I’m John Lieberman
I grew up in Westport, but without the upbringing this town is usually associated with. Mine involved a fairly constant sense of change, loss, and extraordinary challenges. What came out of that was a deep curiosity about why we are who we are, why we do the things we do. My fascination with the human condition brought me to this work, and it inspires me every day in my work with clients. Time and again I have seen that what makes life so challenging is also what makes us who we are.
My Training
I studied Clinical Sociology at Ithaca College, then went to Naropa University in Boulder for a graduate degree in Contemplative Psychology. My first day of graduate school was September 11, 2001. For three years I sat with esteemed authors, scholars, and Tibetan monks, learning about the mind, the nature of suffering, and how to develop a relationship with the present moment that is stronger than our fears.
Each year, the program culminated in a month-long Maitri Retreat at the Rocky Mountain Shambhala Center in Colorado. Maitri is a Sanskrit word that translates roughly to self-compassion. We practiced mindfulness for eight hours a day. Those retreats showed me something I've carried into every session since: there is a capacity for love and strength inside each of us that can meet adversity with grace.
My master's thesis explored the evolution of the brain and the formation of consciousness. It was, in retrospect, the beginning of a long attempt to understand what it means to be human.
Since Then
I returned to Connecticut and spent the next two decades working in almost every setting the mental health field has to offer — child guidance centers, inpatient co-occurring recovery programs, non-profits, in-home services, and private practices across Fairfield and New Haven counties. Fifteen years of licensure. A lot of different people in a lot of different circumstances.
What I've found, across all of it, is that the same basic things tend to hold: people want to feel seen, to understand themselves better, and to find that they're more capable than they thought.
Working With Me
I believe there's an inherent curiosity inside all of us — about ourselves, about why things are the way they are, and why they can't be different or better. I think it's actually in our nature to heal. My job is to help you find that within yourself.
I'm not interested in making you dependent on therapy. I want to educate you on what you're experiencing and why, so that understanding becomes something you carry with you. Sessions are oriented toward helping you feel grounded and empowered — not just in the room, but in the rest of your life.
If you're in immediate distress or just generally wondering whether talking to someone might help, there's room here for both.