About Me
Gay Therapist NYC | Chronic Pain Therapist
Sean Hershey (he, him)
Psychotherapist in New York
I'm a human, with a brain and a nervous system. Just like you.
That means I'm susceptible to chronic pain. Just like you.
People have called me sensitive.
People are right. I am sensitive.
I'm a faithful family member and I'm a loving friend.
I'm a gay White cisgender man.
I’m capitalizing the word White because, as Nell Irvin Painter once wrote, leaving the w lowercase falsely situates Whiteness as neutral and normal. It's not neutral and normal.
I question myself and my cultural assumptions. And you are welcome to question me too.
I grew up in an Irish Catholic community in St. Paul, Minnesota. I spent my childhood gay and closeted and alone in the Catholic Church.
To get through my childhood, I had to hide.
I hid myself from others, and I hid myself from myself. And not just my sexuality. I felt I had to hide so much.
Years and years later, I would learn that chronic pain is caused by emotional repression and misattunement with oneself.
Now it’s clear—that childhood set me up.
Today, though, here I am.
And still queer as ever.
I'm trained in many therapeutic modalities including psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, trauma-informed therapy, attachment-based therapy, emdr, and pain reprocessing therapy.
My training makes me a good therapist, but my humanity makes me a great therapist.
I, like you, have emotions.
But my feelings don’t scare me.
And your feelings don't scare me either. Bring them on. It's therapy.
In our work together, I'll help you learn to tolerate who you really are and what you really feel. I’m gonna gently challenge you—and we’re gonna go deep. Because, yes, doing this emotional work is a key part of the treatment that'll resolve your chronic pain.
I draw upon my own journey out of pain to better guide you out of yours
And, of course, over the years I've had: a childhood of chronic headaches, years of chronic back pain, decades of chronic hip pain, severe (like, severe) chronic irritable bowel syndrome.…
I've had a lot of issues.
And I was one of those people who tried everything in the medical system—doctors, medications, alternative doctors, herbs, cleanses, elimination diets, acupuncture, chiropractors, back stretches, sacroiliac joint exercises, supplements, unconventional supplements, very unconventional supplements, you know the drill.
And nothing worked.
My chronic pain took me to a place of absolute desperation.
You probably get it—because you've been there too.
But all those treatments were based on the wrong paradigm.
Eventually, finally, I learned how to apply mind-body medicine to chronic pain.
That changed everything.
Now, I'm experiencing true, deep symptom recovery.
After all the symptoms I’ve dealt with, feeling well feels like a miracle.
My recovery's going great.
This stuff works.
And, if you’re open, if you give yourself over to this process… let me tell you, I know your recovery will go great too.
Your Identities Matter
We all bring our identities into therapy.
In order for us to have an authentic connection, it's important for us to acknowledge our intersectional identities. In my career, I've worked with clients across the wide spectrum of races, cultures, ethnicities, immigration statuses, sexualities, gender identities, relational styles, and religious beliefs.
I make space for and value conversations about you. The whole of you—including your unique background, identity, lived experience, perspective, and worldview.
All are welcome.