Get to Know Ze’ev Goldman, LICSW

UpLift’s “Get to Know” series features our providers—so other providers can get to know them, learn from each other, and connect. 

This month’s featured provider is Ze’ev Goldman, LICSW.

What are you passionate about when it comes to therapy?

I am passionate about building clients’ strengths and meeting clients where they are. I'm passionate about being there for my clients. I'm passionate about recognizing a client's individuality and just being there with them.

Everyone comes into therapy as the expert in their own life. I'm not going to pretend that I am the expert in the life of the client, especially someone that I'm just meeting for the first couple of sessions.

In the first couple of sessions, I want to highlight to the client what resources they already bring to the table. I want to build on those strengths specifically.

I’m motivated by knowing that I have this specialized experience that I can use to help people. I can use what I’ve learned as a therapist and my life experiences.

For therapists, it's always important to talk about being affirmative and culturally congruent with your clients and their identity. Stay aware of how code-switching might happen in a session. 

Be aware of your own internal biases, especially if you’re working with clients who are from a different culture than you. That’s always been something I kept as a core part of my practice, how my own biases might impact my work with clients. 

To be culturally congruent, you need to have some kind of an immersion in the culture of the client that you're talking to. Spend time with more diverse groups of people. I’ve benefited from living in DC my entire working life, which is a really diverse city. 

What type of clients or areas do you specialize in working with?

A lot of my clients are trans or nonbinary. Most of my clients are also neurodivergent. They are either autistic or have ADHD. 

I am part of the queer community, so working with queer clients was always something that I wanted to do. Most of my career has been working with queer clients or at agencies that primarily serve queer clients. 

I’ve worked a lot with queer youths prior to now. It’s just kind of been the community that I’ve fallen into as far as work. 

Similarly, I am neurodivergent. So it's always been easiest for me to connect with clients who are themselves neurodivergent. I just feel like it makes a very good match.

What inspired you to get into therapy?

When I was 14, I realized I had a gift for helping people and for listening to people's stories. I studied psychology in high school and in college.

In college, I started interning at a youth homeless shelter. That's the first time that I ended up working with queer youth. I worked there for a while after college until I decided to go to grad school to get my social work degree.

I initially focused more on policy, more on macro level work. I did my graduate degree in policy, so that was a lot of my background. Some of my work was in local policymaking, especially in local housing policy.

I worked at an organization where my counseling was done with homeless youth. So I also had an opportunity to sit on the Interagency Committee on Homelessness.

I did a few years with community organizations as a counselor where I worked mostly with youth and then I started to work in private practice. Now I work mainly with queer adults.

How do you believe change happens for a client? 

My approach is pretty psychodynamic. I think change can happen in a lot of different ways. The way that I've seen it, it is through me kind of gently guiding a client with past experiences and helping them deal with current problems. Just do it just by meeting them where they are.

Are there any modalities or approaches you feel attached to?

Queer feminist therapy is based in psychodynamic therapy so it’s very open. I incorporate some humanistic therapy, but not a lot. My style is pretty integrative. It depends on the client that’s coming in.

I start off pretty open with what approach I'm going to use. My first sessions are complete intakes of what's going on and what I can help them with.

Afterwards, we talk about treatment goals. That's when I will decide what kind of modality is probably best for that client. Based on what modality I've decided to use, I’ll integrate different modalities when I feel like it's necessary.

I would say my approach is very person-centered. 

Being person-centered means you’re always keeping in mind the person that's in the room with you, right there and then. You always need to comprehend and be aware of where the client is coming from. In person-centered therapy and especially when you're working with LGBTQ clients, it's really important to be congruent and have unconditional positive regard. 

It’s important to be empathetic—especially because the rest of the world is not necessarily going to treat the client in that way. The rest of the world doesn’t always show them understanding or empathy. So it's even more critical that you're in a safe space and to be a safe space for queer clients or clients with a marginalized identity. Make sure that you're that space where they can come and let go of the fear. Be a space of comfort and care. 

What is your favorite local resource to share with clients?

I like The DC Center for the LGBT Community. I used The DC Center as a resource when I was younger. When I was first coming up in the community in DC, they were really helpful to me.

I always found it to be a really nice safe space, especially for clients who are looking for more community in the area.

What is your favorite way to practice self-care that you’d recommend to other therapists? 

I go for a lot of long drives and long walks. I like to take the time to think. The unplugging and the movement just give me some time to recharge. I live near the highway, so it's kind of easy to hop on.

What’s the last book you read or what book did you read recently that you would recommend to anyone?

I don’t really have time to read much. I like shows like House that are kind of “monster of the week” or anthology shows. It gives you something to focus on for an hour that isn't too involved. It’s a story that plays itself out in the end so you don’t have to dedicate too much attention to the plot, very encapsulated.

Why did you choose to use UpLift?

It's a good platform to use, especially if you are concerned about credentialing or documentation. 

I was having a difficult time figuring out insurance. UpLift lets you focus just on the client side, instead of on everything else that comes with doing therapy.