Dr. Natalie Bernstein

Dr. Natalie Bernstein * Clinical Psychologist
* Individual and Couples Therapy in person and online in 40+ states

Your organized, dependable, and successful. People joke that you’re an overachiever, a perfectionist.You do it all and t...
06/06/2025

Your organized, dependable, and successful. People joke that you’re an overachiever, a perfectionist.
You do it all and that’s all they see.
But it’s not that simple. And it doesn’t always feel good.

People often tell me, ‘I don’t want to be selfish.’But here’s the thing: truly selfish people don’t worry about that.If ...
05/28/2025

People often tell me, ‘I don’t want to be selfish.’
But here’s the thing: truly selfish people don’t worry about that.
If you’re pausing to consider how your choices affect others, that’s not selfishness—that’s awareness. And holding back on what you need out of fear of hurting someone else? That’s self-sacrifice, not selfishness.

People often notice the 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, not the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 for it.⁣⁣They see the boundaries, the quiet, the detachment, the new voic...
05/20/2025

People often notice the 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦, not the 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 for it.⁣

They see the boundaries, the quiet, the detachment, the new voice. ⁣

What they don’t always see is the grief. The rupture. The inner work. The years of tolerating what you finally stopped accepting.⁣

As a psychologist, I see this moment often: the shift for accommodating to awareness. From over-explaining to observing. From absorbing to discerning.⁣

You didn’t just 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. You adapted. You outgrew. You healed.

Therapy can help clients recognize how these patterns are showing up in their adult relationships.
05/19/2025

Therapy can help clients recognize how these patterns are showing up in their adult relationships.

These behaviors are common, but that doesn’t mean they’re healthy. ⁣⁣Many of us learned early on that safety came from b...
05/16/2025

These behaviors are common, but that doesn’t mean they’re healthy. ⁣

Many of us learned early on that safety came from being agreeable, quiet, or hyper-aware. ⁣

So now, things like guilt-free rest or honest self-expression feel unfamiliar or even unsafe. ⁣

These aren’t personality flaws or just “how you are,” they’re learned patterns. ⁣

Therapy can help you to notice these patterns, trace them back to their origins, and start making room for new ways of showing up, not out of fear, but out of choices.

Being told you’re too intense or too sensitive can lead to years of self monitoring, overthinking, shrinking, staying qu...
05/14/2025

Being told you’re too intense or too sensitive can lead to years of self monitoring, overthinking, shrinking, staying quiet.⁣

With psychological health isn’t about becoming less of yourself.⁣

It’s about making room for the parts you were once told to hide.⁣

This post breaks down some of the most common truths that I help clients address about emotions. Not because they need fixing, but because they were never the problem to begin with.⁣

Which one felt like it was written for you?

When you’re feelings or seen as inconvenience or invisible, you likely learned to downplay them.⁣⁣You became high functi...
05/12/2025

When you’re feelings or seen as inconvenience or invisible, you likely learned to downplay them.⁣

You became high functioning. Helpful. Hard to read. Easy. Never needing anything.⁣

But unacknowledged pain doesn’t just disappear. It becomes part of your identity and shapes the way you feel about yourself and how you show up in relationships.⁣

Is it time to learn how to feel instead of just how to function?⁣

Let me know if there’s a term I should break down next!
05/09/2025

Let me know if there’s a term I should break down next!

Sometimes, what looks like love is really control in disguise. ⁣⁣⁣⁣It might come as constant “checking in,” criticism fr...
05/08/2025

Sometimes, what looks like love is really control in disguise. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
It might come as constant “checking in,” criticism framed as concern, or rules dressed up as protection. And over time, it can wear down your sense of self.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
If you’ve found yourself doubting your instincts, apologizing for things you didn’t do, or working harder and harder to keep the peace - it’s not just you. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
Coercive control is real, and it’s often quiet. It doesn’t always look like abuse from the outside, but the impact is just as deep.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
I help individuals and couples make sense of these dynamics—because recognizing the pattern is the first step to changing it.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
If something in your relationship feels off, but you can’t quite name it, let’s talk. You don’t have to sort through it alone.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
* Begin reclaiming your voice.⁣⁣
* Learn to trust your gut again.⁣⁣
* Redefine what care and connection should 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 feel like.

The fear of the unknown. ⁣⁣The feelings of anxiety that surround change, even necessary or positive change can be scary ...
02/08/2024

The fear of the unknown. ⁣

The feelings of anxiety that surround change, even necessary or positive change can be scary and overwhelming. ⁣

But if you can view that fear like a wave, a moment in time rather than the whole of your existence, you may feel some relief. ⁣

Sometimes our greatest source of stress involves situations that haven’t even happened. ⁣⁣Or will never happen. ⁣⁣Why do...
02/06/2024

Sometimes our greatest source of stress involves situations that haven’t even happened. ⁣

Or will never happen. ⁣

Why do we do this?⁣

It’s protective. We hold this belief that in order to be safe, we need to plan and prepare while considering every possible scenario. ⁣

We doubt our ability to cope. Believe we won’t be able to handle future events. ⁣

It’s familiar. We may have learned that it is helpful to focus on the worst case scenario but that is NOT true. ⁣

Instead, try to stay out of the imagination, question the accuracy and reality of the situation, and become okay with experiencing temporary moments of discomfort. ⁣

Why give others the power to tell you who you are?And, even if they see you as who you used to be, guess what, you can c...
02/01/2024

Why give others the power to tell you who you are?

And, even if they see you as who you used to be, guess what, you can change.

Find the people who are willing to go this life with the real you.

Address

100 W Station Square Drive , Ste 617
Pittsburgh, PA
15219

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