Maximé Therapy: New York Somatic Therapy & Internal Family Systems

Virtual, somatic psychotherapy for adults, couples/relationships and adult families in New York, Florida and Massachusetts

I work with high achieving, creative and professional marginalized millennials, dealing with anxiety, work/life balance, relationship issues and life transitions.

You feel stuck at work and you’re afraid to take the next leap to a new job or grad school. You’re having challenges in your intimate relationships and can’t figure out how to ask for what you need. You have a mind that doesn’t stop - it keeps racing with anxious thoughts. You fear rejection and what other people might be saying about you, even without any evidence. You have problems with family members who just don’t get you, and friends you thought cared suddenly seem to have left you in the dust.

I can help. We’ll help sort out and unpack some of these big feelings, separate what feels true emotionally from what is true in the present moment. We’ll use nervous system regulation and somatic techniques to help us get there, with a mindful, gentle somatic approach.

 
 

Working with Francesca Maximé

I’m a licensed somatic psychotherapist practicing virtually in New York and Massachusetts, and maintain an in-person office in Brooklyn. I graduated from Harvard, spent a few years in corporate sales and marketing, switched careers to become a TV news anchor and digital journalist for nearly two decades, then pivoted again to do what I do now: helping support folx like you get what you need to navigate life with more grace and ease. I’m an award-winning poet, trauma specialist and the author of two books of poetry, and the host of the ReRooted podcast on Ram Dass’s Be Here Now Network. I’ve seen how mindfulness and somatic work helped transform how I could show up in the world, and I’m sharing what I’ve learned with you in hopes my experiences and training can help you too. I also teach embodied antiracism classes to individuals and groups.

Working with me can be a mix of a coach-y “big sister” advice session, where I can share some of my “been there/done that” moments that may help support you in seeing your situation from another perspective. Usually, there are some laughs. Sometimes, there are tears. Sometimes, we move and yell and allow the body to do what it needs to do… sometimes, we imagine getting what we need in a way that feels very satisfying, even though it’s in the present moment and we can’t erase the past. There’s space for all of it.

My Approach

I don’t see myself as an expert who knows more, I see myself as someone who works with you to discover/uncover the answers to your problems that are already hidden inside you.

I believe people get better with me as a guide because I don’t let them get caught in the stories they tell themselves about what they believe to be true about their lives, based on what they think. It’s the way of going back to the actual experience of what our body is telling us, not allowing us to get caught in the habit of what we think we should say or do, which just has us running around in circles.

While I do at times offer specific strategies for addressing conflicts at work, or in personal relationships, I believe people get better with me because when we’ve gone through the exercises we explore, your body actually knows what the next right move is - you actually don’t feel as reactive as you once might; you’ve begun to trust yourself in an entirely different way.

Qualifications

    • Harvard University, AB

    • Fordham University, MSW

    • Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute: 3-Year Somatic Experiencing Practitioner Training (Completed 2019)

    • Brainspotting, Phase 1 & 2 (Completed 2020)

    • International Mindfulness Teachers Association-Accredited Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program With Jack Kornfield & Tara Brach: (2-Year Training, Completed 2019)

    • Indigenous/Aboriginal Focusing-Oriented Therapy For Complex Trauma (1-Year Training, Completed 2019)

    • Journey Meditation Teacher Training (6 Month Training, Completed 2016)

    • Relational Life Therapy (RLT) Couples Coaching Training w/ Founder Terry Real (3-Yr Training, Completed 2020)

    • Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy Interactive Certification Program (2-Year Training, Completed 2020)

    • Internal Family Systems/Parts work (Dick Schwartz)

    • Coherence Therapy (Bruce Ecker)

    • Attachment Theory (Diane Poole Heller)

    • Neuroscience (Dan Siegel)

    • Positive Psychology (Rick Hanson)

    • Stan Tatkin’s PACT couples therapy model

    • Principles from the Gottman approach

    • Imago and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)

    • AEDP (Advanced Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy)

    • Hakomi

    • Indigenous Focusing Oriented Therapy (Shirley Turcotte model)

    • Focusing Oriented Therapy (Eugene Gendlin model)

    • Mindfulness Meditation (with Jack Kornfield PhD, Tara Brach, PhD)

    • Relational Life Therapy (RLT) for Couples (Terry Real model)

    • Brainspotting 1 & 2 (David Grand model)

Some Fun Facts 

I enjoy the beach, baking, entertaining, interior design, good music, board games (especially Scrabble!), playing tennis, doing yoga, and even a good series binge watch (got any good new ones?). I’m a cat mom to two calicos (the girls!) and enjoy a quiet night in reading a good book or watching a dorky neuroscience webinar, as much as a day out on the water.

  • I piloted an F-16 fighter jet with the Air Force Thunderbirds, pulled 9G’s, and did not throw up

  • My somatic art installation is on display at the MoMa (Museum of Modern Art, in New York City)

  • I’m the author of two full length books of poetry, Rooted: a verse memoir and Re-Routed: verse for the human animal