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Ma'ayan Greenbaum, PsyD

While parenting a child (or several children) is a wondrous and joyful privilege, parenting is also messy and stressful and it’s guaranteed to challenge you and your marriage
like nothing else.

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If you’ve ever doubted whether you are in the right relationship and if you can ever feel the passion you once did for your partner again, you are not alone. Up to 75% of couples I’ve worked with have shared they’ve felt this way at some point on their parenting journey.

 

At the same time, parenting gives us incredible opportunities to usher in our own development,
while we raise our children.

The birth of my own children and the exhaustion that followed forced me to struggle with my expectations of myself and my marriage in ways I could have never imagined.

We went for 2 years without sleeping longer than 75-minute stretches at a time & it wasn’t unusual for us to wake up between 10-20 times per night for years, no matter what we did to try to help our children get the sleep they needed. I found myself feeling helpless, irritable, easily triggered and reactive, despite my best intentions.

 

I was disappointed & frustrated with myself and felt disconnected in my own marriage, even though I was in the relationship of my dreams with a man I dearly love.

 

Can you relate?

 

Nothing prepared me for the depths of joy, desperation, sleep deprivation and unpredictability I experienced while caring for three (very precious) young children and managing my other responsibilities at home and at work.

I knew my relationship was meant for more

I was determined to get back to feeling grounded within myself and connected in my marriage. I was eventually able to prioritize my self-care and find the keys to bonding with my partner again, by drawing on my own experience and the support of my incredible mentors.

 

I knew this could be profoundly helpful for other couples during a season when children need so much, yet parents are usually overburdened.

 

So over the past 10 years, I developed a step-by-step framework (the 4 Pillars of Conscious Love) for couples ready to transform painful conflict into heart-awakening, unshakeable connection.


It’s been meaningful beyond words to witness the transformations my patients have created in their marriages; especially the positive impact that a sense of belonging and feeling loved brings to their confidence, parenting, creativity and ability to enjoy their day-to-day lives.

Belonging and feeling at home

The places I call ‘‘home’’ range from the hills of Jerusalem to the depths of the Rift Valley in Kenya, East Africa. My family moved approximately every two years while I was growing up, an experience that shaped my own development and understanding of the world.

 

The terrains around me - and the landscapes within me - shifted rapidly; however, my deep connections with other human beings gave me a stable sense of meaning. I had a front row seat to many cultures and family dynamics, which encouraged my natural curiosity about relationships and the ways humans communicate without words.

 

My love of ballet and the many years I spent dancing deepened my appreciation for the language and rhythms of movement and the opportunities we have to express ourselves through our bodies as human beings.

 

In my work with clients, I draw from relational and body-oriented therapies, which recognize the unity of our psychological-and-bodily-selves and the multiplicity of our experiences in any given moment. These perspectives honor the truths in our bodies and value the importance of moving into intuitive awareness.

 

I’m deeply committed to helping you reclaim your birthright - to enjoy the richness of living in a body that’s fully alive, and the gifts of genuine human contact and touch.

Relationships are the building blocks of hope

My fascination and love of psychology began very early. It was partly inherited. My father, Dr. Robert Becker, worked with children and youth diagnosed with terminal illness. He believed that human relationships are powerfully healing and transformative, even in the face of devastating pain and looming death.

 

My father was one of the first psychologists who advocated for modern medicine to be humanized. His book “The Hospitalized Adolescent” was one of the early works in the field of health psychology. I grew up surrounded by his books and his lasting legacy of hope, compassion and healing.

 

I embrace the basic premise that our early relationships with our caregivers give rise to enduring psychological “blueprints” that continue to guide us in our adult relationships. Moreover, our early relationship experiences collectively function as a  frame-of-reference, organizing and imbuing our experiences with meanings throughout our lives.


This is my mission: guiding parents back to connection so that they can model healthy relationships for their children, who will grow up to imitate them. This work goes far beyond the couple, breaking down layers of generational trauma and creating impact at the community level.

What working with me is like

Dr. Ma'ayan Greenbaum sitting at a table and smiling

As a mother and wife, I strongly believe that to raise emotionally resourceful and connected children it’s essential for parents to feel confident in their own love relationship and learn how to consistently get-back-to-connection after conflict.

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In long-term relationships our partners will disappoint, hurt and misunderstand us. There will be a gap between the longed-for ideal lover we imagined and our real, human, imperfect partner. It is crucial that we learn to make room for these disappointments - in order to restore connection and continue to evolve our possibilities in love.

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I teach couples how to move out of survival mode and enter into intentionality, vulnerability, and mutual enjoyment. You'll develop the skills to transform relationship-pain into conscious, genuine connection.

 

You'll spend less energy rehashing the same arguments and more time feeling truly heard, appreciated and understood in your marriage.

 

Are you ready to unlock the full potential of your marriage to become a healing force for self-discovery, and personal growth?

Education and expertise

Academy + Professional Training

  • Doctorate in Clinical Psychology - The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, APA Accredited PsyD Program

  • Post-Graduate Training in Sex Therapy - The University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ

  • Advanced Training in Couples Therapy - The Center for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis of NJ

  • APA-Accredited Internship (Behavioral Medicine) - Dept of Vetern Affairs in NJ

  • Doctoral-Level Advanced Practicum: DePaul University Counseling Services in Chicago, IL

  • Pre-Doctoral Fellow - Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis

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Teaching

  • Sexual Counseling at Fairleigh Dickinson University

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Professional Memberships have included

  • The Society for Sex Therapy and Research

  • The New Jersey Psychological Association

  • The Morris County Psychological Association

  • Health Psychology special interest section - NJ Psychological Association

  • The American Society for Reproductive Medicine

  • RESOLVE of New Jersey

  • American Association for Sex Educators, Counselors, and Therapists

  • The International Society for the Study of Women's Sexual Health

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