The Attuned Therapist
Alyson Curtis, MA, LMHC
Hi, I’m Alyson! Your NYC-Based Therapist for Attuned, Personalized Care
I’m a licensed therapist in New York with a deep passion for providing attuned, client-centered therapy. My goal isn’t just for you to feel seen and heard—I want to help you truly get to the root of what’s weighing you down so you can find real relief and meaningful growth.
My own experiences with therapy reinforced my belief in the power of personalized, attuned care. What does that mean? While therapy should always include active listening, remembering the details of your life, and delivering interventions at the right time, I know firsthand how rare it can be to find a therapist who truly "gets" you. That’s why I pride myself on offering a therapy experience that feels tailored specifically to you, your needs, and your unique journey.
Alyson Curtis, LMHC
CBT Therapist in New York | Evidence-Based & Affirmative Therapy
I am a licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in New York, specializing in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and trauma-informed care. My journey into psychotherapy began over a decade ago when I earned my B.A. in Applied Social Psychology. I later completed my Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at Brooklyn College, where I was trained in both CBT and Psychodynamic Therapy.
During my time as a therapist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, I gained specialized training in LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy and trauma-informed approaches. I further deepened my expertise by earning a certification in Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) at the Albert Ellis Institute.
Since becoming a therapist, I have pursued extensive training in a range of evidence-based and integrative modalities, including:
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
Attachment Theory
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy
Reality Therapy
Specialties & Areas of Focus
With years of experience in private practice, I have helped clients navigate a variety of challenges, including anxiety, depression, panic attacks, grief and bereavement, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), complex trauma (C-PTSD), codependency, and narcissistic abuse recovery.
My specialties include:
Eating disorders & body image therapy
Neurodivergent & highly sensitive individuals (Autism, ADHD, giftedness)
Polyamory (Poly) & ethically non-monogamous (ENM) affirmative therapy
Kink-aware & sex work-informed therapy
Complex trauma & PTSD treatment
Dating & relationship anxiety
No matter where you are in your journey, I provide a compassionate, nonjudgmental space to explore your challenges and help you move toward healing and self-acceptance.
A Bit About Me
As a queer, neurodivergent (AuDHD, gifted, highly sensitive) person, I grew up feeling misattuned to the world around me. At the time, I didn’t fully understand why—I just knew I often felt off, dysregulated, and disconnected from people and systems that seemed to miss the mark, either with me or with themselves and others. This constant sense of friction led me to develop an eating disorder in childhood, which lasted until my mid-twenties. Those years were filled with mood dysregulation, irritability, and a deep longing for harmony—both within myself and with the world.
At the time, I thought that if I could just fix my eating disorder, everything would fall into place. But what I didn’t realize was that true recovery would be so much bigger than food. My journey taught me how to attune to all my needs—physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. My late-life neurodivergent diagnosis was also a huge turning point, allowing me to understand myself in ways I never had before. And when we understand ourselves better, we gain the ability to attune to our needs with more clarity and self-compassion.
Now, I’m living in my happiest, most regulated and attuned era ever. Outside of my work as a therapist, I love reading, running, walking in nature, soaking in sunsets, playing piano, cooking nourishing meals, journaling, cold-plunging, hitting the spa, and watching Survivor (yes, I’m a superfan!).
Attuned Therapy
According to Merriam-Webster, attunement means “to bring into harmony.” But what does that really look like in everyday life?
Attunement is about deep awareness and responsiveness—both to yourself and others. For example, to attune to yourself, you might notice that you tend to get overstimulated at Trader Joe’s during peak hours, so you intentionally plan your trips during quieter times. To attune to your partner, you might see them drifting off on the couch, remember they get cold when they sleep, and instinctively cover them with a blanket.
Sounds simple, right? Maybe not so much...
There are some forms of attunement that seem obvious—like eating when you're hungry or sleeping when you're tired. But for many of us, due to upbringing, social conditioning, and societal expectations, these natural pathways to self-attunement have been disrupted.
Somewhere along the way, we learned to push past our body’s cues—to work through lunch breaks, to feel guilty for needing rest because “staying up late is bad,” or to assume that going home for the holidays is non-negotiable, even if it disregards our own boundaries and emotional well-being.
Over time, these messages can leave us disconnected from our needs, struggling to find balance between what we’ve been taught and what actually feels right for us.
Society bombards us with countless messages about what is “right”—but the truth is, those rigid rules don’t work for everyone. And for those of us who are neurodivergent (Autistic, ADHD, highly sensitive, gifted), these societal norms can feel even more confusing, exhausting, and unsustainable. They don’t just fail to support us—they often intensify our struggles and make daily life even harder to navigate.
And yet, how many of us have spent years masking, pretending we’re okay when we’re really not?
Take a moment to reflect: How many times have you overridden your own needs, values, or well-being just to fit in? From small micro-misattunements to major life-altering compromises, so many of us unknowingly silence ourselves just to function in a society that wasn’t built for us.
But what if you didn’t have to?
The Good News: You Can Reconnect with Yourself
It doesn’t have to be this way. While I can’t change society, I can help you learn how to attune to yourself more deeply and consistently, so you feel emotionally, physically, and spiritually regulated in your daily life. The goal? To help you feel more aligned with your authentic self and the life you truly want to lead.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re swimming upstream, struggling through most areas of your life without a clear sense of how to fix it, this work can be life-changing. Using a blend of mindfulness and behavioral strategies from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Attachment Theory, and Existential Therapy, we can help bring YOU into harmony—so you can finally shift your energy toward building the life you deserve.
Let’s Connect: Free 15-Minute Consultation
If you’ve made it this far and feel intrigued by these approaches, I’d love to connect. Don’t hesitate to schedule a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we’re a good fit. My priority is ensuring that your therapy experience feels attuned and personalized—whether that means working with me or helping you find the right therapist for your needs.
I’m excited to learn more about you—your values, goals, unique traits, and the constellation of experiences that make you, YOU. Let’s explore how therapy can support you in feeling more aligned, regulated, and empowered in your life.