The therapist matters more than the method
How therapy has gone before doesn’t have to predict how it goes this time. What matters most is the relationship you have with the person sitting across from you in session (the research even backs this up!).
Meet Shira Somerstein, LCSW, Practice Owner
I didn’t always know I’d become a clinical therapist. The truth is, it happened kind of by accident.
My plan was actually to become a physical therapist. But, during my observation hours, I found myself far less interested in the physical rehab side of things than in patients’ stories and their emotional journeys. It became clear that therapy of the mind (rather than the body) was the right path for me.
Today, I work with young adults whose intense emotions arrive faster than they can think.They come to me feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or frustrated by something they can’t quite name. Often, we name it together.
At the center of my work is a therapeutic relationship built on trust, compassion, honesty, and safety to be who you are as you grow into who you’re becoming.
Background & experience
Master’s in social work, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
Licensed clinical social worker in New York, New Jersey, Florida, and Vermont
Adjunct professor, teaching clinical social work and human behavior
Clinical supervisor for social workers working toward licensure
Consultant to school guidance departments
Former director of guidance for a middle and high school, where I built the school’s emotional wellness programming
Former Crisis Text Line counselor
Meet Emma Glick, LSW
I have never felt that I needed to be the one who was in the center of attention, In fact, often I preferred the opposite. I have always been told that I am a good listener. Former clients have shared with me that I didn’t need to say anything to help create a safe space and have themselves feel heard. There is so much more to connecting than using words, sometimes it is about the way we listen and engage. Sometimes the most powerful thing that one can offer someone is the space to feel heard, being the person who can truly sit with you, listen, and understand.
This is something I carry with me into my work as a therapist. Through my experience working with teenagers and young adults, I have developed a genuine passion for helping this population navigate the challenges of growing up, including anxiety, depression, self-esteem, and complex relationships.
I strive to create a therapeutic relationship that is built on trust, compassion, empathy, and a place where my clients feel comfortable being themselves as we work towards each individual’s goals and needs.
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Background & experience
Master’s in social work, Wurzweiler School of Social Work
Licensed clinical social worker in New York, New Jersey, and Florida
Experience in both middle and high schools, working with both teens and adults as the guidance counselor, providing support and guidance to the student body
What’s different about working with Summer Day Therapy?
You'll get both validation and honesty
We’ll always validate and support you, and at the same time, we won’t shy away from telling you the truth, even when it’s hard to hear. For many clients, their therapist at Summer Day is the only person willing to say the hard thing to them.
Therapy is our real-life practice ground
The patterns that show up in your life tend to show up between you and your therapist, too. We’ll use that experience to help you work through those patterns in real time, so you’re better equipped to use the skills you learn in other parts of your life.
We hope to never make you feel like too much
You might have been told in one way or another that you’re “difficult” or “too much.” We hope you’ll never feel that in our sessions. Some of the clients I’m proudest to have helped are the ones who’ve been told they were beyond help.
We build skills around your life, not a template
DBT and CBT are part of how we work, but we will never hand you a worksheet or teach you a skill that isn’t relevant and easy to implement. We’ll take each skill apart and rebuild it around the exact challenge we’re addressing.
If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you
Our number one goal is for you to get the help and support you need. If we don’t feel like we’re the right fit to work with you on this, we will refer you to someone else. We will never let business get in the way of our therapeutic integrity.
Some of the modalities we use
We use an integrative, trauma-informed approach, which means we use a blend of different modalities to support your individual needs for growth and healing. These can include:
DBT (dialectical behavior therapy): This approach teaches concrete, practical skills for navigating intense emotions, managing overwhelm, setting boundaries, and staying grounded (even when things feel chaotic).
CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy): With CBT, we bring awareness to the thoughts and beliefs running underneath your reactions, so you can work through them instead of acting on them automatically.
Psychodynamic work: We’ll explore how your early relationships and past experiences may have shaped certain patterns, so we can gently shift those in a more helpful direction.
Internal Family Systems (IFS): IFS is useful when different parts of you want opposite things. It helps those parts stop working against each other. While we are not certified in IFS, we’ve done extensive training in it and bring that work into sessions when appropriate.
We will always build a treatment plan for you based around your specific needs and situation.
Let’s talk through your situation
If this sounds like the kind of therapy you’ve been looking for, the next step is a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your situation and see if we’re a good fit.