Learn to be present again.
Mindfulness-based therapy to help you slow down, regulate, and reconnect with yourself. In person and virtual in New York City.
A Space to Slow Down
Most of us move through our days on autopilot, reacting to what's in front of us, carrying yesterday's stress into today, and bracing for what comes next. Mindfulness is a practice of interrupting that pattern, not by escaping your life, but by learning to be more fully present inside it.
At Liben, mindfulness isn't a technique we hand you and send you off with. It's woven into the therapy itself, helping you understand not just what you feel, but how you feel it.
Whether you come in because anxiety has worn you down, burnout has left you numb, or you've simply lost the thread of who you are, mindfulness-based therapy offers a way back to yourself, one breath, one session at a time.
Book a Free Consultation →In-person in NYC or virtual across New York State. Same-week appointments available.
Certified in mindfulness, breathwork, yoga, and meditation, with training that spans the NYC school system and the Peace Corps.
From everyday overwhelm to a deeper disconnection from yourself.
You don't need to be in crisis to start.
Most people come to therapy not because something has fallen apart, but because something feels off and they can't quite name it. That's enough. You don't need to justify why you're here, wanting support is enough.
Why we choose not to work with insurance
- You don't need a mental health diagnosis to come to therapy.
- Session notes stay between you and your therapist. Nothing is shared with a third party.
- We decide together how often you come and for how long, based on what's helpful, not what an insurer approves.
- Private pay lets us keep our caseloads smaller, which means more time, attention, and care for each client.
Request your free 15-minute call
We'll be in touch within one business day to confirm your time.
No pressure. No commitment. Just a conversation.
When your mind won't stop running ahead, mindfulness helps you notice the pattern without being pulled along by it. Over time, you build more space between the thought and the reaction.
Burnout often comes from living so far outside yourself that you lose the ability to feel what you need. Mindfulness brings you back into your body, so you can start noticing what's actually going on before it becomes a crisis.
Reacting faster than you can think is often the nervous system's way of protecting you. Mindfulness helps you build the capacity to pause, so your responses start coming from choice rather than reflex.
Stress held in the body doesn't release on its own. Mindfulness and breathwork give you practical ways to work with that tension directly, not just talk about it.
Numbness is often the nervous system's way of coping with too much. Mindfulness gently brings you back into contact with yourself, at a pace that feels safe.
If you're always somewhere else in your head, mindfulness is a practice of returning, again and again, without judgment. That repetition is what builds the capacity over time.
Is mindfulness-based therapy right for you?
You don't need to meditate already, or believe in it, or be calm to begin. Most people come in because something isn't working and they're ready to try a different approach.
Mindfulness-based therapy tends to be a particularly good fit when you feel stuck in reactive patterns, when your body carries stress your mind can't seem to release, or when you know what you should do but can't seem to connect to it in the moment.
It's also useful as a complement to other therapy work, deepening insight by bringing more awareness to what's actually happening beneath the surface in real time.
Book a Free Consultation →What can mindfulness-based therapy actually change?
These shifts tend to happen gradually, but they compound. Most clients notice them first in small moments, then in larger patterns.
A nervous system that isn't always braced for the next thing
More moments of actual rest, even in the middle of a full life.
More space between feeling and reacting
The pause that lets you choose your response instead of being pulled by reflex.
A deeper connection to your own body
Learning to read your own signals before they become overwhelm.
Less time lost to worry and rumination
A different relationship with your thoughts, not just fewer of them.
A more grounded sense of who you are day to day
Present to your own life, not just moving through it.
How is mindfulness-based therapy different from just learning to meditate?
Meditation apps can be useful, but they don't help you understand why your mind keeps going where it goes, or what your patterns of stress and reactivity are actually about. That's where therapy comes in.
Cortney's approach integrates mindfulness, breathwork, and somatic awareness into the therapeutic relationship itself, so you're applying what you learn to what's real and live for you right now. Some sessions are more insight-oriented, tracing where a pattern came from. Others are more skill-based, giving you something practical to work with between sessions.
Why we choose not to work with insurance
- You don't need a mental health diagnosis to come to therapy.
- Session notes stay between you and your therapist. Nothing is shared with a third party.
- We decide together how often you come and for how long, based on what's helpful, not what an insurer approves.
- Private pay lets us keep our caseloads smaller, which means more time, attention, and care for each client.
Meet your therapist
Click through to learn more about Cortney's approach, training, and background.
Cortney Simmons
LMSW- Collaborative, holistic therapy that honors mind-body connection
- Integrates mindfulness, breathwork, yoga, and meditation
- Recognizes how social and systemic contexts shape well-being
- Warm, inclusive style focused on the whole person within their environment
- MSW, NYU Silver School of Social Work
- BA, Sociology, Syracuse University
- Peace Corps Youth Development Volunteer in Botswana
- Worked within the NYC school system
- Former career in the tech sector, which informs her focus on work-life balance
- Originally from midcoast Maine
- Avid traveler and certified scuba diver
- Finds mindfulness and joy in the ocean
Questions about mindfulness-based therapy, answered
We know starting therapy brings up a lot of questions. Here are the ones we hear most often, and if something isn't covered, we're always happy to talk it through.
Book a Free Consultation →No. Many clients come in skeptical of mindfulness or having tried it without success. That's completely fine. We start where you are, not where you think you should be.
It's therapy. Mindfulness is one of several modalities woven into the work, not a replacement for the deeper relational and insight-oriented process of therapy itself.
Apps offer guided practices you do alone. Therapy with a mindfulness-trained clinician helps you understand why your mind keeps going where it goes, apply the practices to your actual life, and track what's changing over time.
No. Sessions look like regular therapy. Mindfulness practices are integrated naturally where they're useful, sometimes as a brief grounding exercise, sometimes as a way to work with something that's come up in the conversation.
It varies. Some clients notice meaningful shifts in a few months. Others find ongoing work valuable as a sustained practice. We check in regularly and adjust based on what's useful to you.
Take the first step toward feeling like yourself again.
Tell us a little about what's bringing you in and we'll match you with the right therapist. Most clients have their first session within the same week.
Request your free 15-minute call
We'll be in touch within one business day to confirm your time.
NYC Psychotherapy
Virtual across New York state | In Person: 85 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10003