Atlas of Action was created to take insight to action and action to identity.
Life asks us to wear many roles. Some fit us well. Others we inherit, perform, or take on simply to survive. Over time, the way we see ourselves can become shaped by our circumstances, our relationships, and the expectations of others.
We come to know ourselves not only by looking inward, but by seeing ourselves in context. We discover who we are through what we do, how we relate, the choices we make, and the ways others reflect us back to ourselves. When we repeatedly experience ourselves as anxious, disconnected, stuck, or unseen, those experiences can begin to feel like definitions of who we are. And sometimes, the person we know ourselves to be on the inside no longer matches the way we are able to show up in the world.
At Atlas of Action, we believe identity is not fixed. It is continually shaped through experience and relationship—we are co-creators of who we become. When we have opportunities to act in new ways and experience ourselves differently, we create new possibilities for who we can be.
That’s why therapy can be more than talking about life. It can be a place to live life in real time—to experiment, practice, play, connect, and discover. Through psychodrama, sociometry, expressive arts, and relational approaches, we explore not only why you are the way you are, but who you might become when you have the freedom to act differently.
We aren’t here to help you become someone else. We’re here to create space for more of who you are—and who you are becoming—to exist.
Not simply imagining a different life.
Practicing one.
Meet our founder
Alex Kissinson, LCSW, RYT
Hi, I’m Alex Kissinson (all pronouns), a psychotherapist, clinical supervisor, and experiential practitioner specializing in psychodrama, action methods, and relational therapies. I help people, partnerships, and teams find their fullest selves through embodied and collaborative experiences.
Together, we explore the roles, relationships, and circumstances that have shaped who you are, while creating opportunities to try something new. Our work may involve movement, role-play, imagination, creativity, laughter, tears, and a willingness to experiment. I bring curiosity and acceptance while gently challenging you to step outside familiar patterns and discover new ways of being.
I hold a Master of Social Work from New York University and have completed more than 800 hours of specialized training in psychodrama, sociometry, and experiential therapy. I am currently a Certified Practitioner Applicant with the American Board of Examiners in Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy.
Throughout my clinical career, I have worked with adolescents, adults, couples, families, and groups across a range of treatment settings. My experience includes anxiety, depression, mood and personality concerns, trauma, substance use, eating disorders, identity struggles, and relationship challenges. I have particular experience supporting LGBTQ+ clients and people navigating nontraditional relationships (ex: ENM, polyamory) and identity expressions.
Psychodrama has become the thread connecting my clinical, creative, and community work. I deeply believe that insight alone isn’t enough—we need the opportunity to do something different and experience ourselves doing it.
Atlas of Action brings these pieces together: my clinical training, my work in psychodrama, and my conviction that identity emerges through relationship, creativity, and action.
Because the way forward isn’t about understanding yourself differently. It’s experiencing yourself differently.
Qualifications:
• Master of Social Work from New York University Silver School of Social Work
• Certified Practitioner Applicant in Psychodrama, Sociometry, and Group Psychotherapy
• Licensed Health Coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition
• Certified Yoga Instructor
• Trainings from various institutes in: DBT, CBT, Attachment-Based Family Therapy, The Gottman Method of Couples Therapy, Trauma-Informed Practices, Sex Therapy, Internal Family Systems.
Specializations:
I enjoy working with individuals who may be struggling to fully embrace and integrate all parts of their identity into a cohesive sense of self. This may include aspects of identity that are more interpersonal such as: role-based conflicts, race, ethnicity, sexuality, culture, spirituality, etc. This also includes more intrapersonal aspects of identity like self-image, self-esteem, self-awareness, self-actualization, life transitions, loss of self, and identity crises. I specialize in deep change and going beyond symptom management. In terms of conditions, I tend to treat the following areas:
• anxiety & depression
• mood swings & bipolar disorder
• trauma, grief & loss
• personality disorders, dissociation & depersonalization
• eating disorders, substance abuse, suicidality, self-harm
• gender, sexuality, LGBTQIA+ people, minority stress
• relationship issues, conflict resolution
• kink, BDSM, poly/non-monogamy, sex therapy
Style & Orientation:
As a clinician, my practice is rooted in behavioral, psychodynamic, existential, and experiential approaches. My style is warm, inquisitive, empathic, and versatile to fit my clients’ unique needs. My strengths lie in synthesizing complex problems and breaking them down into smaller tangible steps. Additionally, I use psychodrama— a tool for bringing therapy into action, with spontaneity, creativity, and humor. We will work together to identify the beliefs, wounds, and patterns that hinder you and transform them into strengths, both on the brain and the body level. I incorporate everything I practice in my own personal life and continuously work towards my own growth as a human being. In the healing arts, I live by the principle that we can only take our clients as far as we have gone ourselves. My work is driven by my values and a commitment to authenticity, integrity, and liberation, including racial justice, queer and trans liberation, body neutrality/positivity, sex positivity, kink, BDSM, sex work, polyamory/ENM, and reproductive justice. I utilize a harm reduction and non-pathologizing approach, meaning I take a profoundly nonjudgmental perspective to everything clients bring to therapy and hold space for the multitudes of self we all contain. I also take great responsibility in co-creating a safe space for clients to experience vulnerability, as well as continuously examine any power dynamics impacting our work inside and outside the therapy space.