Dr. samantha gaies
Clinical Psychologist • Executive Coach
Mindfulness Expert • group leader
Dr. Samantha Gaies is a New York City-based Clinical Psychologist with more than 15 years of clinical, consulting, and counseling experience. She opened SGS Practices in order to* create a holistic space to help individuals become the best versions of themselves. Dr. Gaies uses principles from mindfulness meditation, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), hypnotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), positive psychology, psychodynamic theories, and other strengths-based approaches to help individuals create fulfilling and lasting changes. She has crafted a unique style to become an expert in helping people struggling with anxiety, life transitions, insomnia, infertility, pregnancy and postpartum support, relationship concerns, trauma, professional obstacles and blocks, executive coaching, and career changes.
Dr. Gaies currently offers the following services: individual therapy sessions, couples therapy sessions, executive coaching, and mindfulness training. To learn more about each service, please click the links above or send Dr. Gaies an email.
education
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
BS in Radio/TV/Film, Certificate in Leadership
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY
MA Coursework in Psychology
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
MA in Educational Psychology
PhD in Counseling Psychology
NY Health Hypnosis & Integrative Therapy
Clinical Psychologist & Director of Operations
Atlanta Veterans MEDICAL CENTER
Doctoral Internship & Postdoctoral Training in Integrative Health
Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation
Aptitude Consultant
professional Experience
becoming a psychologist
Dr. Samantha Gaies’s first foray into the exploration of emotions and human experience began during her undergraduate years at Northwestern University, where she majored in Radio/TV/Film. After a few years of working with fictional characters in the film industry at Miramax and The Weinstein Company, Dr. Gaies realized she preferred a field in which she could make a significant impact with people instead of characters. She began her professional career in psychology at the Johnson O’Connor Research Foundation, a national non-profit organization where she assessed individuals’ aptitudes and coached them so they could better understand how to find more satisfaction in their careers and educational pursuits. A few years later, she began her academic training in psychology at New York University (NYU), where she completed Master’s level courses in General Psychology.
A year after enrolling at New York University (NYU), Dr. Gaies joined the doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin, where she obtained an MA in Educational Psychology and then a PhD in Counseling Psychology. During her academic career, her research focused on exploring the positive effects of mindfulness and self-compassion in relation to physical and mental health, as well as studying how mental health stigma affects therapy and wellbeing. Her dissertation focused on the negative impact of over-diagnosing clients and investigated ways in which psychologists can ensure that patients are treated with respect and dignity as unique individuals while in therapy.
After finishing her coursework, Dr. Gaies went on to complete both her Pre-doctoral Internship and Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Atlanta VA Medical Center, where she spent more than half of her time specializing in Integrative Behavioral Health disciplines, such as insomnia and sleep problems, chronic pain, cardiac anxiety, sexual health, pelvic pain, eating disorders, weight management, and health anxiety. During her training, Dr. Gaies also worked in the Trauma Recovery Program/Military Sexual Trauma Unit, where she helped individuals work through their experience of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) using Prolonged Exposure (PE) and Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT). During her tenure at the VA, Dr. Gaies became certified in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), as well as becoming an expert in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CPT-I) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).
Prior to opening SGS Practices, Dr. Gaies worked for several years at a New York City-based private practice, where she honed her clinical skills related to mindfulness and hypnosis/hypnotherapy. During those years, she was able to specialize in areas of personal and clinical interest, including anxiety (general and health-related), life transitions, executive coaching, insomnia, infertility, pregnancy and postpartum support, relationship concerns, career conflicts and performance problems, trauma, and eating disorders.
Clinical Trainings
Evidence-Based Trainings & Certifications
Motivational Interviewing (MI)
Prolonged Exposure (PE)
Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Mindful Self-Compassion
The Gottman Method
Hypnotherapy Training
American Society of Clinical Hypnosis (ASCH)