Dr. Yasmine Saad, dubbed the “Wise Psychologist,” has been a celebrated figure in the field of psychology for over 15 years. Beginning her career in Europe before making a name for herself in the US, she is seen as a pioneer in the field, a groundbreaking psychologist, and a visionary for her integration of Eastern and Western psychological principles. Dr. Saad created a new approach to therapy called the Inner Message Approach™. This innovative method has allowed her to achieve results fast and in a short period of time.
As the CEO and founder of Madison Park Psychological Services, a premier group therapy and assessment practice in New York City, she has consistently been recognized for her dedication to quality care. Madison Park Psychological Services has been awarded the best business in its category for the past five years, an accolade largely attributed to Dr. Saad’s unique Inner Message Approach™ to therapy, a technique she cultivated over a decade of studying traditional Chinese medicine under a grandmaster.
For Dr. Saad, the task of understanding the human mind and its interplay with emotions isn’t simply a job; it’s a personal commitment. Her approach marries Western psychology with Eastern traditional medicine, creating a holistic vision and treating the body and mind as unified entities. This method has proven particularly beneficial in decoding the complex phenomenon of anxiety.
“Anxiety is the perception that danger is imminent. It’s your mind’s way of preparing you for adversity,” Dr. Saad explains. Her method utilizes a decoding process that assists a person in understanding their emotions and making changes to experience lasting peace. For Saad, anxiety is a system designed to give attention to keeping ourselves safe. “Your thoughts and emotions are a messenger,” she says. “Don’t mistake the messenger for the message.”
This decoding process helps patients understand that their anxiety, while uncomfortable, serves as a warning system, urging them to rebalance their lives. Rather than viewing anxiety as pathology, Dr. Saad encourages her patients to interpret it as a signal to better understand themselves and their responses to the unknown.
Other emotions also serve as warning systems. And Dr. Saad’s method can also help with other common emotions people experience, like frustration. For example, she states that frustration calls our attention to our unmet desires. Frustration is to push us to act so that we get our desire met. A person may express frustration at their partner, for example, for not assisting with the dishes, and later ruminate on other ways their partner does not help. This frustration can call the person to an unmet underlying desire. For one person, it can be the underlying desire to share life’s chores; for another, it can be an underlying desire for a neat and organized home to feel better. The same frustration can point to different underlying desires based on who the person is. The person affected can usually very quickly pinpoint what their unmet desire is. From there, they can find a way to meet this desire internally rather than externally.
Dr. Saad simplifies this process into three key steps. Firstly, identifying the thoughts and emotions at play. Identifying it—naming it—as frustration is a critical component. The next step is to uncover the unmet desire triggering these emotions. In this case, the underlying need could be companionship—the fear of being alone and unsupported. Or perfectionism—a fear of not being enough and having to “do it all” perfectly.
Recognizing these needs or issues then gives you a deeper understanding of yourself and your actual needs so you can look within and find other ways to meet them than through your partner.
The third step is about empowerment. Dr. Saad emphasizes that once the unmet desire is identified, the focus should shift toward resolving it internally, finding the inner tweaking necessary so you no longer have this desire. The approach involves kindness and removing harshness and judgment that interferes with your inner work. Dr. Saad states that this last step is called “break the code,” which is about empowerment, putting together all the other steps, and adding inner tweaking.
Dr. Saad’s journey to this understanding wasn’t without personal struggles. Two pivotal moments stand out for her. At 16, in light of her father’s concerns about her choosing a potentially emotionally taxing career in psychology, she was determined to approach psychology in a way that would not be taxing but empowering for her and others. She found a way to listen to health, talent, purpose, and intention rather than pathology, sabotage, and negative conceptions embedded in mental health concepts. Later, at 35, she experienced a miscarriage that led her to acupuncture and Qigong. Experiencing the power of Qigong, she delved into studying the concepts behind traditional Chinese medicine and how it could complement her psychology practice.
Now, as one of the top three psychologists in New York City, her reputation precedes her. Her practice, with its diverse, multicultural team, sets the standard in the city. But Dr. Saad’s ambitions don’t stop at her practice’s walls. She dreams of sharing her knowledge on larger platforms, hoping to reach millions with her insights into decoding thoughts and emotions.
“There’s so much we can learn from our minds,” she says, “and I have steps to get there. My hope is to help as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.” In line with this vision, she plans on writing a book titled, Decoding Your Thoughts and Emotions, aiming to provide readers with tangible tools for self-understanding and breaking free of anxiety, frustration, depression, imposter syndrome, guilt, and more.
From her early days growing up in Paris to her celebrated career in New York, Dr. Yasmine Saad has continued to turn muddy waters into blooming lotus flowers. Her unique approach not only created a thriving practice but also gifted countless individuals the tools to decode their thoughts and emotions, leading them on the path to balance, self-support, and resilience. Her expertise has been recognized by many, leading to her speaking at international events with well-known leaders in their fields. Dr. Saad has shared the stage with other leaders in self-development and psychology, like Deepak Chopra, Les Brown, Denis Waitley, Bob Proctor, Brian Tracy, Dr. Joe Vitale, and Dr. John Demartini, at events that have been featured on more than 100 media outlets, including ABC, CBS, Fox, BBC, USA Today, NEW York Post, and Huffington Post.
