Jane Abrams

Psychotherapy

Most of us will face a challenge sometime during our lives when we feel the need for help from a therapist.

Trauma, Relationships, Life Transitions, Grief & Loss, and Clinical Supervision

Jane Abrams Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy is an invaluable resource when you know that you need to make changes in your life, when you are suffering from anxiety or depression, when you have experienced a major loss, or when you are going through a major life transition. My commitment in my work as a psychotherapist is to create a collaborative relationship with each person who comes into my practice. Within that safe and confidential relationship we can explore painful and troubling feelings, identify goals, and discover together how to make desired changes happen.

Whether you need help changing patterns that are self-defeating, are recovering from childhood or recent trauma, or are experiencing a current crisis, we can work together to help you achieve your goals and increase your sense of well-being.

Areas of Specialization

Trauma

Therapy for adult survivors of childhood abuse, PTSD, and following recent traumatic exposures.

Grief and Loss

Therapy to assist in the grieving process.

Relationships

Therapy for couples in all stages of their relationships and for individuals struggling with relationship issues.

Clinical Supervision

Beginning and experienced clinicians.

Life Transitions

Therapy during life transitions such as beginning or ending a relationship, adjusting to various stages of parenting, receiving a serious medical diagnosis, managing the stresses of college or graduate school, considering a career change, losing a life partner, adjusting to the empty nest, experiencing menopause, considering and adjusting to retirement.

About My Practice

As a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist, I see adults and couples in short and long-term psychotherapy. While my theoretical orientation is psychodynamic, my practice is eclectic.

I strive to stay abreast of the latest scientific findings and theoretical developments that pertain to psychotherapy. I make use of traditional and current approaches as I tailor treatment to the individual needs of each person in my practice. We are all unique products of our environments, our past histories and our genetic endowments. Thus, “one size” will never “fit all”. Therapy is a process of discovery. To this endeavor I bring my years of experience, my education, my empathy, and my commitment to your growth. I create a safe space where together we will address your concerns and build on your strengths. Therapy is an opportunity to develop tools for coping and to get to know yourself better. Greater self-knowledge will help you to make better decisions, to understand and manage your emotions more effectively, and to feel more in control of your life.

Experience

Private Psychotherapy Practice
Philadelphia, PA
1990-Present

Senior Clinical Social Worker
Beth Israel Hospital
Boston, MA
1984-1990

Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry
Harvard Medical School
Boston, MA
1989-1990

Research Digest Editor
Neuropsychoanalysis
Journal of the Neuropsychoanlaysis Association (NPSA)
2021-present

Teaching

Faculty
Doctorate in Clinical Social Work program
University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy and Practice
2016-present

Faculty
Undergraduate Minor in Psychoanalytic Studies
School of Arts and Sciences
University of Pennsylvania
2016-present

Part-time Lecturer
Masters in Social Work program
University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy and Practice
2011-present

Recipient of the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice Excellence in Teaching Award for 2018-2019

Professional Affiliations and Licensure

Professional Affiliations

Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Work (PSCSW)

The Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology (PSPP)

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)

American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW)

Area Chair, AAPCSW

American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA)

Neuropsychoanalysis Association (NPSA)

Clinical Registry, NPSA

Licensure

State of Pennsylvania

Publications

Abrams, J. (2009).  What’s reality got to do with it:  Projective processes in adult intimate relationships. Psychoanalytic Social Work, 16 (2), 126-138.

Abrams, J. & Shapiro, M. (2014). Teaching trauma theory and practice in MSW programs:  A clinically focused, case-based method. Clinical Social Work Journal, 42 (4), 408-418.

Abrams, J. (2019). Neuropsychoanalysis and the repressed: Rendering what is possible in long-term psychotherapy. In S. Lord (Ed.), Reflections on long-term therapy, relational psychotherapy and psychoanalysis (pp. 152-165). New York: Routledge.

Abrams, J., & Mosri, D. F. (2024). Reciprocity in spontaneous social behavior: Deepening our
understanding of relational dynamics. Neuropsychoanalysis, 26(2), 259–260.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15294145.2024.2426144

Education & Training

University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice
Philadelphia, PA
Doctorate in Clinical Social Work (2010)

Simmons College School of Social Work
Boston, MA
Masters of Social Work (1984)

Antioch College
Yellow Springs, OH
Bachelors in Social Work (1982)

Teachers Academy of the American Psychoanalytic Association
New York, New York (2014-2015)

NIMH Traineeship in Community Mental Health
(1983-1984)

Presentations

“Mind, Brain and Body: Neuropsychoanalysis and the Impact of Individual Differences on Subjective Experience”. Sanville Institute, Berkeley, CA. (2024)
Presentation, “Introduction to Neuropsychoanalysis”.

Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy Town Meeting. (2023)
Presented original Paper, “Sophie Freud: Born Under a Mighty Shadow”.

Congress of the Neuropsychoanalysis Association Tel Aviv, Israel. (2023)
Oxford – Style Debate, argued against the motion: This house believes that PLAY is not a drive.

Biennial Conference of the American Association of Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work, Chicago, Illinois. (2023)
Presented original paper, “Sophie Freud, Learning from Psychoanalytic Social Work Pioneers.” Presentation, “Introduction to Neuropsychoanalysis’”

Congress of the Neuropsychoanalysis Association San Juan, Puerto Rico. (2022)
Presented original paper, “The Containment of Uncertainty in Psychotherapy: Relational-Intersubjective Theory, Enactments and the Free Energy Principle.”

Biennial Conference of the American Association of Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work Philadelphia, PA. (2021)
Organizer and moderator for panel of original papers, “Psychodynamic Perspectives on Working in Community Mental Health”.

Biannual Conference of the American Association of Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work, Durham, NC (2019). Presented paper, “Neuropsychoanalysis and the Repressed: Implications for Long-term Treatment in Clinical Social Work Practice”. 

Patient and Family Services of Abramson Cancer Center
Penn Cancer Network Social Work Affiliates (2013)
Presented case study, “The Intersection of Complex Trauma with a Diagnosis of Breast Cancer”.

Annual Program Meeting of The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
Washington, D.C. (2012)
Presented paper, coauthored with Margaret Shapiro, MSW, “Teaching Trauma Theory and Practice in MSW Programs: A Clinically Focused, Case-Based Method”.

Trauma Through the Life Cycle from a Strengths-Based Perspective
International conference co-sponsored by NYU Silver School of Social Work and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel (2012)
Presented poster, with co-author Margaret Shapiro, MSW,  “The Unique Role of Clinical Social Work in the Training of Trauma Practitioners:  Values, Knowledge Base and Practice Wisdom”.

Society for Social Work and Research (SWWR)
Annual Conference, Tampa, Florida (2011)
Presented research.  “Mending Fences: How Married Individuals Perceive Breaks in their Connection to their Spouses, and How Couples Repair Them”.

Contact Me

Jane Abrams, DSW, LCSW

Office: Medical Arts Building, 1601 Walnut St., Suite 401, Philadelphia, PA 19102 (Directions)
Phone: 215-564-5188

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