemporary psychotherapy through the history of the ideas that helped shape it. Understanding where our concepts and practices originated, and how they have changed, can help us think more carefully about what occurs in psychotherapy today. Patients have changed, society has changed, and psychotherapy itself has evolved. Looking backward can sometimes make those changes, as well as the continuities beneath them, easier to see.
Background
I am a licensed psychologist in New York and New Jersey and an advanced psychoanalytic candidate at the Contemporary Freudian Society. I received my Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yeshiva University and my M.Sc. in Cognitive Neuroscience from Vanderbilt University, following undergraduate studies in Psychology and Mass Communication at the University of Delaware. My academic and clinical background includes training in clinical psychology, cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology, and psychoanalytic psychotherapy.
Clinical Supervision, Consultation, and Education
I offer clinical supervision, consultation, and educational opportunities for mental health professionals interested in deepening their understanding of clinical practice, particularly from psychodynamic and psychoanalytic perspectives. Areas of focus may include case formulation, therapeutic process, relational dynamics, psychological assessment, and the integration of psychodynamic thinking into clinical work.
I am also available for lectures, workshops, and educational presentations on topics related to clinical psychology, psychodynamic and psychoanalytic theory, psychological assessment, and the historical and contemporary development of psychotherapy.
Professional Affiliations
American Psychological Association
American Psychoanalytic Association
Contemporary Freudian Society
International Neuropsychoanalysis Society
International Psychoanalytical Association
Areas of Clinical Focus
Depression
Anxiety
Self-Esteem & Identity
Grief & Loss
Relationship Difficulties
Trauma & PTSD
Insomnia
Stress & Life Transitions
Substance Use
Men’s issues
Women’s issues
Clinical Experience
I currently provide psychotherapy and psychological assessment in private practice to individuals presenting with a range of emotional, relational, and psychological concerns. My clinical experience includes over six years of hospital-based behavioral health practice in New York City, mainly in outpatient psychiatry, as well as many years in private practice.
My clinical training encompassed a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings throughout New York City, including Bronx Psychiatric Center, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, the Neurological Institute of New York at Columbia University Medical Center, and Mount Sinai Hospital. I completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship at North Central Bronx Hospital. I pursued postdoctoral training at Insight Psychology, LLC, the Contemporary Freudian Society, and Jacobi Medical Center. Collectively, these experiences have provided extensive clinical experience in psychotherapy, psychological assessment, diagnosis, and the treatment of a broad range of psychological concerns.
Selected Presentations
Park, H., Geramian, H., Ho, J.S., Aronov, A., Mak, W.J., Yenko, I., Francois, D., & Zweig, R. A. (2020). The effects of word use and personality pathology on depression and suicidal behavior in older adult inpatients. Presented as a poster at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, Online.
Nakhutina, L., Park, H., Mounsey, T., Margolis, S. A., & Grant, A. C. (2017). The relationship between prospective memory performance, memory complaints, and depression in ethnically diverse patients with epilepsy. Presented as a poster at the International Neuropsychological Society conference in New Orleans, LA.
