Samantha Goldberg
MSW, LCSW | Founder | Therapist, Executive Coach, Consultant
she / her
I specialize in working with high-performers, entrepreneurs, and those in high-stress roles who are are trying to bridge the gap between success and feeling like they are an active participant in their life outside of work. I also specialize in working with those navigating narcissistic abuse and the lasting, complex, multi-layered impact of that abuse.
With me, expect to be met in the gap between what you've achieved and what you actually feel. Where the accolades keep coming but the relief never does, where rest feels like falling behind, and where your nervous system doesn't know how to power down even when no one's watching. As someone who's lived inside the exact same drive, I bring zero interest in slowing you down, but also refuse to accept the idea that burnout is just the cost of doing business or being successful in your career. Because you deserve a life that works as hard for you as you've worked for it. Including, and especially, the relationship you have with yourself.
That refusal to stop, that need to be the most prepared person in the room, that discomfort with anything less than excellent? It built the career you have. But somewhere along the way it stopped being a choice and started being a compulsion, and now you're running on a system that can't tell the difference between ambition and self-abandonment.
And if you’re in a relationship with a narcissist—or recovering from being in one—on top of it? It can be one of the most confusing and disorienting experiences you can have. People in these relationships often struggle deeply with intense shame surrounding trying to answer the questions, “How in the world did I get here? How did this even happen?” Especially if they are high-achievers in every other area of their lives.
Together we'll get honest about what's actually driving the pace: fear of being ordinary, fear of stopping and finding out who you are without the output, fear that they “were right”, fear that slowing down means losing your edge… I don’t do performative “empowerment” that will just keep you in the same vicious cycle you’ve been in—I want to help you get out of your own way so you can finally show up fully to your life in a way that feels deeply empowering. This work is grounded in what high-stress roles and and narcissistic abuse actually cost a nervous system, not a “productivity hack” disguised as self-care.
I’m an LGBTQIA+ and relationship affirming, neurodivergent, sex-positive therapist who knows your time and energy are valuable. My approach comes from a deep passion for obliterating shame and self-doubt from our lives, and helping people feel witnessed, supported, and deeply understood. I’m a disruptor at my core, and I believe strongly that you cannot separate systems, politics, and mental health.
Drawing from both lived and professional experience, I’ve also come to believe this strongly:
You cannot build at your ceiling while operating from your wounds. At some point, the most strategic and self-compassionate thing you can do is deal with what’s actually running the show.
LANGUAGES SPOKEN
English
IN THE THERAPY ROOM
Empowering
Trauma-Informed
Identity Affirming
Collaborative
Authentic
CONCERNS I SUPPORT
Shame & Imposter Syndrome
Narcissistic Abuse
Trauma & PTSD
High-Performers & Entrepreneurs
Identity & Self-Worth
YOU CAN FIND ME
Trying a new restaurant or watching a crime doc with my medic partner, letting our dogs walk us, traveling, or wandering in an antique store.
I’M ALL ABOUT
Authentic humans, sustainable entrepreneurship, challenging shame-driven habits, iced matcha, and building a life that feels aligned with this season.
Clinician Details
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Sam does not accept insurance, but we are happy to provide a superbill you can submit to your insurance for possible out-of-network reimbursement!
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$165 (55-minute session)
$240 (90-minute session)
We are happy to provide a superbill you can submit to your insurance for possible out-of-network reimbursement.
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East End
Telehealth
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Individual Therapy
Leadership, Executive & ADHD Coaching
Business & Inclusivity Consulting
Training & Speaking
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Adults (18+)
Specialties
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In our work together, you can expect me to meet you in the messy middle of it all—where achievement meets anxiety, where success feels like fraud, and where your nervous system is constantly braced for being "found out." As someone who is intimately familiar with the exhausting dance of overperforming while undervaluing yourself, I bring zero judgment and zero tolerance for shame-based "motivation." Your contradictions, your vulnerability, and even the noise in your head are all welcome here.
I view shame and imposter syndrome as brilliant survival strategies that have outlived their usefulness. That voice telling you you're not enough? It probably kept you safe once—pushing you to achieve, protecting you from criticism, making you invaluable so you couldn't be rejected. But now it's holding you hostage, making you perform your worth instead of viscerally knowing it. The exhaustion isn't just from working hard; it's from the constant internal battle between who you are and who you think you need to be to deserve your success.
My approach integrates neurodivergent-affirming, anti-oppressive principles with practical, embodied strategies that actually work with your brain and body—not against them. We'll dig into the roots of your shame stories, challenge the systems that profit from your self-doubt, and build genuine confidence that isn't dependent on external validation. Through deep authenticity work, nervous system support, and radically honest exploration, we'll move you from self-protection to self-trust. Because you deserve to lead from a place of groundedness and power, not from the exhausting performance of trying to outrun your own humanity.
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In our work together, you can expect me to meet you in the disorientation of it all. Where love felt like walking on eggshells, where your reality was constantly rewritten, and where your nervous system learned to stay small to stay safe. As someone who understands the specific, insidious damage of narcissistic dynamics, I bring a fierce lack of judgment for anything you did to survive it. Your confusion, your self-doubt, and even the parts of you that still miss them are all welcome here.
