Psychotherapy
“For many years, I had struggled with compulsive eating and severe weight issues. All of my personal attempts to handle these problems had failed and it became apparent that the quality of my life was being seriously impacted, both physically and emotionally. At that point, my primary care physician recommended that I see Dr. Peterman for help. Having never “tried therapy” before, I made my initial appointment with some trepidation.
During the course of my therapy with Dr. Peterman, I have found her to be professional and proficient in every way. She has been honest and forthright in helping me to see different areas of my life that I need to consider. As we have dealt with the many underlying issues that were causing my behavior, she has always been knowledgeable, intuitive, and insightful. Her advice has been consistently wise and practical—she meets me where I am and then gently encourages me to move forward on my journey, step by step. All of her care is rendered with empathy, compassion, kindness, and patience.
Dr. Peterman’s rare combination of professional and personal qualities has helped to make my therapeutic relationship with her an extremely beneficial one. I can honestly say that my life has changed and continues to change because of my work with her, and I would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone who is seeking help.”
–L.H., Middletown, CT
“Dr. Peterman is a highly skilled therapist. Her clinical knowledge, her expertise with EMDR, and her personal communication style resulted in powerful therapeutic treatment and problem resolution for me. Her executive coaching expertise allowed her to effectively help me navigate the intersection of early developmental trauma and the complications that those childhood experiences were bringing to my adult professional life. I highly recommend her for individuals seeking support at the intersection of their personal and professional selves. She helped me to heal in both dimensions.”
–Andrew
“I am infinitely grateful for the time I spent with Dr. Peterman. For every issue I encountered, she was able to offer invaluable support and insight that I still rely on today. Before seeing Dr. Peterman, I was adamantly against the idea of seeing a therapist. When I finally acknowledged that the challenges I was facing would not disappear unless I took action, I was still incredibly nervous at the prospect. I left that first meeting, and every session that followed over the next three years, feeling enormous weight lifted off my shoulders. Dr. Peterman delivers a perfect combination of professionalism, knowledge, perceptiveness, and kindness. In reflecting upon that period of my life, Dr. Peterman’s impact on my development into the person I am today is undeniable. I wish I could work with her forever. She really changed my life.”
—A.R., Middletown, CT
“I have been working with Dr. Peterman for 3 years. I came to her for an eating disorder (Anorexia), but many other issues have surfaced along the way, and I believe this is what makes Dr. Peterman good at what she does. She treats the whole person. She is that “professional friend” everyone needs. She is very easy to talk to and is always there in a true emergency. She knows her patients inside and out and deeply cares about them. It is hard to find a competent, knowledgeable therapist when it comes to eating disorders, but Dr. Peterman understands the world of an eating disorder sufferer, and I would and have recommended her to others suffering from eating disorders.”
–B.T., Cheshire, CT
“Working with Dr. Susan Peterman has changed my life. I used to be emotionally closed off and incapable of effectively dealing with my job, family and friends, and life in general. Through Dr. Peterman’s use of EMDR, I have become a complete individual. I know longer feel as though the weight of the world is on my shoulders and I have the clarity I have always desired.”
–L.R., Coventry, CT
“I first went to Dr. Peterman for my eating disorder, which has improved with a combination of one-on-one and group therapy. But in the last few months I started EMDR. It is through this type of therapy I have seen amazing results. I am adopted and a sexual abuse survivor. I had worked on these issues before with a different therapist, which was very helpful. But with the EMDR, I’m finding that I am feeling lighter and it has helped me in ways that talk therapy has been unable to do. To feel free to not be perfect is a gift. To know that my imperfections did not cause my being given-up or abused allows me to not only see myself in a better light, but to face the world from a happier and more centered place. I really recommend EMDR and Dr. Peterman for anyone who has deep traumas that need to be resolved from a place that talking can’t fully resolve.”
-Patty, Hartford, CT
Executive Coaching
“I worked with Susan after getting a promotion into a stretch role. What I loved about working with Susan is that she combines a scientific, data driven approach with an extremely empathetic, human touch. She helped me figure out how to tackle my new role, what kind of leader I wanted to be and how to navigate some tricky political situations. She was always available for quick questions and spent significant time preparing and delivering the most comprehensive set of 360 feedback I’ve ever received. She challenged me to think differently. I am lucky to have had the gift of working with Susan.”
—Carol Fox, Automotive Industry Practice Group Head, Thomson Reuters
“Working with Susan as an executive coach has been a great pleasure as well as a very productive exercise. She spent the time to get to know me, gain an understanding of my career background and experiences, the dynamics of my business segment and then very pragmatically helped create a personal development plan that is a blueprint I can utilize to get the most out of my role as an executive. Built on the detailed feedback from both peers and employees as the result of a 360 review process, the plan has clear and concise goals that are real and tangible and will have a direct impact on my ability to lead me team to deliver results in a dynamic, complex environment. I expect that my time spent working with Susan will pay dividends for many years to come. She is a true professional and delivered on her promises.”
