I am Holly Stuart-Caines, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Psychotherapist in New York City. I have been practicing psychotherapy since 2010.

I believe in the transformative power of radical love to help us survive, heal, and ultimately fulfill our potential and purpose. I believe that all beings are inherently worthy of dignity, respect, love, and belonging. This is absolute worth. It is not earned. It just is.

I approach my work through these core values of radical love and absolute worth. When my patients are at their most vulnerable, I try to help them see themselves through a mirror of radical self-love and acceptance as they own and proclaim their worth. I welcome every part of you to show up with full presence, even when it’s scary.

Regardless of modality, clinical studies consistently reveal that the most powerful clinical outcomes in psychotherapy are fueled not by technique, but by the quality of the therapeutic relationship. When patients receive the correct attunement, find safety for vulnerability, can trust, and receive unconditional positive regard in their relationship with their therapist, healing happens. This is the foundation of our work together. I won’t be perfect, but I will do my best, and we will collaborate to create a therapeutic alliance that feels good. I welcome feedback and opportunities for repair, because occasional rupture is inevitable, and repair work is powerful fuel for healing.

When I went through my spiritual awakening, one of the immediate gifts was having greater awareness of my patients on a spiritual level, which drastically deepened our work together. This was one of the catalysts for exploring shamanic training, which has expanded my understanding of the human condition and introduced new ways of working with and through pain and suffering.

When I started exploring how this awakening would impact my work, one of my healing practitioners said to me, “As the healer heals, the healer heals.” This really resonated with me, as I decided to become a psychotherapist partly through having received help and healing in my own psychotherapy. However, while these are healing arts, it’s not quite correct to call a therapist or a shaman a healer as much as a facilitator. Eckhart Tolle teaches, “A healer does not heal. A healer lets healing be.” This is how I approach my work. I do not have all the answers, but I will do my best to use my presence, my skills, and the resources at my disposal to bring healing into our work together.