I view the fog, the fawning, and the hypervigilance as brilliant survival strategies, not character flaws. That instinct to shrink, to over-explain, to scan a room before you speak? It kept you safer once, inside a dynamic where your needs were a threat and your voice had real consequences. But now it's running the show in relationships where you're actually safe, keeping you disconnected from your own instincts and unsure you can trust your own perception of reality. The exhaustion isn't just from what happened; it's from the ongoing work of unlearning that you had to earn safety, love, or basic respect.
Together we'll get specific: naming the tactics that made you doubt yourself, rebuilding your relationship with your own reality, and grieving someone who was never fully who they presented themselves to be. This work is trauma-informed and grounded in the reality of what coercive dynamics do to a nervous system, not a generic "just leave" script that ignores how deeply complicated these relationships actually are. We'll reconnect you to instincts that were systematically talked out of you, until trusting yourself stops feeling radical and starts feeling like home. Finally. Because you deserve relationships built on truth and unconditional love, not performance. Including, and especially, the one you have with yourself.
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Trauma isn't always a single event you can point to. Sometimes it's the accumulation of a thousand moments where you learned your world wasn’t safe, or it wasn't safe to need anything. Either way, it doesn't stay in the past. It shows up in your body, your relationships, your nervous system's baseline setting of "brace for impact."
Most people think healing from trauma simply means talking through what happened until it stops hurting. It doesn't. It's about teaching your body it's allowed to stand down. You can understand your whole story intellectually and still flinch at a raised voice. That's not a failure of insight. That's a nervous system doing exactly what it learned to do.
I work with people at every entry point. Some come in already fluent in therapy-speak—high-functioning, high-performing, and still somehow stuck. Others come in not even sure "trauma" is the right word for what they went through, just tired of feeling like their body is running a program they never agreed to. Both are valid places to start.
We'll use somatic work, parts work, and nervous system regulation, not just to process what happened, but to actually change how your body responds now. This isn't about reliving it on repeat. It's about building a new baseline where safety isn't something you have to manufacture.
You don't have to have language for what happened to you. You just have to be done letting it run the show, and we'll take it from there together.
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With me, expect to be met in the gap between what you've achieved and what you actually feel. Where the accolades keep coming but the relief never does, where rest feels like falling behind, and where your nervous system doesn't know how to power down even when no one's watching. As someone who's lived inside the exact same drive, I bring zero interest in slowing you down and zero tolerance for the idea that burnout is just the cost of doing business. Your ambition, your edge, and your refusal to settle are all welcome here.
I view your relentlessness as a strategy that used to work, not a flaw to fix. That refusal to stop, that need to be the most prepared person in the room, that discomfort with anything less than excellent? It built the career you have. But somewhere along the way it stopped being a choice and started being a compulsion, and now you're running on a system that can't tell the difference between ambition and self-abandonment. The exhaustion isn't a sign you're doing too much. It's a sign you've been operating without a version of success that includes you.
Together we'll get honest about what's actually driving the pace: fear of being ordinary, fear of stopping and finding out who you are without the output, fear that slowing down means losing your edge. This work is grounded in what high achievement actually costs a nervous system, not a productivity hack disguised as self-care. We'll build a version of leadership and success that doesn't require you to disappear inside it, until ambition stops feeling like a threat you have to outrun and starts feeling like something you actually get to enjoy. Because you deserve a life that works as hard for you as you've worked for it. Including, and especially, the relationship you have with yourself.
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You can expect me to hold fierce space for every version of you—the powerhouse and the imposter, the one who dominates boardrooms and the one who cries in bathroom stalls, the leader everyone counts on and the person who questions if they deserve to be here at all.
As someone who's moved from shame-driven leadership and living to standing in my own power after crawling through my own self-worth battles, I know how identity and worth become weapons we use against ourselves. You won't need to curate which parts of yourself show up—bring the mess, the contradictions, the parts you think are too much or not enough. They all belong here.
I view identity and self-worth through the lens of our shame stories—that brutal force that doesn't just whisper you're not good enough, it rewrites your entire identity around that lie. Shame fragments how you show up, splitting you into the person you perform and the person you hide, leaving you exhausted from constantly shapeshifting to earn your right to exist. When you're navigating the world as a marginalized or neurodiverse person, systems of oppression pour gasoline on that shame fire, profiting from your self-doubt while demanding you be grateful for a seat at their table. The result? You're achieving everything while feeling like nothing, succeeding while suffocating.
My trauma-informed therapy approach targets the shame that's sabotaging everything you are trying to achieve and your authentic expression. I am not into surface-level confidence building—this is deep, disruptive work that challenges both the shame stories running your decisions and the systems that reinforce them. We'll identify the patterns keeping you stuck, torch the belief that your worth is conditional, and build concrete strategies for showing up fully in spaces that reward conformity.
Through radical authenticity work, embodied practices, and strategic rebellion against shame-based systems, we'll move you from performing your worth to viscerally KNOWING it, from fragmenting yourself to leading from wholeness in both your personal and professional life. Because your worth was never up for debate—and it's time you finally operated from that truth.
