Amy BenderLicensed Master Social Worker

Amy Bender, Licensed Master Social Worker, 116334 is practicing under the supervision of Michael Sands (New York, LCSW, 033654-01) at Resilience Lab.

Please, note: A clinician listed as being “clinically supervised” is completing clinical hours toward their licensure. They have one or more fully licensed clinical supervisors that often have special training to become supervisors. They consult with their supervisor(s) on all of their cases, which means that, when working with them, you are getting the time and expertise of multiple therapists in your treatment.

In the first session, we’ll start discussing where you’re at right now. Clients often like to discuss the main issue they want to work on in therapy, provide background on when that issue started, and describe how it affects them today.

Therapy changed my life! Client's often ask me "why didn't someone teach me this in school" and I couldn't agree more. Mental health skills aren’t difficult to learn. They are just not taught to us. I truly believe that when you learn mental health tools and implement them in your daily life, something close to a miracle happens. A portal opens to a world you didn't even know existed—one where "all the lights turn green" as you begin making better choices and attract all the good things.

I work with adults who feel stuck in their lives, or like they’re not living in their truth. They might be in a dead-end job, staying in an unfulfilling relationship, or engaging in people-pleasing behaviors that make it difficult to express their needs. Together, we’ll create strategies for getting unstuck and create a happier, more fulfilling life. We’ll start by getting a holistic picture of who you are and who you want to be. I like to get a sense of what you want your life to look like so we can co-create a vision that we can work towards together. Part of that work will include identifying your strengths and building skills to reach your goals. Together, we’ll examine how these thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence each other so you can replace them with healthier patterns, get unstuck, and build the life you’ve always dreamed about. In a world that pulls our focus in so many directions, we’ll create a space just for you and your north star.

Prior to becoming a therapist, I worked in the financial services industry for many years. It was a major leap to go back to school to become a psychotherapist, but working through that decision and facing the uncertainty of a new career turns out to have been one of the best choices I ever made. As a therapist, I have previous experience providing in-the-moment support through a crisis hotline and working with older adults and their families in a nursing home setting. I also worked with adolescents and adults in a transitional living program for substance use, co-occurring disorders, or other acute mental health concerns. Today, I’m now a proud member of Resilience Lab—the largest collective of clinicians collaborating to improve mental health access and outcomes.