Finding Clarity With A Psychoanalyst

What happens when a high-achieving life starts to feel hollow, heavy, or on autopilot? We sit down with Dr. Nicholas Samstag, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst, to explore how long-term depth work helps professionals in high-stress roles move from burnout to clarity. Rather than chasing quick fixes, Nick makes a case for honest self-examination, patient inquiry, and the courage to see how we participate in our own suffering—then use that insight to choose something better.

Nick explains what psychoanalysis looks like in practice, why he reserves part of his caseload for clients who can’t pay full fee, and how careful consultation ensures people land with the right provider—even if it’s not him. We talk about the difference between being busy and being alive, and the subtle ways perfectionism, people-pleasing, and avoidance make us spectators in our own days. If you’ve ever wondered why time keeps slipping by without meaningful change, this conversation offers a sober, hopeful roadmap.

You’ll hear practical ways to audit your week: track the conversations you have, notice where you feel engaged or numb, and ask the hardest question of all—how do you want to live? Nick shows why agency begins with looking directly at the patterns we’d rather not see, and how steady therapeutic work can help reorder priorities around what matters most. Along the way, we highlight resources, his writing, and the simple next steps to get help that fits.

If you’re ready to slow down, look inward, and take ownership of your path, press play and join us. Subscribe for more thoughtful talks with local experts, share this episode with a friend who’s running on fumes, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, a place where local businesses and neighbors come together.

Meet Dr. Nicholas Samstag

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome to Good Neighbor Podcast Live. Are you in need of a uh psychological services? Well, we may have a treat for you today. Today I have your good neighbor, Dr. Nicholas Samtag with Nicholas Samtag PHP Physical Services. Dr. Samtag, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 0:40

I'm doing well. Thank you, Garfield.

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Listen, we're excited to learn to learn all about you and your practice. Tell us about your company.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

Well, I'm a I'm a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst. I see um adult adults in long-term treatment typically. Although I have 20% of my practice is devoted to people who can't afford me, but uh with whom I have a good sense of things. So I do I do 20% of that. And then the the rest of the practice is um adults between the ages of I'd say 19, 20 on up.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

When you say psychological services, is there um three or four or five things mainly that you treat, or is it what they skibbus? For layman people like me that has no idea what that covers.

SPEAKER_01 1:32

Sure. Sure. So I I I'm trained as a psychoanalyst, which means that um I'm uh I primarily treat people who are interested in long-term, in-depth psychological work. Um they they could present with a variety of symptoms, some very severe, some not so severe. Um the psychological services label I use um as a kind of broadcasting net. So sometimes I I find myself doing um consultations uh over over long periods of time. People will come in and have the consultations, and then I'll send them elsewhere. I don't, I don't, I don't practice, I don't see and I don't see everyone that comes to see me because I don't think that I'm everybody's cup of tea. What I do is is is fairly specialized, but I'm pretty good at um sending them to folks who uh who are more appropriate.

SPEAKER_02 2:26

So um how did we get into this line of business?

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Um it's a long story, I'll make it quick. I was dating a woman many years ago when um psychotherapy was much more popular than it is now, and uh she was getting better. She was pretty nuts. I was pretty nuts myself, uh, but she was getting measurably better, and I said, Who are you seeing? And she was seeing the psychologist. I was um I was in graduate school at the time at Columbia and uh having all kinds of difficulty with authority and and all kinds of things. I thought, you know what, I should check this out. So I did, and it was uh it was life-changing. I had no no sense really of psychology whatsoever, never took a course in it. Um, but I thought, wow, I've just been completely sort of stumbling around in the dark. So that's how I got into it. And then many years, many, many, many degrees later, um, here I am.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

I guess a lot of people could use your services then, huh?

SPEAKER_01 3:22

I think I think the world as a whole, and I I don't I I don't say this as anything other than someone who's suffered myself, that you know, people's understanding of psychology is by and large pretty dim. And unless you have a family who's uh aware of that, most aren't, um, you have to have some kind of major difficulty. And then you kind of wake up and you go, wow, I didn't know that that existed, but I better check it out.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

So who would you say is your target customers and how are you currently attracting them?

SPEAKER_01 3:53

My target customers are typically um uh professionals, professionals in high stress environments who are um who are burning out or on the way to burning out, and and who need um who need help and understanding how to prioritize and rethink their their um priorities.

SPEAKER_02 4:18

That sounds like everyone.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

I mean, everyone may be stressed to at a certain level, but not everyone. It takes an enormous amount of courage to look at yourself. I'm I'm sure you've had arguments and conversations with people where it's pretty clear that they're just not either willing or able to look at their participation in any interpersonal matter. They come with the they come with the answer. And so that's a big first step for a lot of people.

Courage, Agency, And Change

SPEAKER_02 4:47

Yeah, I think we all think we we we we all know there's things we need to work work on, but you know, we have the constraint of time, so it's just really prioritizing it and saying this is an important thing that I need to take care of. Um, have you ever thought about doing your own podcast? I I have a podcast. Oh, you have a podcast? Okay, excellent. So um outside of work, when you're not busy with your practice, what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_01 5:18

Um, I read a great deal. I write. Um, I used to be doing a lot of traveling. I haven't had time to do that much anymore. Um, I have a 22-year-old daughter who's just about to graduate from college. I spend a lot of time uh paling around with her when she's home.

SPEAKER_02 5:35

Okay, and um in terms of your practice, I want you to tell us one thing, if we can narrow it down to one thing. What should they remember about uh Nicholas, Samstone, PhD, PC, psychological services? Got it all out.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

I know it's a mouthful. One thing that they should remember. I I think if uh if anyone listening is interested in um taking a look at themselves, um I could probably be of service.

SPEAKER_02 6:09

Okay, and um for those that would want more information, I know just thinking about, you know, and and and I think it's it's important though. I mean, we have friends, and what do we talk about? We talk about how to get the best version of ourselves, right?

Life Outside The Office

SPEAKER_01 6:27

Well, that that's that's something that I actually spend a lot of time talking about. I think, I think, I think if it if if you examine the conversations that you're in, you I mean, really examine them like just with curiosity, like what have I been talking to people about? Um, more often than not, you're gonna be disappointed. I think it takes an enormous amount of uh personal agency to assess one's life and to ask oneself, as Aristotle did, um, how do you want to live? What are these conversations? You know, is anything that happens today of any particular interest to me? I think a great many people would say no. Because we can be passive and we can be, you know, we can feel um hopeless about that. We're just gonna go through the motions. So I think one of the things I try to do is I try to help people recognize that however unhappy they may be, unless they're in the unfortunate position of being abused literally or figuratively, um, the likelihood is that they're they've created their own misery. And so an examination of how you lead your life and what you want is um is the first step. And it's a hard one.

SPEAKER_02 7:41

I know we're about out of time. My listeners now probably have one lit one word on on their mind right now, and that's how how can they get more information on Nicholas Simpson's psychological PC psychological services?

SPEAKER_01 7:57

They don't have to say all of that. If they if they just go to Nicholas at Nicholas Samstag.com, they'll find me. I have a I have a big website with stuff I've written and um stuff for the public to read. So Nicholas at Nicholasamstag.com.

SPEAKER_02 8:15

And for those who just like to push the buttons on the phone, is there a number you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_01 8:20

212-991-8741.

SPEAKER_02 8:25

Listen, Dr. Samson. It's been a pleasure having you on the show. I wish you and your business the very best moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

Well, thanks so much for having me.

SPEAKER_00 8:39

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnplive.com. That's gnplive.com.