We recently connected with Matthew Braman and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Matthew with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My dad passed away in January 2022. I can still hear his voice telling me, as he often did while I was growing up, “You have to do what you need to do first so you can do what you want to do after”. As a young boy, my dad made an effort to bring me along with him to run errands. He included me in doing favors and side jobs for other people, and he gave me responsibilities like doing chores, caring for my dog, and cleaning up after myself. I learned the value of a dollar and an honest day’s worth of work, and I was encouraged to appreciate my time, effort, and integrity. As a teenager and a young adult, my dad challenged me to develop even more independence and self-responsibility, and he supported me even if I failed or had a bad day. I’ll never forget him urging me to be “a good man”, “a good student”, “a good therapist”, “a good husband”, and “a good father” as I got older. It’s like he personally assigned me the lifelong task of “doing the right thing” by putting all of my experiences and lessons learned into values-based action for my growing family, my career, my clients, and my community. Becoming a father myself, I’ve gained new perspectives for how important and meaningful it is to raise confident, self-driven kids. Parents generally want “the best” for their children, and I didn’t always understand it at the time, but I eventually discovered that my dad’s discipline and efforts to delay my gratification, build my healthy habits, and reward my effort were meant to support me later on in life instead of causing me to feel upset because maybe I didn’t get my way in the moment. Witnessing my dad’s work ethic firsthand when he started his own business helped me feel more confident and self-driven to start my own business 2.5 years ago when the time was right for me and my family. Now after a decade of my professional career, I’m reflective of how my solo private practice, Verve Psychotherapy, has become a thriving online mental health practice for men, new dads, and their partners, providing both individual and couples therapy throughout Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, and New York. I help clients feel more confident, compassionate, and connected in their emotional and relational lives. I believe my dad would warmly and firmly say with pride, “You’re on the right track. Keep it up”. I’ve worked smart and I’ve worked hard since Verve Psychotherapy was founded right after my first son was born. I’ve tried to make sure that my practice works for me and my family, but not the other way around while I balance my work with my life. If you’re asking my wife, I’m sure she would say that’s true. If you’re asking my toddler, I’m sure he would say, “Daddy, come play!”. If you’re asking me, I’m sure I would say to him, “We have to do what we need to do first so we can do what we want to do after”.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I’m an imperfect husband, father, and Founder & CEO / Therapist of Verve Psychotherapy. My dad jokes are, usually, not that great, but I’m really good at changing diapers, washing dishes, doing laundry, cooking and prepping meals, doing puzzles, going to the park, playing animals, talking to the bath toys for my son to hear me praising his efforts to learn, singing Disney songs, reading bedtime stories, making shadow puppets, and spending time with my family. Professionally, I’m a licensed clinical social worker and a perinatal mental health specialist. Over the past decade, I’ve worked in criminal justice and juvenile justice rehabilitation programs in Ann Arbor, MI and New York City, an outpatient community child and family mental health clinic in Brooklyn, NY, and an inpatient adolescent crisis stabilization unit and a group private practice for adults in Atlanta, GA. I launched my solo private practice, Verve Psychotherapy, in 2021 right after my first son was born. I earned a Bachelor of Social Work degree from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Social Work degree from New York University Silver School of Social Work. I’m a member of various professional associations and organizations including the National Association of Social Workers, the New York State Society for Clinical Social Work, Alma, Open Path Psychotherapy Collective, Postpartum Support International, the Baltimore Perinatal Mental Health Professionals Study Group, and the American Psychological Association’s Division 51 – Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinities. I’m physically based in the Baltimore, MD area and I’m licensed to practice clinical social work in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, and New York. You can find me featured in the media here and there, always advocating for men’s mental health, mindful masculinity, and postpartum support for new parents, especially dads. Empower Your Verve and follow me on social @vervepsychotherapy.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
My journey wouldn’t be the same without my nurtured sense of humility, my creative brand of diplomacy, and my insight developed from learning to know myself. My great uncle, who had great humanitarian influence on his family and his community, used to say, “Always be curious; Never be complacent”. This principled mantra would be great advice for anyone interested in learning to use and build up their own qualities, skills, and areas of knowledge for a rewarding journey of their own.
Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
“The Gift of Therapy: An Open Letter to a New Generation of Therapists and Their Patients”, by Irvin D. Yalom, M.D.. It’s one book that’s very near and dear to the heart of many modern mental health therapists. It’s basically a book of 85 short chapters, each with 1-3 pages of significant clinical perspectives, skills, tips, and knowledge nuggets that Yalom gained over his 35 year career in clinical practice as a Johns Hopkins-trained psychiatrist and Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Stanford University. I refer to it often, and I always have ever since I first read it for a social work practice with individuals course in the NYU Master of Social Work program about a decade ago. Among the numerous treasures from “The Gift of Therapy”, my top and most favorite nuggets of Yalom’s wisdom are “create a new therapy for each patient”, “remove the obstacles for growth”, “teach empathy”, “help patients assume responsibility”, “use your own feelings as data”, “all is grist for the here-and-now mill”, “give yourself time in between patients”, and “engage in personal therapy”. Yalom’s work has definitely inspired my therapeutic approach and concept of psychotherapy, existentialism, and human behavior in the social environment. 10/10, would recommend “The Gift of Therapy” and any of Yalom’s other books for any aspiring therapist or mental health professional.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vervepsychotherapy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vervepsychotherapy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vervepsychotherapy
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/matthewbramanlcsw
Image Credits
Kap2ure
