Clinical Psychologist/Psychoanalyst
Contact Dr. Golden for an appointment:
612-559-3300
612-559-3300
About
Dr. Valerie Golden is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst who has practiced for more than 25 years, originally in New York City, and now in Minneapolis. She is also a columnist for Psychology Today, a national speaker, and author.
Dr. Golden counsels individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, relationships, workplace concerns, and health issues. She also consults with parents, couples and families dealing with relationship issues, separation or divorce, and parenting.
Former Adjunct Faculty in the Clinical Psychology Department and the Psychiatry Department of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, both of Columbia University, she has also had numerous invitations to lecture as guest faculty for conferences at the the medical schools of the University of Virginia, Stanford University, and Harvard University (Brigham and Women's Hospital). Currently, she is a guest lecturer at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Psychiatry.
Her publications cover a broad spectrum of psychologically significant topics, from the academic to the popular press, She writes a regular online blog on Psychology Today (“Freudian Quips”) which addresses culturally relevant matters such as work life balance, parenting, money, infidelity, and more. She has authored book chapters on topics ranging from developing psychological-mindedness to the psychological aspects of brain (pituitary) tumors. Dr. Golden offers workshops to groups, large and small, including professional societies, on topics ranging handling difficult people/clients, communicate more effectively, parenting, bullying, understanding emotional conflicts around money, getting along in family businesses, and managing social media.
Dr. Golden received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, completed 3 post-doctoral fellowships in advanced psychotherapy training at NYU Medical Center (North Shore University Hospital), New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute, and Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training & Research. She did her advanced training in psychoanalysis at the Minnesota Psychoanalytic Society & Institute.
Nationally, Dr. Golden was recently the President of the American Psychoanalytic Association Candidates’ Council, having served earlier as the Delegate from MN, Chair of the Nominations Committee, Chair of the Master-Teacher Award Committee, and Secretary, and as the Recorder for the Board on Professional Standards and a Member of multiple Task Forces.
A graduate of the Blake School, the Madeira School, Stanford University, and Columbia University, she also serves on several community and philanthropic boards of directors for arts and community organizations, both locally and nationally. Dr. Golden lives and practices in Minneapolis, MN.
Early in her career, as an attorney, Dr. Golden worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in private practice, and in law school admissions. She also served as the Deputy Commissioner of Commerce for the State of Minnesota from 1990-1991.
SERVICES
I have been a licensed clinical psychologist for over 25 years, evaluating and treating children, adolescents, adults, and families with psychotherapy and/or psychoanalysis. I also treat couples and advise parents.
My approach to treating patients is to first conduct a thorough and detailed diagnostic consultation and evaluation, so that I can tailor the treatment to that individual’s particular strengths and difficulties. This requires an understanding of development in light of one’s personal history, on the assumption that the symptoms or problematic behaviors for which someone wants help are rooted in one’s personality as well as the ways in which his or her individual mind works.
I assume that each person’s difficulties originally evolved as ways of maintaining his or her mental/emotional equilibrium but eventually became problematic in their own right. Personality traits and behaviors that might have been useful and adaptive in childhood, for example, may not be serving them well as an adult. In this way, my developmentally based diagnostic evaluation aims to understand the purposes served by whatever behaviors are causing them difficulty or conflict at present.
My approach to treatment, when it is indicated, is then focused on helping my patients learn to observe and reflect on their own minds at work in how they think, feel, react, and behave. The goal is to understand both the ways in which their minds are helping them adapt and the ways in which their minds are causing problems, and then to use this understanding to gain greater control over their lives.
Ultimately, the goal is self-regulation, which in turn is required to reduce symptoms, change problematic ways of relating to others, gain discipline and self-confidence, and be successful in life. THIS IS A VERY DIFFERENT AND HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH to diagnosis and treatment when compared to the traditional psychiatric one of grouping patients according to clusters of symptoms and treating them with a annualized, cookbook approach that assumes that symptoms are all caused by the same thing no matter how different each individual’s personality and life history are.
In addition, I believe it is essential that I continue my involvement in academia through teaching, writing, and research, as well as collaborating with colleagues in national and international professional organizations. This involvement keeps me up to date on current ideas and trends so that my treatments are always supported by contemporary findings from psychoanalytic, neuro-scientific, and developmental research.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 612-559-3300 with any questions you may have.
