Orna Guralnik (born 1964) [1] is an American-Israeli psychologist and psychoanalyst most known for her role in the TV series Couples Therapy (2019 TV series).
Early Life
Guralnik is the daughter of Nehama and Daniel Guralnik who worked together at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. When Guralnik was two her father, an aeronautical engineer, received a job offer and the family moved to Atlanta for five years until moving again to Tel Aviv.[1][2]
Guralnik remembers the conflict in her parent's marriage as being very influential on her. Her mother had found success working at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Guralnik notes how the marriage went "through a rearrangement of a very patriarchal understanding of their marriage to a more feminist one".[1]
At the age of sixteen, Guralnik had begun to act out and her parents negotiated with her to see a therapist.[1]
Before pursuing psychology, she had interests in dance, studying under Rina Schenfeld and studied film at Tel Aviv University.[3] Eventually in 1990, she moved to New York City and began studying Psychology at Yeshiva University.[1]
Career
While studying at the postdoc program at New York University, she became involved with a group of psychoanalysis who drew upon feminist theory in their practice. She continues to be interested in how the political and cultural world enters into the therapy room.
She has published on a range of subjects including Depersonalization and Self-harm.[4]
She describes her approach to couples therapy as drawing from Systems theory which sees the relationship as an interconnected entity rather than two separate individuals.[2]
In 2019 she was asked by Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg and Eli Despres to act as the couples therapist for Showtime's Couples Therapy (2019 TV series).
References
- ^ a b c d e Nast, Condé (2022-05-13). "The Therapist Remaking Our Love Lives on TV". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2022-07-23.
- ^ a b "Dr. Orna Guralnik, star of Showtime's 'Couples Therapy': 'People said it would destroy my career' - Haaretz.com". web.archive.org. 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
- ^ "Dr. Orna Guralnik, star of Showtime's 'Couples Therapy': 'People said it would destroy my career' - Haaretz.com". web.archive.org. 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2022-07-24.
- ^ "Select Publications". Orna Guralnik, PsyD. Retrieved 2022-07-24.