Hi, I’m Dr. Ali Pickover.
I’m an experienced clinical psychologist with specialized expertise in trauma, relationship dynamics, and evidence-based psychotherapy. I provide individual and couples therapy to clients in New York, New Jersey, and participating PSYPACT states.
Therapy with me is active, focused, and deeply collaborative, an intentional space designed around your specific history and needs. I seamlessly integrate experiential emotional depth with the precision of evidence-based frameworks, adapting the focus to exactly what serves you in the room.
Rather than recounting the details of your week, our work moves beyond the surface details to clarify the underlying patterns and core causes of your distress. By slowing down to actively process emotion within the session, we unlock a level of insight and awareness that is rarely accessible in daily life. This practice of vulnerability directly expands your capacity for openness, offering new perspectives on yourself and your past, and fostering deeper, more genuine connections in the present.
When navigating acute distress or specific clinical conditions, we integrate structure where it is most impactful. We look objectively at how your symptoms developed and what keeps them entrenched, while weaving in targeted frameworks and active skills training. The goal is to ensure you leave each session not only with profound self-awareness, but with a refined capacity to regulate emotion, tolerate distress, and articulate your needs in a way that is effective and maintains your dignity.
Clinical Training & Therapeutic Approach
My approach is shaped by extensive clinical training and research in specialized settings. I completed my doctoral internship at Emory University School of Medicine and an NIH-funded T32 postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University Irving Medical Center / NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Alongside my clinical work, I have authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters focusing on trauma, relationships, and psychotherapy outcomes. I have also been involved in the training of other therapists, supporting the dissemination of high-fidelity, compassionate, evidence-based treatment.
Having this background in both research and practice allows me to bring a steady, knowledgeable presence to our sessions. I have worked extensively within hospital systems, community clinics, the VA, domestic violence programs, and crisis settings, specializing in trauma, attachment, and relational conflict. We will look at how earlier experiences or difficult relationships might still be shaping your emotional patterns and how you connect with others today.
Additionally, I bring a specialized focus to reproductive and perinatal mental health. Having previously led postpartum depression programming at a virtual women's health clinic, I provide attuned support for women and couples navigating fertility, family building, pregnancy, loss, and the identity shifts of early parenthood.
Approaches I draw from:
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT)
Cognitive and behavioral approaches including:
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
Prolonged Exposure (PE)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills (DBT)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)