Kathy Dowd smiles at Acheron Psychiatry

Psychotherapist, LMSW

Kathy Ehrich Dowd

Kathy helps clients quiet their inner critic and heal from trauma so they can live with greater authenticity and self-acceptance. She particularly connects with creatives who feel stuck, bringing her affirming style, deep listening, and 20+ years of experience as a journalist to your work together.

A message from Kathy

Entering therapy is a courageous step toward healing and peace. I’m not here to “fix” you, but to walk beside you with presence and compassion, helping you reconnect with the wise and resilient parts of yourself that may feel hidden beneath layers of trauma and hurt. Together, we’ll draw on mindfulness practices and other evidence-based approaches to cultivate your ability to “be here now,” using self-awareness and curiosity to uncover what’s keeping you stuck. When it feels appropriate, I also integrate Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) to help open new perspectives and dissolve barriers to growth.

My own therapy was profoundly healing, showing me how being truly seen and supportively challenged can lead to lasting change. Before becoming a therapist, I spent over 20 years as a journalist, often interviewing trauma survivors whose courage and honesty shaped my deep belief in our shared humanity. Today, I bring that same openness, respect, and attunement into the room with every client. My hope is to create a space where you feel supported and empowered as you move toward a more fulfilling and authentic life. I look forward to meeting you.

I believe every person is inherently worthy of love and compassion, even when life’s challenges, mistakes, or traumatic experiences lead to feelings of shame, depression, anxiety, isolation, or addiction. When we lose sight of that truth, it’s easy to get caught in cycles of self-criticism or hopelessness. My role as a therapist is to help you reconnect with your innate worth and resilience. Through careful attention, nonjudgmental listening, curiosity, and a touch of humor, I aim to create a space where you feel both seen and supported as you shift long-held patterns that keep you stuck.

While you are the ultimate expert in your own life, therapy can offer fresh perspectives and practical tools to carry with you into the often overwhelming real world. I draw on a range of evidence-based approaches—including mindfulness and self-compassion practices—to help you better understand your patterns and respond to challenges in ways that feel true to who you are. Even small shifts in awareness can ripple out into lasting changes in how you relate to yourself and others.

In the therapy room—or in our virtual sessions—you can expect a collaborative, open atmosphere where you don’t have to go through your struggles alone. I bring warmth, patience, and genuine curiosity to each conversation, encouraging exploration without judgment and gently challenging you when it feels supportive. My hope is that you leave each session not only with insight, but a growing confidence in your own inner wisdom and worth.

  • Master of Social Work, Rutgers University, May 2025

  • License: LMSW in NY license #128337; LMSW NJ license #44SL07297800
  • Certificate in Interpersonal Violence and Trauma, Rutgers University, 2025
  • Dr. Sue Johnson’s Intensive Course in Emotionally Focused Therapy: Attachment-Based Interventions for Couples in Crisis, 2025
  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction course, New York Insight Meditation Center, 2023

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