Psychotherapy in Tribeca, NYC

Dr. Soe Thein, MD

Psychotherapy in Tribeca, New York City

Dr. Soe Thein is a psychiatrist and psychoanalytic candidate at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research — one of the most rigorous psychoanalytic institutes in the country. He offers individual psychotherapy for children, adolescents, and adults in Tribeca, New York City, and via telehealth in New York, California, and Florida.

Therapy at North Star Psychiatry is not a quick fix. It is a space to slow down, look inward, and understand what is driving the patterns that keep showing up in your relationships, your work, and your inner life.

Who Is Therapy At North Star For?

Adults

Many adults come to therapy at a moment of transition — a relationship ending, a career shift, a loss, or simply a growing sense that something is not right. Others have been in therapy before and want to go deeper. Dr. Thein works with adults navigating anxiety, depression, identity questions, relationship difficulties, grief, and the long shadow of early experience.

Adolescents

Adolescence is a period of profound psychological reorganization. Identity, autonomy, relationships, and self-worth are all in flux. Dr. Thein works with teenagers who are struggling with anxiety, depression, social difficulties, school avoidance, or who simply need a space that is genuinely theirs — separate from parents, school, and the pressures of their daily life.

Children

For younger children, therapy often happens through play. Play is not a workaround — it is the primary language through which children process experience, express emotion, and make meaning. Dr. Thein incorporates play therapy and parent guidance into his work with children, recognizing that a child's development always happens in relationship.

A Psychoanalytic Approach to Therapy

Most symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, difficulty in relationships, feeling stuck , are not random. They are meaningful. They often trace back to early experiences, relational patterns, and ways of coping that made sense at one point but no longer serve you.

Psychoanalytic therapy takes these patterns seriously. Rather than focusing only on symptom relief, it asks deeper questions: Where does this come from? What is this feeling trying to communicate? What has this person learned about themselves and others?

Dr. Thein's training at Columbia builds on the foundational work of Freud, Klein, Winnicott, Bowlby, and contemporary relational and developmental theorists. In practice, this means paying close attention to what happens inside the therapy relationship itself — because the patterns that show up between patient and therapist are often the same ones that show up everywhere else.

Consider this kind of therapy as an investment of time and resource. It also produces change that lasts.

What Sets Dr. Thein Apart

Prompt Response

Every message, question is answered within 24 hours.

Direct Access

No being put on hold or passed around multiple times to reach your psychiatrist.

Collaborative

Dr. Thein will collaborate with different members of your care team (teachers, parents, therapists, etc) so you can achieve your goal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Still have questions? Take a look at the FAQ or reach out anytime. If you’re feeling ready, go ahead and apply.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and changing specific thought patterns and behaviors. It is structured, goal-directed, and typically short-term. Psychoanalytic therapy is less structured and more open-ended. It focuses on understanding the underlying causes of distress — the relational patterns, unconscious conflicts, and early experiences that shape how a person thinks, feels, and relates. Both are evidence-based. The right approach depends on what the patient needs and what they are hoping to get from therapy.
It depends on the person and the goals. Some patients benefit from a focused course of therapy over several months. Others engage in longer-term work aimed at deeper character change. Dr. Thein discusses treatment goals collaboratively and revisits them over time.
Not at North Star Psychiatry. Dr. Thein is both a psychiatrist and a therapist, and he can provide integrated care within a single treatment relationship. This is particularly valuable for patients who may benefit from both medication and therapy. If you already have a therapist that you like, Dr. Thein is happy to serve as a psychopharmacologist.