245 5th Ave #311, New York, NY 10016 / 80 Park St., Montclair, New Jersey 07042
(312)600-3775
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At Authentically Living Psychological Services, I offer counseling for lawyers in New York who crave something real—a space to drop the performance, question the grind, and rediscover what it actually means to be human. Because beneath the accolades and deadlines, there’s a person who’s ready to stop existing for the résumé and start living for themselves.
You’ve won the case, but you’ve lost other aspects of your identity along the way.
Billable hours. Endless pressure. The polished façade that hides the exhaustion underneath. At some point, success started feeling more like survival, and the version of you beneath the suit got a little lost in the noise.
You know firsthand that the legal world can be a pressure cooker. You’re expected to be unflappable, articulate, and available at all hours—meanwhile, you’re human, with actual feelings.
Maybe you’re feeling:
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Exhausted from constantly trying to prove yourself.
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Feeling disconnected from your relationships, your body, maybe even yourself.
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Struggling to switch off your “lawyer brain” long enough to sleep.
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Wondering if all this achievement is worth what it’s costing you.
Sound familiar? You’re not broken—you’re just living in a system that rewards burnout and calls it dedication. Therapy is where we untangle that and learn how to craft meaning both in your career and personal life.
Meet your New York therapist for lawyers
Dr. Cynthia Shaw
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Offers therapy for lawyers and law students ✓
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Credentials: Licensed Clinical Psychologist, Certified Grief Professional
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Clientele: Adults
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Location: New York, NY 10016 & 40+ PsyPact States
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Virtual therapy: Yes
How therapy for lawyers can support you
Discover who you are beneath the job title
Create meaning in a profession that feeds on performance
Build relationships that don’t feel like cross-examinations
Turn burnout into an existential wake-up call
Somewhere between the late-night filings and the burnout, your sense of self started answering to your job title. Therapy gives you space to remember who you were before the career consumed the person. The goal isn’t reinvention—it’s cultivating an identity that doesn’t rely solely on a business card to matter.
When success is measured in hours and outcomes, it’s easy to lose sight of what actually sustains you. Counseling for lawyers isn’t about escaping your career—it’s about re-examining what you’re actually chasing and whether it still feels worth the chase.
Law trains you to anticipate every argument, even in your personal life. Therapy becomes the one place you don’t have to win—just seen. It’s where emotional connection replaces debate prep, and vulnerability doesn’t require a closing statement.
Burnout isn’t a personal failure; it’s a message that you’re allergic to the way your life is currently structured. Together, we explore what your exhaustion is trying to tell you—because sometimes the most radical thing a lawyer can do is admit they’re tired of pretending they’re fine.
Common reasons why lawyers seek therapy
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You’ve built a career that looks perfect on paper but feels strangely hollow when you stop long enough to notice.
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Burnout has become your baseline, and caffeine no longer counts as a coping mechanism.
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No matter how much you achieve, your inner critic still thinks you should’ve done it faster and with better citations.
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You’ve mastered sounding confident, but authenticity now feels like a liability.
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You’re starting to suspect that existential dread is just part of your morning routine.
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Your other identities outside of your career—parent, partner, friend— feel foreign.
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Your self-worth and your billable hours have become disturbingly intertwined.
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You’re surrounded by people but can’t remember the last time you actually felt connected.
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You’re at a crossroads, wondering if the life you built still belongs to you.
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You care deeply about your clients—but it’s costing you more than you want to admit.
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You’re disappointed with what being a lawyer actually looks like—you wanted to help people, not spend your days doing paperwork.
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You feel resentful and powerless confronting the failed systems and corruption that exist within the justice system.
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Your job has started to take a physical toll, leaving you with weird aches and pains, sleepless nights, and maybe even an unexplained chronic illness.
My approach to working with lawyers
I’ve always been drawn to working with high-achievers, overthinkers, and deep feelers. These are often the people who are always striving for something more—when what actually creates a life worth living is slowing down, embracing what is, and crafting our own meaning rather than constantly seeking external validation and outward success.
My approach is unapologetically existential and relational. I'm not here to give you coping strategies so you can grind harder or perform better. I'm here to sit with you in the discomfort of those big questions and explore what it means to live authentically in a profession that often rewards conformity and performance over truth.
Generic therapy often misses the mark for legal professionals. Working with a therapist who specializes in supporting high-powered professionals like you gives you tailored support that cuts through the noise and allows you to be—not intellectualize your feelings or try to “fix” what’s “wrong.”
If you’re ready for holistic therapy that brings clarity to the chaos, I’m here for you.
What to expect from the therapy process
Acclimate to the therapy space
Exploring what matters
Confronting stuckness with curiosity
We can start with radical honesty about how…weird therapy can feel, especially as a driven professional. You show up. I show up. No scripts, no need to sound impressive or competent. It’s the one space where you can finally drop the “together” act, even if it feels unfamiliar—and even a little uncomfortable—at first.
Somewhere between the late-night briefs and existential spirals, you might’ve lost track of what actually matters to you. Together, we’ll sift through the noise—status, success, expectation—and see what still feels alive underneath it all (and it usually isn’t your LinkedIn headline).
We don’t chase quick fixes here. We get curious about what's underneath the layers of professional rigidity, burnout, and overachieving. Why you can't seem to stop pushing yourself, even when you desperately need a break. It’s uncomfortable, yes, but also kind of freeing when you stop pretending you don’t care.
Integrating growth into daily life
The real work isn’t in the therapy room; it’s in the in-between moments—when you choose presence over autopilot or actually taste your overpriced New York coffee instead of gulping it between emails. Growth looks less like an epiphany and more like small rebellions against the grind.