Knowing Lenni

Lenni Swartz-Brownstein, MSW, LICSW, CGP
they/them

Psychotherapy is a living, evolving process. I am committed to learning alongside you, knowing that we will teach each other what comes next. I will create the container for our work, and together, I hope to build a foundation of trust that allows you to heal, grow, challenge, accept, and integrate all that has brought you here. 

In my clinical practice, I draw from theories rooted in psychoanalysis, object relations, and intersectionality, striving to provide culturally responsive care in all areas of my work. This means I won’t promise a “safe space” for the people I work with, but I can promise an accountable one. My humanity and my clinical work are deeply rooted in collective liberation, theory, and trauma integration. Your personal experiences cannot be separated from the systemic and cultural forces that shape them, and I hold these truths as I work through a relational analytic lens. Because while harm happens in relationship, healing must happen there too. 

Finding the right therapist is hard, and on behalf of therapists everywhere, I’m sorry this is true. But I invite you to trust yourself. Explore your options. Ask the hard questions. I want to know what you need, and together, we can explore it all.

I am a white, queer, trans, non-binary, dyslexic, Ashkenazi Jewish, body-liberatory psychotherapist, and most importantly, a lifelong learner and client. The only thing I ask of the people I work with is a commitment to show up.

The rest, we’ll figure out together.

    • MIP - Four-year Training Program in Psychoanalysis - Current Candidate

    • CGS - The Center for Group Studies Training Program - Current Candidate

    • CGP - Certified Group Psychotherapist (AGPA)

    • NSGP - Certified Group Principles Training Course

    • NIP - National Institute of Psychotherapies 2-year Clinical Post Graduate Training - Specializing in Psychodynamic Thought and Theory in Practice

    • EMDR - Level 1 and 2 - Roy Kiessling - Certified

    • CPT - Maryland CEU Institute - Certified

    • MSW - Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College

      • Clinical Concentration & Mental Health Focus

    • LCSW New York # 092653

    • LICSW Massachusetts # 124283

    • NPI # 1346804085

    • Trans, Non Binary, GNC+ exploration, identity & resilience

    • Attachment Patterns & Relational Struggles

    • Childhood & Developmental Trauma

    • Body Image & Body Dysmorphia & Gender Dysphoria

    • Eating Disorders & Healing from Diet Culture

    • Complex Trauma & Dissociation

    • Gender Identity & Sexuality

    • Orthodox Jewish Identity & Religious/Community

  • The Center for Group Studies (CGS)

    • May 2026: Specialized Topics in Countertransference

    • January 2026: Working with Pre-oedipal Patients in Group

    • October 2025:  Technical and Special Topics in Group Psychotherapy

    • May 2025: Transference and Countertransference Issues In Group

    AGPA -

    • Connect 2026: Holding Space for Deeper Connection in Complex Times

    • Connect 2025: Being Seen - The Many Faces of Group 

    • Connect 2024: Turbulent Times - Using Groups to Overcome

    NSGP -

    • Conference 2025: Passion in Groups

    • Conference 2024: Groups - Here and Now

    AAMFT - Network Training - Queer and Trans Advocacy Network: Bringing Family Systems to Trans and Non-Binary Families

    FEDUP - Conference 2024: It’s Time to Change - Fighting Eating Disorders in Underrepresented Populations

  • MIP Massachusetts Institute of Psychoanalysis

    CGS The Center for Group Studies

    NSGP Northeastern Society for Group Psychotherapy

    AGPA American Group Psychotherapy Association

    MAPP Massachusetts Association for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology

    Division 39 Society for Psychoanalysis & Psychoanalytic Psychology

    NASW National Association Of Social Work

    NIP National Institute for The Psychotherapies

    Inclusive Therapists

    Psychology Today

    Manhattan Alternative

    Project HEAL

“I am deeply grateful for their attunement to my body language and the subtle changes in my experience, something I’ve never quite felt before. I benefit greatly from their recall, their ability to recognize connections from my past, and at the core of it all, I feel their genuine care for me.”