ELLEN REES, MD

Psychoanalysis | Psychotherapy | Psychiatry


Treatment of Older Adults
Consultation
Individual & Group Supervision


Private Practice since 1978

ABOUT

Dr. Ellen Rees is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City and a Training and Supervising Analyst and teacher at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. She has a long-standing interest in medical and psychoanalytic education. She taught medical students for twenty years at the Weill Cornell College of Medicine in addition to her teaching at the Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research. She currently supervises trainees at both institutions. In her clinical practice, Dr. Rees now specializes in the psychoanalytic and psychotherapeutic treatment of older adults.

  • Oberlin College, Magna cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Alpha Omega Alpha
  • Residency Mount Sinai Medical Center
  • Psychoanalytic Training Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research
  • Board Certified in Psychiatry
  • Certified in Psychoanalysis

THERAPY

Psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy help an individual understand the past roots of their current problems. Important relationships and experiences from very early in life have a lasting influence that can shape relationships and experiences in the present. As a psychoanalyst or psychotherapist, I try to help a person become aware of these often powerful influences from the past so that they are able to change the ways they are responding in the present. Such a joint endeavor involves emotional work and self-reflection.

Life itself, however, can pose important challenges and the need for new adaptations. An important interest for me is to help older adults meet these challenges. Living eventually involves loss and grief as we age. Change becomes inevitable when we retire, become ill, have diminished physical and mental capabilities, lose a spouse or partner, have adult children with problems or want to explore new aspects of ourselves. I provide a range of treatments from focused psychotherapy to psychoanalysis to help achieve the successful negotiation of these life stage challenges.

  • Relationships
  • Work
  • Loss and Grief
  • Aging
  • Retirement
  • Problems with adult children
  • Second psychoanalysis
  • Supervision for mental health clinicians and groups

PRACTICE

  • Licensed by the States of New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, and Florida.
  • Insurance is not accepted but can be submitted to an insurance company for out-of-network benefits.
  • Appointments are predominantly via telehealth.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

  • American Medical Women's Association Janet M. Glasgow Award for Achievement 1974
  • John F. O'Connor Award, Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research for excellence in teaching psychoanalytic concepts in medical student education 1994
  • Nancy C.A. Roeske M.D. Award, American Psychiatric Association for excellence in medical student education 1994
  • Howard Klar Teacher of the Year Award, Columbia Center for Psychoanalytic Training and Research 2000
  • Education Award, International Psychoanalytic Association 2005
  • George S. Goldman Award for excellence in clinical psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic education 2020
  • Best Doctors 22 years
  • Exceptional Women in Medicine 2017, 2018, 2022
  • America's Most Honored Doctors 2022, 2023, 2024