Ariella Azaraf, LCSW

06/10/2024

Isn’t it the truth?
Think about someone in your life who you love deeply, yet you know that you need to love them from afar because that is safest for YOU.
Sometimes distance serves as a shield, protecting your heart.
Does this resonate?
Let me know in the comments below 👇🏼

06/09/2024

It is what we are all feeling.
Strangers, people whom we never met, suddenly started to feel like family.
We lost sleep, lost our appetites and suddenly had their faces, their images, etched in our minds.
Yesterday, when the 4 hostages were released, I felt like my family came home.

Empathy is a wild thing.
It helps us feel connected. It helps us feel for people we don’t even know.

Empathy is a powerful emotion that allows us to understand and share the feelings of others.
It enables deeper connections, fosters compassion, and promotes a sense of unity and support among individuals.
By putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes and acknowledging their emotions, we can build trust, strengthen relationships, and create a more compassionate and understanding society.

01/04/2024

I’ll leave this reminder right here 💕

01/01/2024

Carl Jung said it best “we cannot change anything unless we accept it.”
Beating ourselves up very simply does not work.
Embracing the amazing parts of ourselves as well as the parts of ourselves that may need some work is key.
Please try not to let the New Years marketing convince you that you are no good as you are.
Please try to find the amazing parts of yourself and to look at the parts that aren’t as amazing with compassion, love and understanding.
Wishing you all a Happy New year.
To a year of fully loving and embracing yourself as you are.
Because YOU are beautiful and worthy just as you are!
XO,
Ariella

12/27/2023

✨This post feels intense because the world feels intense✨
Hugging you all.

12/07/2023

Vintor Frankl, a psychiatrist from Austria and survivor of Auschwitz is truly my hero. He was a man dedicated to searching for life’s meaning through trauma, darkness and pain is incredibly inspirational.
Understanding that we can’t get to light without enduring some type of ‘burning’ or darkness is crucial to healing.
Struggles and working through the struggles is worth the light at the end.
Even when we can’t see the light.
Even when we can’t find the light.
Merely knowing the light is out there.
Looking for it.
Longing for it.

10/25/2023

I’ve been hearing a lot of people wondering what is “wrong with the “.
People feeling their tight chest.
Their heart beating faster than usual.
Trouble sleeping.
Nightmares.
Having a hard time controlling their worries.
And the list goes on and on.
Here is the thing: nothing is wrong with you!
You are having a very normal reaction to a very abnormal situation.
Once you validate you are feeling “off”, imbalanced, not like your usual self because of everything we are collectively experiencing, you will be so much more compassionate and understanding.
The world is tough right now, be gentle with yourself.

All my love,
Ariella

10/10/2023

There truly aren’t many words. But boy are there feelings. So much pain..

So many feelings..

As the news unfolds, as images are released, as the war continues, please find ways to take care of your mental health.

Sending love to each of you and praying for safety for our brothers and sisters in Israel.

Praying for the brave soldiers.
Praying that this will all be over soon.
We are in this together.

Much love,
Ariella

Hi! My name is Ariella Azaraf and I am a clinical Social Worker practicing virtually. Currently accepting clients in NYC. I specialize in helping clients work through anxiety and depression using Cognitive Behavior Therapy which helps one understand his or her thoughts and feelings and how they impact behavior. I provide empathetic and warm support to my clients assisting them find meaning and purpose in their lives and relationships. I have a unique focus on self acceptance and embracing all parts that make us human.

07/19/2023

The harsh truth my friends is that never in the history of the world is it helpful to google your symptoms.

The anxious mind wants answers.

The anxious mind doesn’t do well in the unknown.

Doctor Google has become a good friend to many, reaching for hope in times of anxiety or uncertainty.

You heard it here my friends, googling your symptoms will not help your anxiety.

Feeling your feet on the floor, finding your breath, calming the noise in your mind to best help you make a wise next decision is what will be most helpful for you.

Reach out to your doctor.
Once you’ve been able to calm yourself, call a trusted friend and ask what they would do.

But, whatever you do, try to resist the urge to google your symptoms.

07/05/2023

Reminder for when the going gets rough.
Reminder for the days that feel a bit more challenging.

06/20/2023

✨Boundaries: a way to show up for yourself✨

06/08/2023

✨Emotional maturity is acknowledging and honoring when struggling✨

06/05/2023

✨Befriending your anxiety✨

05/22/2023

When I first opened my private practice, I wanted to find a quote that depicts my beliefs, thoughts and hopes for my clients.
A quote that articulated my view on life, human experiences and inner work.
Let’s be honest, we all have a story.
We all have things we are working through.
We all have deep imperfections.
So why the heck not love ourselves deeply while owning our stories.
While owning our imperfections.
Owning your “stuff” is bravery, loving yourself through the process, that is strength.
Finding the space to hold both at the very same time is the key ingredient for compassion and inner peace.

05/09/2023

✨Helpful skill when feeling irritable, easily annoyed and impatient✨

05/01/2023

A lesson from NYC weather:

As Maya Angelou once said “Every storm runs out of rain”.

On the days that feel overwhelming and never ending, know that it won’t always feel this way.

