Chana Shaffer, LMSW

Chana (she/her) is a therapist passionate about working with individuals and couples to promote their personal growth through their life’s many complex challenges. Chana was drawn to the mental health field after a career in academia and law. She holds a Master of Social Work degree from  Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work. Chana enjoys working with individuals on issues including stress, anxiety, depression, substance misuse, relationship and work stressors, trauma, grief, loneliness, self-esteem issues, overachieving and identity exploration. She has also co-facilitated workshops and groups on topics ranging from grief and loss to trauma and infertility. She holds a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. In addition to her work at Manhattan Therapy, Chana also works as a surrogacy attorney. Chana brings her past personal and professional experience to help clients explore their religious and spiritual identity. She provides insight and support for clients who have experienced religious trauma as well as those who are simply seeking to create a spiritual path that feels authentic to themselves. Chana also often works to help clients navigate the challenges of infertility, including pregnancy loss, secondary infertility and surrogacy. She provides insight and support for those who are currently pursuing fertility treatments and creates a safe space for those healing from infertility wounds. Chana also helps couples in building healthier communication, being thoughtful when faced with tough decisions, and staying connected while dealing with the stress of infertility issues.

Chana believes that therapy can be a valuable tool for self discovery, for gaining insight to those curious about their patterns and tendencies, and to ease psychic pain. Therapy can enable you to discover your truest self, uncovering what you desire and also finding ways to identify, hold, effectively cope with and soothe your fears and wounds. Through a therapeutic partnership, Chana can help you gain insight to discover your most authentic self and guide you toward self actualization. Chana is committed to developing a strong therapeutic alliance with you by creating an empathetic and non-judgmental environment of honesty, support and collaboration, empowering you to engage in internal exploration.

Chana’s approach is warm, sensitive, empathetic and non-judgmental. Chana uses a psychodynamic lens and also draws on other modalities, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), attachment theory and somatic therapy.