David Drapkin, LMSW

Life is complicated and we are all highly complex individuals; so feeling happy and finding meaning doesn't come easily! That's why I take a humanistic and strengths-based approach that harnesses your innate resources and the underlying values that can ultimately lead you back to more authentic living.

A big part of my work focuses on your sub-conscious and how defense mechanisms and unhealthy habits get in the way of self-actualization. Once we identify exactly where change needs to happen we can then drill down into those parts of your personal story that need rewriting as they are blocking your inner narrative from stepping forward.

I have all the training, applied experience and deep clinical toolbox you will need. But progress can only be made if you are willing to take risks with looking in the mirror, expressing difficult feelings, and then commiting to the treatment plan goals we agree upon during our sessions. Everyone wants transformation, but in practice, many people prefer the dissatisfaction of their comfort zone rather than the discomfort of transforming into a new version of life that takes time to reveal.

As a psychodynamic therapist I utilise a variety of tools and techniques that I've received training in. My clinical pillars derive from CBT and psychoanalysis, although over the last 5-years I've been leaning strongly towards IFS, somatic-informed and mindfulness-based approaches. 

I support clients that are experiencing depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD, OCD - and all the other common mental health struggles that people often deal with. Working together we find ways to look beyond the diagnosis, to find the root source of people's pain and unease. I often think of our work as drawing a line that connects the dots through your life and identity. Gaining awareness, acceptance, and resolve to embrace the future with new insights, skills and intentions. These are the foundations from which transformation naturally arises from within. 

I help my clients conceptualize their core life issues with a curiosity that enables uncertainty and complexity to co-exist with the desire to meaningfully grow - without the need to control everything around us. My clients develop in mindful self-awareness in order to become more skilled in knowing their thoughts and feelings. By becoming more expert in their own lives they are able to trust their intuition and have clarity around the person they are and can then become.

I sub-let a clinic space in Zichron Ya'akov and also offer remote therapy to clients in Israel and internationally.