PAULA F EAGLE MD (She/Her)

I have a general psychiatric practice in which I see all kinds of people,. It is my privilege to work with people who have been hurt at some point in their lives and it is my purpose to help them to heal. No matter whether one has a diagnosis of Complex PTSD or Dissociative Disorder, or a personality disorder, multiple traumatic experiences can warp development and result in compartmentalization of the traumatic experiences and fragmentation of the self. Many people with these issues engage in repetitive arguments, often because they are re-enacting unhealthy behavioral scripts that they have learned in their dysfunctional families. Not having had a sense of security as a small child, or a feeling that their loved ones didn't want to help or comfort them, has left them feeling alone, and in a state of longing that somehow, somebody will love them. Other people believe that if they try to do what others want, that they will be loved and protected, though it's rare that that happens. Often these people think that they are just not good enough and so they settle for people who use and exploit them, or who physically abuse them. It's very sad how little they expect from others, and feel that they have to make up for taking up space in this world. Often they believe that even if sometimes they are able to tolerate being loved, they have trouble taking the love in because they feel they don't deserve it. Or sometimes, to protect themselves from the disappointment of being abandoned, they have a "negativity bias", feeling that sooner or later their loved ones will abandon them, which then becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. I use a number of strategies to help people with these conditions. I begin with a baseline of respect, honesty, and connectedness. Although it is not the only aspect of treatment and healing, love is the foundation in which healing occurs. This kind of caring promotes the idea everyone is entitled to equality, to the sense that they are ok just the way they are, and that they are worthy of love, warts and all. We are all human beings and as such, we are are flawed and make a lot of mistakes. But that's OK because mistakes promote learning, humility, and gratitude. I believe its very important to enjoy life as much as possible, to take time to spend time in healthy ways that encourage empathy, health bonding, and honest communication. Then I may use EMDR, hypnosis, journaling, art therapy, Internal Family Systems therapy, among other strategies to help the person treat themselves with compassion and respect. I am a psychiatrist so I also prescribe medication that has been shown to help people who dissociate. Sometimes my dog, Luna, a white Shepherd comes to help out too. In addition, I treat people with other problems: depression and anxiety, ADHD with executive functioning problems, personality disorders, addiction. As a psychiatrist who was trained at Columbia University both for residency and psychoanalytic school, I am very eclectic in my approaches, and will use whatever treatment modality that is appropriate to the problems that people have, instead of trying to get everyone to accept the treatment that I think I have the most affinity to. People are complex and diagnositic crcriteria come little boxes that people don't always fit in. I also enjoy treating couples and sometimes families. I have also helped people work through a grief process, which is ofter very difficult. But I can open us up so we get to know ourselves in a deeper, more intentional way.