–Joe Jackson, Managing Director, Government, Tax and Accounting, Thomson Reuters
“Executive coaching with Susan was a unique development experience that has allowed me to be deeply introspective when evaluating y behaviors—understanding better how they impact both my performance and team environment. The creation of a very detailed development plan has helped drive my focus and has resulted in valuable “quick wins”. Susan did a wonderful job assisting me to identify my greatest opportunities while pushing me out of my comfort zone. I am certain that I will continue to leverage this knowledge as I move forward.”
-Tina Arend VP, Finance, Legal, Thomson Reuters
“I had the pleasure of having Susan as my executive coach from February 2015 to November 2015. Despite never having worked with a coach before, Susan’s personable and open style helped create a high level of trust and confidence between us in a short period of time. This allowed me to feel extremely comfortable in having open discussions with her regarding areas of improvement and the 360 feedback I received during our time working together.
In addition, her structured approach to helping me build and adhere to an actionable professional development plan was instrumental in helping me very deliberately make noticeable improvements at a crucial juncture in my career.
I cannot thank Susan enough for the clarity she brought to me in better understanding myself as a person and as a professional, and translating this understanding into meaningful action. I have greatly valued my time working with Susan and could not have asked for a better or more effective executive coaching experience.”
-Faraaz Khan, Global Head of Strategy, IP & Science, Thomson Reuters
The Highlands Ability Battery
“In our son’s senior year of high school he informed us that his plan was to major in engineering in college. Although he was an honors student all through high school, we were concerned about whether he had the aptitude and interest to pursue an engineering major. Since neither of us had a background in engineering, we weren’t sure we could give the kind of insight and encouragement that we wanted to provide to our son.
Based on our desire for more information, we decided to meet with Susan regarding the Highlands Ability Battery. Susan was wonderful. She was informative, friendly, and immediately developed a rapport with our son that exists to this day. After learning about the HAB, we decided this was exactly what we were looking for to assist our son.
The testing, counselling, and feedback were not only enlightening, but also enjoyable. The three of us met with Susan and went over the results. Her evaluation showed that our son, in fact, possessed a strong aptitude for all aspects necessary to be a successful engineer. As parents, the results of the HAB validated our son’s choice, and we had the peace of mind that engineering was a good fit. We could now encourage our son’s choice of majors with real data and information. It was such a relief to know that we were on the right track!
Today, our son is a United States Naval officer and is studying advanced nuclear engineering.
We had an outstanding experience with Susan and the Highlands Ability Battery and would recommend it for any student.”
-D and M, West Hartford, CT
“I am an attorney who took the Highlands Ability Battery to facilitate a mid-to-late career assessment of my professional life. Like many people I sometimes felt vaguely that my hard-wired abilities were at odds with the career choices I had made. Susan was very patient, thorough, and spent a great deal of time going over the results and elaborating on the implications for my work. The HAB is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to gain a clear understanding of their innate abilities, but it is an even better tool when administered and explained by someone with the education, background and temperament that Susan has.”
-S.D., West Hartford, CT
“I was nearing the end of a stressful job when I took my Highlands test, and in the midst of a journey that I can only describe as a career search and a soul search. I came to Susan with a very vague idea of where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be. The test itself was quite an interesting experience–if standardized testing could be fun, this would be it. The assessment did more than simply confirm my strengths–Susan’s facilitation and interpretation brought out emerging trends; some I had thought of before, and others I had not. Fast forward 4 years, I have decided to embark on a new career–a career which heavily depends on the tends Susan distilled from my test results. This may have been a slow burn, but when I realized the linkage between my assessment and my future career, I couldn’t have been more grateful or excited.”
-Dan, West Hartford, CT
“As a sophomore undergraduate student, the Highlands Ability Battery helped me to understand the difference between skills and natural abilities. Working with Susan was especially helpful because she took a great deal of time to go over the test results, answer all of my questions, and help me identify areas where I could use my natural abilities. I would definitely recommend this experience to others.”
-R.W., Granby, CT
“It was very helpful to spend time reflecting on each work sample, reflect on my performance, and relate each strength to a real-life scenario/experience. My feedback conference enhanced my understanding of my own personal learning styles and unique attributes that will aid me when considering future careers.”
–College student, CT
“I enjoyed being able to really understand my abilities and how it could translate to my career. I think it will be very helpful in my career selection, so that my career will be enjoyable and fulfilling.”
—David B. (High School graduate), CT