loader image
Skip to main content

Douglas J. Van der Heide, M.D. is a Board-Certified Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst practicing on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. His work is grounded in the seminal discoveries of Sigmund Freud as well as later contributors including Melanie Klein, Bertram Lewin and Donald Winnicott. Dr. Van der Heide has trained generations of psychiatric residents, and psychoanalytic candidates at two of New York’s premier psychoanalytic institutes. He has numerous publications in the field.

Early Influence

As a psychoanalyst and psychiatrist, I have a very personal link to this field. My father was a physician and psychoanalyst himself; receiving his psychoanalytic training in Vienna with Sigmund Freud in the 1920’s. It was the interest of Franz Alexander in psychosomatic medicine that made it possible for my father and his family to leave Europe on the eve of World War II to come to the U.S. to study.

Years later, he would become the founding dean of a major institute of psychoanalytic training in Los Angeles. Psychoanalysis was my father’s passion and profession; what little I understood of his daily work represented, in the eyes of this young boy, a matter of the deepest mystery. I am happy to say that the mystery has gripped me ever since and the respect and love for psychoanalysis has never left.

Educational Development

I / He has had the good fortune to have received training at universally acknowledged wonderful institutions and could not have developed my / his skill set without such experience.

Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst and current member

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons 1976

Completed four year psychiatric residency 1980

American Psychoanalytic Association member since 1996

Completed Psychoanalytic Training 1997 current member

American Psychiatric Association Member since 1980

Supervisee’s Comment To Dr. Van Der Heide

These individuals are uniformly enthusiastic about my work; often their best instincts feel at odds with what they believe is theoretically correct. I help them develop confidence in their judgment while helping them measure the impact of their interventions.

Supervisee A.S.

★★★★★

“Dr Vdh works with a sharp mind, an open ear and, most importantly, a kind heart. He helps you unwind complex issues in a way that makes them feel like common sense. Warm, wise and deeply human.

07/11/2023

Mission Statement

Psychoanalysis was developed by Sigmund Freud at the end of the 19th century and has been practiced now for well over a hundred years despite many critics, it remains the most deepest and most profound of all “talking cures”. Initially, Freud conceptualized a patient lying on a couch and telling his inner thoughts to an analyst who sits behind or aside him listening from four to five days a week. Optimally the patient then can enter into a state of relaxation akin to wakeful dreaming which allows their unconscious conflicts to emerge with the greatest clarity.

Over time, psychoanalysts have felt forced to introduce changes to the analytic structure in an effort to accommodate large numbers of patients and respond to pressure to reduce the expense of time and money resulting in what is known as psychoanalytic psychotherapy. The principal differences are that the patient usually sits up and is seen twice a week. The advantages of such an arrangement are clear: psychotherapy is more available and less expensive, the patient may retain a greater sense of autonomy while feeling somewhat similarly relieved.

For some patients such contact can be insufficient to produce dramatic and effective results There are individuals whose repetitive self-destructive behaviors and low self-esteem have deep roots which simply cannot be changed by any psychotherapy. We know that mental conflict arises in the crucial relationships of early life and, despite the pain it has caused, caused, often it finds its way into new editions in current life. The revelations uncovered in psychoanalytic work are unparalleled in fully demonstrating these unconscious sources and their problematic expressions in the present. These conflicts often emerge in the relationship with the analyst and it is through that encounter that the patient comes to confront the past and then becomes capable of really creating satisfying new relationships and a new future for himself.

I advocate, when possible, psychoanalysis because it provides enormous support while the patient faces current issues and their nagging sources, often previously never addressed, in a painful past. The experience of one session following directly on another allows the patient to most fully engage in and explore his hopes and dreams for his life. We live only once and, cumbersome or no, psychoanalysis offers definitive relief from neurotic misery and sadness that simply cannot be obtained elsewhere.

Scholarly Work

Teaching has been a priority in my life, only second to my clinical dedication as they are linked.

I feel a responsibility to ensure that future clinicians will be familiar with core psychoanalytic theories of mind and will be able to use these tools for future patients who will need their help.

  • From 1988-1999 I taught basic analytic theory and the
    initiation of psychodynamic treatment to psychiatric
    residents at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine
  • From 1997-2007 I have taught the clinical dream course to senior
    candidates at New York Psychoanalytic Institute.
  • From 2005-2019 I taught the dream course at I.P.E (now rebranded as PANY (Psychoanalytic Institute of New York).
  • I am currently teaching a course on psychoanalytic case process and have four candidates in analytic supervision.

Deep within each of us exists a wonderful secret vision of the person we wish to be; sadly early life issues, personal trauma, family separation and loss can derail such hopes.
The capacity to love ourselves is the royal road to loving others and the best way to a life unfettered by anxiety and despair. This seemingly simple accomplishment allows us to live joyously in the sun, to tolerate and even grow in the face of life’s inevitable adversities

Many bright and promising people suffer from symptoms of depression, anxiety, compulsions or bodily fears which make such a happy embrace of self and others impossible. From decades of training and treating patients, I have become convinced that a close trusting uncritical relationship combined with the opportunity to freely speak about everything from the ordinary to the heart-breaking is the best path to lasting self-understanding and regard.
y issues, trauma, separation, and loss early in life interfere and confound that vision
This unique approach of empathic listening allows me to hear the powerful ways a person unknowingly repeats painful patterns of the past. Inviting the patient to think, talk and self-reflect fosters a unique conversation which allows for real change and growth to occur.

Book an Appointment

To begin treatment is not a simple matter but it takes a first step. I encourage you to call me so that we can meet and you can decide first-hand if our work is right for you. We can’t succeed without your participation so I need you to freely decide this is what you want.

Book a Consultation

Insurance Questions?

I recognize treatment can be financially burdensome. I will work with you and any commercial insurance plan you may have to obtain reimbursement and cover therapy costs. I am not on any insurance panel, however I do offer a sliding scale to be individually determined.