AREAS OF SPECIALTY
Adults
Improving relationships
Increasing self esteem, self-confidence, and success
Relieving Anxiety, Depression, and Inhibitions
Changing self-defeating behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits
Coping with emotions ( e.g., sadness, anger, resentment)
Finding work-life balance
Children
Learning self-control
Reducing impulsivity
Managing temper
Improving academic motivation and performance
Supporting healthy peer relationships
Eliminating irrational fears
Navigating loss, divorce, or death
Parent Guidance
Couples
Pre-marital and relationship counseling
Couples treatment
Divorced parenting
Executives and Professionals
Achieving work-life balance
Forging professional identities
Removing inhibitions to success
Managing difficult people in the workplace
Family Businesses
Understanding family dynamics
Succession planning
Resolving competition around power dynamics
Modifying old patterns of relating
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 612-559-3300 with any questions you may have.
IN THE NEWS
Books, Publications, Awards, & Presentations
Contact Information
Dr. Valerie Golden
612-559-3300
[email protected]
Office Address:
120 S. 6th St.
Regus Office Suites, #2350
Minneapolis, MN 55402
QUOTES:
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isnt’ being said.” Peter Drucker
“If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.” William James
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” Carl Jung
Much learning does not teach understanding." Heraclitus (544-483 B.C).
“If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” Abraham Maslow
"We know what we are but not what we may be." Ophelia in Hamlet
"I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 things that do not work." Thomas Edison 1847-1931
"There is in every child at every stage a new miracle of vigorous unfolding." Erik Erikson (1902-1994) [The "miracle" of "vigorous unfolding" provides a metaphor that we now understand as the potential for continued evolution of personality over time. We aren't complete by the time we are 5 or 12 years old. We can continue to evolve throughout life as we encounter new experiences and stimuli for greater understanding of ourselves and others.]
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Shakespeare (Hamlet)
"Education survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten." B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." William James (1842-1910)
"The brain is wider than the sky." Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” Carl Jung
“People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” Peter Drucker
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
“Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?” Bob Marley
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Carl Jung
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” - Carl Jung
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakens.” Carl Jung
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. Carl Jung
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being. Carl Jung
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. Carl Jung
Address:
120 S. 6th St.
Regus Office Suites, Suite 2350
Minneapolis, MN
(612) 559-3300
Dr. Golden counsels individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, relationships, workplace concerns, and health issues. She also consults with parents, couples and families dealing with relationship issues, separation or divorce, and parenting.
Former Adjunct Faculty in the Clinical Psychology Department and the Psychiatry Department of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, both of Columbia University, she has also had numerous invitations to lecture as guest faculty for conferences at the the medical schools of the University of Virginia, Stanford University, and Harvard University (Brigham and Women's Hospital). Currently, she is a guest lecturer at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Psychiatry.
Her publications cover a broad spectrum of psychologically significant topics, from the academic to the popular press, She writes a regular online blog on Psychology Today (“Freudian Quips”) which addresses culturally relevant matters such as work life balance, parenting, money, infidelity, and more. She has authored book chapters on topics ranging from developing psychological-mindedness to the psychological aspects of brain (pituitary) tumors. Dr. Golden offers workshops to groups, large and small, including professional societies, on topics ranging handling difficult people/clients, communicate more effectively, parenting, bullying, understanding emotional conflicts around money, getting along in family businesses, and managing social media.
Dr. Golden received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, completed 3 post-doctoral fellowships in advanced psychotherapy training at NYU Medical Center (North Shore University Hospital), New York Psychoanalytic Society & Institute, and Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training & Research. She did her advanced training in psychoanalysis at the Minnesota Psychoanalytic Society & Institute.
Nationally, Dr. Golden was recently the President of the American Psychoanalytic Association Candidates’ Council, having served earlier as the Delegate from MN, Chair of the Nominations Committee, Chair of the Master-Teacher Award Committee, and Secretary, and as the Recorder for the Board on Professional Standards and a Member of multiple Task Forces.
A graduate of the Blake School, the Madeira School, Stanford University, and Columbia University, she also serves on several community and philanthropic boards of directors for arts and community organizations, both locally and nationally. Dr. Golden lives and practices in Minneapolis, MN.
Early in her career, as an attorney, Dr. Golden worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, in private practice, and in law school admissions. She also served as the Deputy Commissioner of Commerce for the State of Minnesota from 1990-1991.
SERVICES
I have been a licensed clinical psychologist for over 25 years, evaluating and treating children, adolescents, adults, and families with psychotherapy and/or psychoanalysis. I also treat couples and advise parents.
