Gina is joined by Sheri Perlman, a clinician from New York City to discuss her private practice and the types of patients she treats.
Podcast Transcript
Gina Thorne: Hi everyone, welcome to the Lakeview Podcast Series. I am joined today by Sheri Perlman from New York City who is a clinician working in the field of addiction medicine. Welcome, Sheri. Sheri Perlman: Hi! Gina: It’s nice to have you here. Thanks for taking the time to visit Lakeview. We’re really glad that you came down from New York, although you did it in the summer, you probably should have come in the winter. You would have appreciated the weather a little bit more, I’m sure. So let’s talk a little bit about your background. How did you get into the field of addiction? Sheri: So I’m a social worker and I have a practice in Manhattan and Westchester County and I got into the field of addiction because I have a lot of patients who struggle with addictions of all kinds and the type of therapy that I do is really useful for people who are struggling with feelings that get pushed down and get pushed away, and it focuses on having people recognize their strengths, confronting inner connections to pain and painful experiences and painful messages from the mind that say, “you’re no good, you don’t deserve a life,” confronting those and working with them and severing them and building inner strength and relationships. Gina: So dealing with shame. Shame is a big part of the disease so it sounds like you deal a lot with the shame factor. Sheri: Dealing with a lot of shame and reminding people that they are not humiliation-worthy, that there’s a part of their conscience that’s very punishing. And why is that? Why do they need to be ashamed? Why do they need to be humiliated, and why do they have to stay in that kind of a state, rather than, they deserve to have a good life, and of all the good things that life has to offer. Gina: Is your demographic anybody of any age or do you work with a specific niche market? Sheri: I actually work with parents and infants through people in their 60s. So parents who are having addiction problems and/or adolescents, young adults. Gina: So you’re visiting Lakeview for the first time. So what’s your perception of Lakeview? Sheri: I am SO impressed. I’m impressed by the look and feel. I’m impressed by the clinicians, by everybody on the staff. I would send my close friends here, anybody that I care about; this is the first place that I would refer them to. Gina: Well we’re really glad that you were able to come here and see the facility and hopefully if the opportunity would arise and someone listening needs help, they would be able to reach out to you for services and how would they get in touch with you if they needed to find out more about your services? Sheri: Sure. So I’m Sheri Perlman and my number is 914-632-7111. Gina: Ok, very good. Well thank you Sheri for taking the time. For those of you that are interested in learning more about Lakeview or you have someone struggling with addiction and needs residential treatment, please contact us at 866-460-8416 or visit us online at LakeviewHealth.com.
