Dear Community,

Happy New Year! Wishing you a year of good health, success and joy!

For those of you who have just joined us, welcome to The Link, a monthly newsletter for the Brooklyn and Beyond Mental Health Group (BBMHG) and the Upper West Side Psychotherapy Alliance (UWSPA). Founded by Kari Groff MD and Ari Fox, LCSW, we are a thriving community of 5000+ mental health and allied professionals. Each month, we will share tips and resources to help you build connections, take your practice to new heights and have more fun in the process.

We recognize that 2025 has already been devastating for so many, including members of our community. Our hearts go out to those who have been affected by the wildfires in California. We salute the heroic efforts of the brave fire fighters, emergency medical personnel and law enforcement officers who have shown incredible resilience throughout this disaster. For those who are licensed in California and are able to provide pro bono services, you can sign up here. Guitar Center is providing instruments, equipment and resources to musicians in need. To donate click here. 

In difficult and uncertain times, it can be hard to find space for self-care. Experiencing joy can feel especially challenging. With the new year upon us, we feel it is important to think about how we can nurture our passions and take care of ourselves (and by extension, our patients). In this issue, we offer a piece in which Kari shares how embracing her joy of playing the fiddle transformed both her life and her private practice. In our ‘Picks of the Month’, Ari shares how he coped with feeling stuck during the pandemic as well as some concrete tools that have helped him and his patients focus on aspects of life that foster joy and fulfillment.

In this section, we highlight a resource we think the community would find helpful, interesting, or just amusing. We will draw from books, articles, podcasts, shows, movies, and more. Topics range from networking tips to self-care and everything in between.

Book Recommendation: Mastery by George Leonard

The book Mastery has been a game changer for Ari. He keeps this little book on his office shelf and often discusses it with his patients of all ages. Mastery illustrates how the path to skill comes from embracing the journey itself and learning to love even the minutia of practice. Leonard shows us that if you can find joy in just showing up and doing the work, pushing through plateaus (there is evidence that with consistent practice you are still improving even during these “plateaus”), you will be successful. Of course, this is easier said than done and in times of stress can feel virtually impossible to achieve.

It was hardly a novel feeling, but Ari found himself feeling listless during the pandemic. Each day blended into the next and everything felt blah. Not depression or even burnout, per se, but a lack of joy and a feeling of aimlessness. A little over a year into the pandemic, psychologist Adam Grant wrote in The New York Times about ‘languishing.’ When you languish, you feel stuck and lack motivation and focus. This is not a phenomenon specific to the pandemic, as any prolonged period of stress, unmet psychological needs, isolation and constant bombardment.

App Recommendation: Way of Life

Did you make a New Years resolution or are you trying to be more consistent with a goal? Way of Life, is a simple, yet effective app to help you track and analyze daily routines. The app allows you to build positive habits and break negative ones. The app provides positive reinforcement by rewarding you with a green check when you accomplish a task and keeps track of streaks. The app creates a pie chart, making it easy to visualize the days you met your goal and you can customize it for various lengths of time (week, month, 6 months, etc). You can track the days you exercise or practice an instrument, for example.

Following our discussion of the book Mastery, Way of Life can help you get into a groove and embrace the joy that can be found in daily routines and structure. Being consistent and tracking habits may sound tedious, but it reinforces the idea that mastery is more about the journey than the destination. Looking at trends and streaks helps us realize that plateaus are a part of the growth process. Similarly, in therapy, as we well know, progress is not linear and patients are often processing internal changes and actually progressing during what feels like a plateau.

From Orchestra to Fiddle Festivals: Kari’s Personal Elixir for Professional Burnout

Kari Groff MD

Bringing joy and hobbies into our lives as mental health care workers is an absolute must in preventing burnout.  Fun fact- Kari started BBMHG as a way to gather therapists together for some of her performances on fiddle (in NYC, you have to work hard to drum up an audience!).  Read the full story here about her journey into American fiddling and hopefully get inspired to re-engage in your own hobbies or try something new.

Accounting Workshop For Clinicians- Thursday, January 16 @ 8-9 PM (Please note new time)

Join us for an informative workshop on accounting for your private practice. Expert CPAs Steve Furman and Tim Doepfner will discuss common concerns specific to private practice: tax deductions, bookkeeping and software, business structure, saving for retirement as a self-employed professional and more. Bring your questions!

Steve and Tim have years of experience helping clinicians make prudent choices about their businesses. You won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from the best.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Our next UWS photo/networking session on Friday, March 7th, 2025, 10 AM- 1 PM @ Cope NYC is Sold Out.

If you are interested in coming to future events in April and May, please email Kari at [email protected] to join the list!  Goran Veljic is also available for individual or group sessions by appointment. Learn more and book your session at www.goranv.com. 

Host an Event!

Contact us if you want to host an event for The Link BBMHG-UWSPA! We would love to co-host your in-person networking event! Reach out and let’s make a date. It is a great way to get to know more people and showcase your practice as well.

That’s all for now. Until next time, stay hopeful and inspired. Let’s continue to support each other during these challenging times. We are so grateful for this community!

Best regards,

Brooklyn and Beyond Mental Health Group and the Upper West Side Psychotherapy Alliance