Sophie Giovanola, Ph.D.

I am a New York State licensed psychologist with nearly a decade of clinical experience. Born in Switzerland, I first studied dance in my native country and then trained in France, England and the United States. I studied and taught at The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in New York City and performed professionally with The Martha Graham Dance Company.

Graham was inspired by universal myths and legends and sought to embody the exploration of the human psyche in her work. My immersion in the Graham philosophy led me to continue that exploration, making my transition from dancer to psychologist both natural and logical. While the primary instrument of communication changed, the exploration of feelings remained the creative challenge.

Since completing my education and internships, I have provided short and long term individual and group supportive psychotherapy to people from diverse cultural backgrounds and life experiences. I have worked in a variety of settings including outpatient medical and mental health clinics and inpatient psychiatric services, forensic venues and in private practice. I have also trained psychiatric residents while continuing my own professional training throughout my career.

In his book, The Creative Evolution, the French philosopher and Nobel Laureate, Henri Bergson observed:

To exist is to change, to change is to mature,
to mature is to go on creating oneself, endlessly.

I believe that therapy can facilitate and enhance that always evolving creation and development of self. In exploring the past, being in the present and imaging the future, the therapeutic process illuminates and expands the full expression of self.

Education

Fordham University
B.A. in Psychology – 1992 Summa cum laude

Columbia University
M.S. Psychology - 1996
Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology - 2001

Affiliations

The Mount Sinai Medical Center
Assistant Professor/Psychiatry

New York State Psychological Association