Clinical Director/Psychologist
In-Network: Aetna (not taking new patients)
Over the last 40 years, I have worked with older adolescents and adults of all ages in individual, couples, and group psychotherapy. My perspective is primarily psychoanalytic and deeply relational and humanistic. Contemplative (mindfulness) and existential practices are also a part of my work.
As a psychoanalytic humanist, I strongly believe in the power of relationships to both enrich and impoverish our souls -- to both heal and harm. It is clear to me that past formative relationships and institutions on which we have relied intensely affect us well into adulthood. Our over-accommodation to such past relationships, institutions, and aspects of culture, as well as our internalization of their messages that might demean, attack, or erase us, is often the core basis, albeit at times unconscious, of much psychological distress, anxiety, depression, and self-defeating behavior. Understanding and freeing ourselves from old patterns and messages and developing new ways of relating to ourselves and others are essential for healing and growth.
I am keenly interested in exploring gender and sexuality in all its unique, fluid (and sometimes not) expressions. For those who may benefit, I encourage sexual fantasy exploration, which can be one royal road to self-understanding, especially of early frustrations, trauma, and shame. In another arena, also at the intersection of mind and body, I have extensive experience assisting people living with medical illnesses like HIV/AIDS, cancer, and chronic pain.
As an Assistant Professor at UCLA and then Mount Sinai Beth Israel, I taught psychiatry and psychology trainees psychotherapy. In my teaching, I am continually challenged to think carefully about what works in psychotherapy and what does not. I am grateful for all I have learned and how I have grown from my teachers, students, and patients over four decades of practice and training.
Professional Presentations and Publications and Media
Original Publications in Reviewed Journals:
Abstracts:
Kemeny, M., Fahey, J. L., Schneider, S. G., Weiner, H., Taylor, S., & Visscher, B. Psychosocial cofactors in HIV infection: bereavement, depression and immune status in HIV seropositive homosexual men. Psychosomatic Medicine, 51, 255, 1989.
Papers Presented at Professional Meetings:
New York, November 21, 2021. Social justice issues in group psychotherapy: Can we talk? Schneider, S.G. Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society, Annual Conference 2021.
New York, December 19, 2013. Gender in Transition: Impact on Self and Family. Schneider, S.G., Bernay, L., Warren, B., Berk, E. Mount-Sinai Beth Israel, Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds.
Los Angeles, June 2007: Gay Men: Masculinity, power, and psychosexual development. Schneider, S. Los Angeles County Psychological Association (Brown Bag Series).
Santa Monica, April 1995. Problems of sexual expression in adult gay men: A psychoanalytic reconsideration. Blum, A., Danson, M., & Schneider, S. American Psychological Association, Division of Psychoanalysis (39), Spring Meeting.
Los Angeles, November, 1991. Homosexuality, AIDS, and Survivorship. Schneider, S. G. Healing After Suicide. Sponsored by The American Association of Suicidology.
San Francisco, August, 1991. Optimism, psychological distress, and high risk sexual behavior among men at risk for AIDS. Schneider, S. G., Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., Aspinwall, L. G., Rodriguez, R., Herbert, M., & Dudley, J. American Psychological Association. Annual Convention.
San Francisco, August, 1991. Psychosocial predictors of gay men's AIDS risk-reduction behavior over time. Aspinwall, L. G., Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., Schneider, S. G., & Dudley, J. American Psychological Association Convention.
San Francisco, June, 1990. A comparison of coping responses between gay men who know and do not know their HIV status. Rodriguez, R., Herbert, M., Kemeny, M., Schneider, S. G., Taylor, S., & Dudley, J. Sixth Annual Conference on AIDS.
New Orleans, March, 1989. Psychosocial cofactors in HIV infection: Bereavement, depression and immune response in HIV+ and HIV- homosexual men. Kemeny, M. E., Fahey, J. L., Schneider, S., Taylor, S., Weiner, H., & Visscher, B. FASEB (Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biologists).
Stockholm, Sweden, June, 1988. Bereavement associated alterations in phenotypes of lymphocytes in HIV+ and HIV- homosexual men. Kemeny, M. E., Fahey, J. L., Schneider, S., Weiner, H., Taylor, S. and Visscher, B. Fourth International Conference on AIDS.
Los Angeles, May, 1988. Research in behavioral risk reduction. Schneider, S. G. AIDS: Beyond the Basics. AIDS Health Project of the University of California, San Francisco.
San Francisco, June, 1987. Suicidal behavior in gay male youth. Schneider, S. G. Joint Conference of the International Association for Suicide Prevention and the American Association of Suicidology.
Los Angeles, March, 1987. Suicidal behavior in gay male youth: preliminary results. Schneider, S. G. National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference.