top of page
welcome.jpg

Are you a clinician looking for supervision, consultation or training?

Are you a professional who wants to learn more about my practice?

Welcome!

My treatment philosophy is influenced by attachment theory, relational psychoanalysis (what's happening in the here and now between us and how is this influenced by memory), and affect regulation theory (what is the texture of dys-regulation and how does the person attempt to regulate themselves, and are these attempts at self-regulation causing further "problems"?).  When I explain my approach to clients, I often stress the importance of the therapeutic relationship, the curiosity-rooted focus on the "here and now" and "in the room" interactions, and offer the hope-filled and reality-based goals of working toward a greater capacity for emotion regulation, self reflection and understanding, and ultimately a stronger relationship with oneself and others.

​

As a relational therapist, I weave between these "here and now" interactions and understanding patterns and "self-with-and-other expectations" that have developed from past relationships and experiences.  When appropriate, I also work from an intergenerational lens, helping people to locate themselves in a story outside of themselves.  I have found that when people can understand their experiences, they feel a greater sense of agency.  I'm also interested in the connections between stress, trauma, dissociation and somatic experience, and help clients to better understand and regulate symptomatic sensations through incorporating experiential practices including relationally-based work, mindfulness, parts work, externalizing and reframing.​​

Education and Training: 

Certificate in Psychoanalysis,  2024.  Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity, NYC. 

Certificate in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, 2012.  Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia.

Certificate in Trauma Therapy, 2017.   International Association of Trauma Professionals.

Bryn Mawr College's Department of Social Service (MSS/MLSP), Rutgers University (BA). 

Teaching and Publications:

National Institute for the Psychotherapies, NY.

Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia, Fellowship Program.

Tehran Psychoanalytic Institute. (Iran).

La Salle University, Department of Social Work.  

​

Sharp, D. (2024). For Whom the Bell Tolls: Misophonia as a complex experience of hope and dread in self-with-other regulation. Psychoanalysis, Self and Context, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/24720038.2024.2332240

DaynaSharp-075.jpg

Sample of Presentations/Conferences:  

​

Tessering and Tethering:  Dissociation, Object Constancy and the Pursuit of Safety, ISSTD - National Conference. March 2025.

The Dead Mother:  Making Psychoanalytic Sense of Covid 19, Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity.

Sparkling Moments in relational Therapy, Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Workers.

Shame, Shame Resilience and Self Psychology, Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Workers.

Observation, Consultation & Reflective Supervision: Thriving Together, Early Head Start, BCCAP.

Attachment Theory, Early Head Start, Burlington County Community Action Program.

The Stress-Trauma Continuum and Infant-Caregiver Mental Health, Head Start, Burlington County Community Action Program.

Sesame Street Incarceration: Little Children, Big Challenges,  Camden City School District.

The Health-Mental Health Connection: Trauma Across the Lifetime, Philadelphia Refugee Resettlement Provider Collaborative.

​

Want to learn more?

Read my Blog!

bottom of page