![The Look Book Parties With a Bunch of Therapists [Photos]](https://i2.wp.com/pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/bbb/17a/733a140509ba79df65b3cdfd7feb48b043-lede-20240208-NYM-LookBook-Therapists-04.1x.rsocial.w1200.jpg?w=780&resize=780,470&ssl=1 "The Look Book Parties With a Bunch of Therapists [Photos]")
![The Look Book Parties With a Bunch of Therapists [Photos]](https://i2.wp.com/pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/bbb/17a/733a140509ba79df65b3cdfd7feb48b043-lede-20240208-NYM-LookBook-Therapists-04.1x.rsocial.w1200.jpg?w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1 "The Look Book Parties With a Bunch of Therapists [Photos]")
Jill Gentile (pictured above)
Psychologist, Highland Park, New Jersey
How did you hear about the party?
My dear friend Ali Shames-Dawson invited me. She’s such a love.
When she told you she was throwing it, what did you think?
Uh, therapists don’t party. I had no conception of this. I really thought it was going to be a conventional book party, a small thing where maybe 50 people gather and maybe there’s a glass of wine and you say something serious about psychoanalysis. This was not that at all. I was in a tight elevator with about 20 other people, and I clearly was a generation older. And that created some anxiety because I’m like, Whoa, the field has changed, and I know no one here.
If you’re feeling anxious at a therapist party, do you talk about that anxiety openly?
Yeah, I kind of put that all out there. I immediately went up to Ali and said, “What did you get me into?” But she introduced me to a few people, and before I knew it, some of the other people I knew arrived. So it was actually easier than I thought.
Paul Rhindress
Psychologist, New Hyde Park
Patrick Rafferty
Psychologist, Greenpoint
What’s dating as a therapist like?
It sucks, mostly. I think some people are like, I don’t want to go on a date with this guy. He’s going to analyze me. But others know therapists aren’t weird wizards.
Nicole Nadell
Psychologist, Battery Park City
Sadé Porter
Psychologist, Forest Hills
Elinor Bock
Group-practice founder, Westchester
You’re one of the organizers?
Yes. I went to a wedding and a bat mitzvah in the fall, and I was like, We need to do that. A lot of times therapists get together and it becomes deep and heady. I wanted to ensure this was light and fun. Many therapists are just in the office all day; now, with an election year—I mean, we’re going to be in the trenches.
Jeffrey Lawrence
Clinical psychologist, Harlem
Kendra Doychak
Psychologist, Clinton Hill
Joey Sergi
Clinical psychologist, Bay Ridge
Who’d you come with?
My partner, who’s also a therapist. As you can imagine, our fights are really good. We’ll have moments where it’s like, “I think maybe you’re projecting your mommy stuff onto me right now and you need to take a break.”
Jean Petrucelli
Psychologist and psychoanalyst, Upper West Side
Hae-Joon Kim
Clinical psychologist, Sunset Park
Paul LaFreniere
Therapist, Long Island City
Laura Miller
Psychotherapist and professor, Carroll Gardens
Talk about anything interesting?
Yes, the delights and terrors of urban wildlife. A number of us have lived all around the world, and we were talking about coyotes in L.A. and foxes in London and bears in Nyack and raccoons in Brooklyn. I’m a big fan of the raccoons in Brooklyn.
Nelly Seo
Psychologist, Upper West Side
Ali Shames-Dawson
Clinical psychologist, Prospect–Lefferts Gardens
How long have you been a therapist?
Depends on who you ask. Some might say since I was in second grade. If somebody was being mean to you, I was like, “I know that this is not about that. Let’s find out where your pain is.” My mom’s
a psychotherapist, so I was born into it, for better or worse.
Danielle Dreher
Psychologist, Williamsburg
Andrea DePetris
Clinical psychologist, Westchester
Jayne Miller
Clinical psychologist, Greenwich Village
What was the turnout like?
I really feel like the best way to describe it is like a high-school reunion. Some people I was thrilled to see because it’s been years with COVID and all these things, and other people, I was like, Well, didn’t expect to see you here, wouldn’t have minded if I had never seen you again, but here you are.
Mia Lee
Clinical psychologist, West Village
Photographs by Frankie Alduino
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