My approach to treating patients is to first conduct a thorough and detailed diagnostic consultation and evaluation, so that I can tailor the treatment to that individual’s particular strengths and difficulties. This requires an understanding of development in light of one’s personal history, on the assumption that the symptoms or problematic behaviors for which someone wants help are rooted in one’s personality as well as the ways in which his or her individual mind works.
I assume that each person’s difficulties originally evolved as ways of maintaining his or her mental/emotional equilibrium but eventually became problematic in their own right. Personality traits and behaviors that might have been useful and adaptive in childhood, for example, may not be serving them well as an adult. In this way, my developmentally based diagnostic evaluation aims to understand the purposes served by whatever behaviors are causing them difficulty or conflict at present.
My approach to treatment, when it is indicated, is then focused on helping my patients learn to observe and reflect on their own minds at work in how they think, feel, react, and behave. The goal is to understand both the ways in which their minds are helping them adapt and the ways in which their minds are causing problems, and then to use this understanding to gain greater control over their lives.
Ultimately, the goal is self-regulation, which in turn is required to reduce symptoms, change problematic ways of relating to others, gain discipline and self-confidence, and be successful in life. THIS IS A VERY DIFFERENT AND HIGHLY INDIVIDUALIZED APPROACH to diagnosis and treatment when compared to the traditional psychiatric one of grouping patients according to clusters of symptoms and treating them with a annualized, cookbook approach that assumes that symptoms are all caused by the same thing no matter how different each individual’s personality and life history are.
In addition, I believe it is essential that I continue my involvement in academia through teaching, writing, and research, as well as collaborating with colleagues in national and international professional organizations. This involvement keeps me up to date on current ideas and trends so that my treatments are always supported by contemporary findings from psychoanalytic, neuro-scientific, and developmental research.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 612-559-3300 with any questions you may have.
AREAS OF SPECIALTY
Adults
Improving relationships
Increasing self esteem, self-confidence, and success
Relieving Anxiety, Depression, and Inhibitions
Changing self-defeating behaviors, attitudes, and personality traits
Coping with emotions ( e.g., sadness, anger, resentment)
Finding work-life balance
Children
Learning self-control
Reducing impulsivity
Managing temper
Improving academic motivation and performance
Supporting healthy peer relationships
Eliminating irrational fears
Navigating loss, divorce, or death
Parent Guidance
Couples
Pre-marital and relationship counseling
Couples treatment
Divorced parenting
Executives and Professionals
Achieving work-life balance
Forging professional identities
Removing inhibitions to success
Managing difficult people in the workplace
Family Businesses
Understanding family dynamics
Succession planning
Resolving competition around power dynamics
Modifying old patterns of relating
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] or 612-559-3300 with any questions you may have.
IN THE NEWS
Books, Publications, Awards, & Presentations
Contact Information
Dr. Valerie Golden
612-559-3300
[email protected]
Office Address:
120 S. 6th St.
Regus Office Suites, #2350
Minneapolis, MN 55402
QUOTES:
“The most important thing in communication is to hear what isnt’ being said.” Peter Drucker
“If you believe that feeling bad or worrying long enough will change a past or future event, then you are residing on another planet with a different reality system.” William James
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.” Carl Jung
Much learning does not teach understanding." Heraclitus (544-483 B.C).
“If you only have a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” Abraham Maslow
"We know what we are but not what we may be." Ophelia in Hamlet
"I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 things that do not work." Thomas Edison 1847-1931
"There is in every child at every stage a new miracle of vigorous unfolding." Erik Erikson (1902-1994) [The "miracle" of "vigorous unfolding" provides a metaphor that we now understand as the potential for continued evolution of personality over time. We aren't complete by the time we are 5 or 12 years old. We can continue to evolve throughout life as we encounter new experiences and stimuli for greater understanding of ourselves and others.]
"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." Shakespeare (Hamlet)
"Education survives when what has been learnt has been forgotten." B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." William James (1842-1910)
"The brain is wider than the sky." Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)
“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” Carl Jung
“People who don't take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year. People who do take risks generally make about two big mistakes a year.” Peter Drucker
A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.”
“Open your eyes, look within. Are you satisfied with the life you’re living?” Bob Marley
Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Carl Jung
“I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” - Carl Jung
“Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside awakens.” Carl Jung
The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed. Carl Jung
As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being. Carl Jung
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases. Carl Jung
Address:
120 S. 6th St.
Regus Office Suites, Suite 2350
Minneapolis, MN
(612) 559-3300