Jack Szary, LMHC-D

NY License #: 013282 | LinkedIn | PsychologyToday

Jack Szary, LMHC-D, therapist at Rhythm Wellness, seated outdoors on stone steps

I'm a licensed therapist based in Brooklyn, specializing in anxiety, burnout, trauma, and depression for professionals and men across New York State. Therapy with me is fully virtual, from Manhattan to Buffalo, and combines insight with practical tools that actually interrupt your patterns.

My Specialties

Anxiety & Stress | Burnout | Depression | Trauma | Self-Esteem | OCD | Life Transitions | Interpersonal Issues

Why This Work Matters To Me

I've worked with enough people to notice a pattern: the skills that get you through hard times aren't the ones that help you actually live. I help people figure out the difference.

Before private practice, I worked in foster care and homeless services, where I saw how people adapt to survive impossible situations. Then I started working with professionals in Manhattan and realized the same survival mechanisms show up in corner offices. Hypervigilance. Emotional shutdown. The belief that rest is something you'll earn later.

This work matters to me because I've seen people shift from surviving to actually living. It doesn't require a personality transplant. Just different tools.

What I Treat

Cozy white armchair beside a plant in a calm, sunlit room

If you’ve spent years being the person who handles things, you might not even have language yet for what’s not working. That’s okay. The categories below are just entry points; the work itself is built around you. And if part of the hesitation is that therapy never seemed built for guys like you, we wrote about what therapy for men is really like.

Why Work With Me

I know what it takes to go from white-knuckling through your day to actually having one. Surviving and living require completely different skill sets. I teach the second one.

I work well with people at different points in the process: those still learning to name what they feel, and those who understand their patterns but can't seem to change them.

How I Think About Change

My approach combines insight with frameworks. We understand why this keeps happening. Then we build something that actually interrupts it.

I focus on recognition: spotting the patterns that keep you stuck, then giving you tools to do something different when they show up again. Some of that happens through conversation. Some through concrete exercises you take back into your actual life. 

I don’t have a rigid protocol. I have a compass: understand first, then move. If you need space to explore, we explore. If you’re ready to act, we build. Most people need both.

What It’s Like To Work With Me

Jack Szary, LMHC-D, seated and smiling in front of abstract artwork

Expect a conversation with someone who actually gets it.

I'll laugh with you when something is absurd. I'll name the thing you're avoiding when you need to hear it. We move between real talk and real strategy, and I won't fill silence with platitudes. My job isn't to sit there nodding. It's to help you see what you're not seeing, then do something about it.

My style is:

  • Energetic

  • Inquisitive

  • Direct (I'll tell you what I'm noticing)

  • Goal-Oriented (we're here to change something, not just describe it)

Outside Of Therapy, I Spend My Time On:

Jack Szary playing acoustic guitar on a couch at home

Saturday mornings with Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee, incense burning, and a good book. Slow starts are a religion.

Music and cooking. I play acoustic guitar, gravitating toward songs that hold up unplugged and can carry a room at a casual get-together. I also bartended through graduate school at NYU, which taught me creativity under pressure, and I still experiment in the kitchen at home.

Learning Portuguese. My wife is Brazilian, and building a life across two cultures has been its own education in patience, humor, and translation.

Athletics. I play street hockey in leagues around the city and run with a run club hosted by my neighborhood barbershop.

Getting Started Together

If you're tired of going in circles, let's talk. You don't need to have it figured out before you reach out. That's what the call is for.

I have current openings and respond to all inquiries within 24 hours.

Professional Endorsements

Education, Credentials, & Trainings

Professional Affiliations

  • Member - New York Mental Health Counselors Association (NYMHCA)

  • Member - NYU Alumni Association (NYUAA)

  • Facilitator - "The Huddle", Bi-Weekly Peer Consultation Group

  • Participant - National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Events