Koby Frances, Ph.D.

Clarity often begins when we understand what our reactions are trying to tell us. Koby Frances, PhD

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Koby Frances, Ph.D.'s style

Why Koby Frances, Ph.D. chose to be in the helping profession

I've always been interested in understanding why we feel and behave the way we do—particularly when our reactions don't seem to make sense to us. Those questions led me to pursue the study and practice of clinical psychology at the most rigorous level.

My experience as a psychologist with 15 years of experience, makes me confident in my abilities to help lots of different people in an active, non-judgmental way, while showing them ways to become kinder to themselves and others and more effective at handling various life stressors. I'm the kind of therapist who listens actively and who is willing to offer direction, explain patterns, and point out things that may be difficult to see from the inside. Often, what initially looks like a collection of unrelated problems begins to make more sense when we understand the one or two underlying themes connecting them.

Ways of coping that made perfect sense when we were young can continue showing up automatically in adulthood—in anxiety and self-worth, but also in dating, relationships, intimacy, attraction, and sexual behavior.

That's why I particularly enjoy working with dating and relationship difficulties, compulsive sexual behavior, and confusing or unwanted patterns of attraction. These are all issues that are highly complex and that I've developed a particular way of working with, that I now teach other clinicians, as well as teachers, parents and Rabbis in the Orthodox community.

Koby Frances, Ph.D.'s approach

Therapy isn't like going to a regular doctor. It involves confiding in a stranger about very personal things and trusting that they will understand what you are saying without increasing shame or jumping to conclusions. Because of this, I think the relationship between therapist and client really does matter. My own style is professional, personable, kind and funny--and clients often report that I'm very easy to talk to.

My approach draws on over fifteen years of clinical practice and extensive training in psychodynamic and psychoanalytic therapy, CBT, DBT, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Sex Addiction Therapy through the Inner Child Model. Rather than applying one model to everyone, I draw from these different approaches depending on the person and the problem. Different problems—and different people—require different ways of thinking and working.

Much of my work involves understanding how difficult early experiences can continue to shape the way we feel, relate to other people, and respond to situations in the present. Psychodynamic therapy can help us understand where longstanding patterns came from, while approaches such as IFS and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy can help us work more directly with emotional reactions, protective responses, and ways of coping that may have developed much earlier in life. Sometimes understanding why we react a certain way is enormously helpful; at other times, understanding alone isn't enough.

While sessions are often focused on goals and underlying patterns, I don't believe in rushing someone toward a conclusion, pushing them to change a behavior, or asking them to disclose something before they are ready. Receiving a therapist's perspective can itself be vulnerable, particularly when it challenges how we have understood ourselves.

Therapy, in my view, works best when there is ongoing trust, respect, and a sense of ease in the session. I see it as a collaboration: bringing together my clinical perspective with the client's own experience, goals, questions, and growing understanding of themselves.

What you can expect from sessions with Koby Frances, Ph.D.

Sessions with me are flexible depending on the person and what we are working on. Some people just need one or two sessions to work through a timely question. Others want more ongoing support and deeper change. Depending on what each client needs, I’m comfortable taking a more organized and structured approach, just as I am comfortable following closely as you discuss events, feelings, and thoughts and then offering questions or reflections as needed.

I don’t believe therapy has to be overly taxing, abstract, or intense to be effective. Sometimes we need to examine something deeply. Other times, the immediate task may be to understand a specific problem, make an important decision, change a troubling pattern, or simply organize what is going on. Either way, I think it should be clear why we are meeting and what we are hoping to accomplish together. Those goals may change as we learn more, but they provide direction for the work.

Many new clients tell me that they begin to feel more comfortable surprisingly quickly. Often, there is relief simply in being able to describe a complicated problem to someone who understands it and can begin helping you make sense of it. My goal is for you to leave sessions with greater clarity about what you are dealing with, where some of your reactions or patterns may have come from, and what will help you move forward.

Koby Frances, Ph.D.'s experience working with the Jewish community

From the beginning of my career, I have worked extensively with Jewish clients across a wide range of hashkafic and cultural backgrounds, including Litvish, Yeshivish, Modern Orthodox, Chasidish, Persian, Moroccan, Syrian and other Sephardic communities, as well as culturally Jewish clients. I have found that understanding a person’s religious and cultural background is often essential to understanding the person themselves. Clients should be able to speak openly about relationships, sexuality, family, community and personal struggles without feeling that they first need to explain or defend the world they come from.

Over the years, my work in the Orthodox community has expanded beyond individual therapy to include training and consultation for rabbis, kallah teachers, mental-health professionals and Orthodox organizations. Much of this work has focused on dating and relationships, sexual behavior, and confusing, compulsive or unwanted attraction patterns—areas where psychological questions can become closely intertwined with religious values, family expectations and community life.

I am also a regular presenter at Nefesh and regularly provide consultation to nonprofit Orthodox organizations. I value being able to support not only individual clients, but also the professionals and community leaders helping people navigate complicated personal and relationship concerns.

Ultimately, I want Jewish clients from any background to know that their values and religious commitments will be taken seriously. Therapy should be a place where those parts of a person’s life are understood in context—not automatically treated as obstacles to psychological health or personal growth.

Koby Frances, Ph.D.'s Book Recommendation Zone

• Going Deeper: How the Inner Child Impacts Your Sexual Addiction
  A detailed guide to working on the childhood triggers of any kind of compulsive sexual behavior.
• Breaking Addiction
  Provides a common-sense understanding of what triggers any addictive behavior
• Reclaiming Healthy Sexual Energy
  A guide to understanding how sexual energy gets activated both by familiar fantasies and images and by real human connections

Approaches

• Inner child work
• Internal Family Systems (IFS)
• Psychoanalytic Therapy
• Psychodynamic Therapy
• Somatic Therapy
• Supervision Services
• Trauma Focused Therapy

Concerns

• Addiction
• Anxiety
• Dating
• LGBTQIA, gender, & sexuality topics
• Relationships
• Sexual health & dysfunction
• Trauma

15 years in practice

Licenses

• Psychology by NY State 2012. License number 019861
• Telehealth Provider by Florida State 2026. License number TPPY3466

Degrees

• Clinical Psychology by City University of New York 2008

Certificates

• Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Level 2 by Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute 2024

Trainings

• Sex Addiction, Inner Child Model by Dr. Eddie Capparucci 2025
• IFS Introduction by Nachas Consulting 2023
• Sensory Experience by Sensory Experience Institute 2000

Average costs per session

$275 - $350

Payment Methods

• Sliding Scale
• Free consultation
• Cash
• Check
• Credit Card
• Zelle Quick Pay
• Venmo
• PayPal