Brian Ackerman LMSW

Brian Ackerman is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in private practice with The Gender & Sexuality Therapy Center (G&STC) in New York City. Brian began practicing as a psychotherapist in summer of 2021 after a diverse early career journey including 10 years in Washington, DC, serving as a lobbyist on sexual and reproductive health followed by several years in management consulting and publishing. In New York, he founded and led a boutique media agency executing campaigns to reduce racial disparities in mental health access and outcomes. Brian identifies as queer and solo-polyamorous, and has navigated firsthand the journeys of coming out, finding belonging in the queer world, and building unconventional intimate relationships.

Brian uses an eclectic/integrationist style, blending a variety of therapeutic modalities, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Narrative Therapy, and Transpersonal Therapy, as they are useful for each client’s needs and goals. He trained at New York University in Object Relations, Couples’ Therapy, and Critical Analysis of Psychotherapy Theories. In addition, he has trained with the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioral Medicine on the neurobiology of trauma.

In practice, Brian works with individuals and relationships of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and relationship styles, emphasizing self-acceptance, communication, identity intersectionality, sex and pleasure positivity, kink affirming practices, and self-actualization. A lifelong student of attachment theory, Brian also launched G&STC’s first psychotherapy group focused on understanding, communicating about, and modifying insecure attachment styles in intimate relationships. Brian also incorporates an anti-racist framework across his work, including therapy with white folks working to process emotional challenges that emerge in antiracist work.

Education

• New York University, Master of Social Work (MSW)
• Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Master of Science (MSc), Political Geography
• Universidad Torcuato di Tella, Semester Abroad, International Affairs
• The George Washington University, Bachelor of Arts (BA), International Affairs

Professional Affiliations

• New York State Society for Clinical Social Work (NYSSCSW)