If we open our eyes we can extract lessons from everything and everyone.
This past weekend in New York it felt like two days of non stop rain. Just when I thought maybe the rain was over, more would come storming in.
I watched the rain as I sit in my cozy apartment and remembered this quote by Maya Angelou.
Very often when we are moving through something difficult, the feelings of anxiety and depression can feel all consuming.
They make us feel like we will always feel this way.
The key is to allow ourselves to feel the ‘emotional storm’.
The key is to sit in the storm knowing in your heart that it will pass.
As much as your mind wants to convince you it will always feel like this, it won’t.
Because my friends, as we (New Yorkers) learned this morning, we woke up to bright, beautiful sun.
The storm is over, the rain has stopped.
We live in a busy, chaotic world, where sometimes it takes extra effort to press pause.
It takes extra effort to slow down,
However, slowing down is the key ingredient to creating inner calm.
When we create inner calm, we create space for clarity, connection and more presence in our lives.
Here’s to learning lessons from the rain, the sun and everything around us.

04/27/2023

Hard truth, my friends.

Raise your hand if you have ever tolerated being disrespected by someone?
Perhaps a friend?
A boyfriend/girlfriend?
A situation-ship?
A co worker?

So often we tend to give benefit of the doubt (which is an important skill) but let’s be honest, are we confusing that with tolerating disrespect?

Start to notice, pay attention to moments where your gut is reacting to something someone said that just doesn’t sit right.

Pause and ask yourself honestly if you may be confusing benefit of the doubt with very clear disrespect.

Hard truth, yet so crucial to save your emotional energy and gentle heart from further pain.

04/19/2023

✨Relationship Advice✨

04/16/2023

✨Inner calm is the secret ingredient ✨

03/29/2023

Your past, your choice. But please, be gentle with yourself and choose compassion. Our history is our wisdom, always.

03/09/2023

18 Likes, 0 Comments - Ariella Azaraf, LCSW () on Instagram: "✨Two ways to respond to struggle✨ . . . . . . . . . . . . ..."

03/05/2023

Sunday reminder, from my ❤️ to yours

03/01/2023

Let’s be honest.
We are all trying our very best.
Admit when you’re wrong.
Admit when you don’t know.
When we embrace that we are humans having a human experience and we can’t get it right all the time, that is when we find compassion.
Compassion for ourselves and compassion for others.

02/14/2023

I truly had the best time recording this podcast with the wonderful Hannah of .
On this episode, you will hear us both discuss the steps needed to cultivate and sustain a healthy relationship with yourself and how the experience of getting to know yourself can help you connect with people and the world around you on a deeper level ✨
Take a listen, from my heart to yours.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5kTk2cTbI1sy1nKDct3BwZ?si=BkUFJ6GxRD6VZLquRkNeaQ

02/13/2023

Repeat after me: I can do it scared. Let’s be honest, we all need this reminder. When we start to self doubt and allow our fears to take over, we get stuck. Here is your reminder to do it scared.

01/24/2023

The way we interpret the world around us and the situations that unfold are completely up to us and the thoughts we feed ourselves.

Maybe you don’t have what to learn about yourself from that specific person.

Maybe you don’t have what to learn about yourself from that situation.
That job.
That relationship.

Rejection is hard.
Rejection feels personal.

When we interpret rejection as direction instead of an opportunity to beat ourselves up, be hard on ourselves and allow space for all the negative thoughts, allow it to be an opportunity to tap into growth and learning.

01/10/2023

Let your people know.
Keeping the pain inside, struggling internally and not reaching out for help is so so difficult.
Reach to the people who make you feel seen, emotionally safe and understood.
You’re not alone.

01/05/2023

As we journey through life people come and go.

We weave in and out of experiences.
Perhaps experiences we have been longing for.

Very often through these experiences, through these people, we find deeper meaning within ourselves.

Things that change you are painful when they leave.
People that change you are painful when they leave.
However, it doesn’t mean the experience was negative.
It doesn’t mean that you were not meant to live through that experience.

Holding onto lessons, clarity and sparks of information that you have learned about yourself is where the power lies.

We go through experiences that change us.

And they are so so painful when they leave.

Sometimes phases and experiences are exactly what we needed to go through.
To become the highest version of ourselves.

Embrace the journey.
Embrace the experience.
Allow people and experiences to leave an imprint, allow it to leave a mark, to grow to change and take with you as your soul journey.

12/07/2022

Uuffff.
Uncertainty.
If only we had the power to have a crystal ball to see how our life, our future would play out.
We would have less anxiety, less angst and so much more peace.
But alas, here we are, swimming in the ocean of uncertainty.
Swimming in the unknown.
But alas, we find ourselves in the present moment often vacillating between deep acceptance of being content with uncertainty and reaching, yearning to know the unknown.
Mindfulness teaches us that to be well now is to learn to accept body and mind as it is.

Progress not perfection.
Awareness and compassion, always.

12/05/2022

We’ve all been there before.

That friend, family member, colleague whose behavior is so challenging.

That person who is so critical.

That person who says things and you can’t help but think to yourself “did they really just say that” or “why would he/she do that”?
Maybe they weren’t thinking.
Maybe they tend to be a bit impulsive.
Maybe they are hurting.

We won’t ever fully know what someone may be moving through, but here is what we do know.

Their words, behaviors and intensity is a reflection of what they are going through.

It is not a reflection on you.

The more we rewire our brains to get curious as to why someone behaves or says certain things, the less we personalize and make it about us.