about
MEET DR. MA'AYAN GREENBAUM
Welcome! I’m so honored to share this space with you.
You’ve arrived in the right place, whether you are seeking support for yourself
or helping someone you care about connect with a therapist.
I’m passionate about working with mindful parents who are ready to turn their limiting-patterns and setbacks into opportunities for growth. One of my biggest joys is guiding couples to transform relationship conflict into deeper connection, so they can feel truly loved and raise resilient families.
I want to help you feel safe, loved and supported so you can feel truly at home inside your own body and in your relationship.
I am a licensed psychologist and have been serving clients in a variety of clinical settings since 2001. I specialize in couples therapy, sex therapy and health psychology. In addition to serving my clients, I’ve taught in the Master’s program at Fairleigh Dickinson University, been a member of the medical staff at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, and presented at professional conferences.I enjoy collaborating with urologists, ob/gyns, pelvic floor physical therapists, reproductive endocrinologists and other psychologists.
Additionally, I offer workshops to professional and general audiences on the topics of relationships, intimacy, the transition to parenthood, and sexuality. Recently, I’ve been interviewed as a guest expert on several popular podcasts and online programs for parents.
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.
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 6 years, I developed a step-by-step framework (the 4 Pillars of Conscious Love) which lay the foundation for my signature program ‘Conscious Connection’ - a coaching program for couples ready to transform painful conflict into heart-awakening, unshakeable connection.
It’s been meaningful beyond words to witness the transformations my clients 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 & 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.
I am open to opportunities for collaboration and contribution. Please email me at clientcare@syncyourhearts.com with any inquiries.
"Literally, within the first 10 minutes of talking to Dr. Ma'ayan, she helped
lead me to a big breakthrough with my husband. Since we have had children
of our own, we've noticed our marriage has been more difficult and
requires more work than it did before.
Dr. Ma'ayan was gentle and asked all the right questions and truly
gave me great words to label my emotions and feelings I was struggling
to express but so desperately needed to. I am grateful she was so present,
tender and reflective because it really helped me to create awareness in
myself, our marriage and implement changes when I personally feel
triggered, so that it does not continue to impact our marriage for the worse;
but does the opposite, brings us together in connection."
EDUCATION + EXPERTISE
Academic + 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 Veterans Affairs, East Orange, NJ
Doctoral-Level Advanced Practicum: DePaul University Counseling Services Chicago,IL
Pre-Doctoral Fellow - Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis.
Teaching
Sexual Counseling at Fairleigh Dickinson University
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 - New Jersey 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
A Podcast Interview with Susan Miller
You'll learn:
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Why couples get stuck in power-struggles or “replay mode” despite their best intentions
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Why you must learn to get-back-to connection following arguments with your partner
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How you can use touch to reach your partner, even when the feelings run high
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How conflict can illuminate your limiting patterns in love, and instead help evolve your intimacy beyond what you thought was previously possible in your relationship.