About Dr. Herwitz
A clinician for couples who are not in crisis, but at a crossroads.
Dr. Johanna Herwitz is a clinical psychologist who has spent more than twenty years studying what happens inside long marriages — not when they fail, but when they reach the moments that determine what comes next.
Her practice centers on the developmental transitions of adulthood: the shift from building a life to inhabiting one, the recalibration of identity after children leave, the tension between independence and partnership that sharpens over decades together.
Five Windows emerged from a recognition that arrived through years of this work: that the strongest marriages are rarely the ones that need repair. They are the ones that need deliberate attention at the right moment — and a room thoughtful enough to hold the conversation.
Practice
Dr. Herwitz maintains a private practice on the Upper East Side of New York City. She works exclusively by referral from trusted colleagues, physicians, attorneys, and current and former patients.
She specializes in individual therapy, couples therapy using the Developmental Model, and Discernment Counseling — a structured approach for couples at the threshold of divorce when one partner wants repair and the other is uncertain.
She is licensed in New York, California, Connecticut, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
Before Psychology
Before clinical work, Dr. Herwitz cooked professionally in Italy and across the United States, and worked in fashion and tabletop design. The through-line is a respect for mastery and for the discipline behind beauty — the difference between something assembled and something crafted.
Training and Background
Dr. Herwitz holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University. Her doctoral research, Parenting Against the Odds: Psychological Mindedness Among Teenage Mothers, was published in 2008 and launched a sustained focus on human development across the lifespan.
She completed advanced training in the RIE (Resources for Infant Educarers) approach and was the first clinician to facilitate RIE Parent–Infant Observation and Discussion Groups in New York City. Her published work, Educaring and Attachment Theory, applied attachment-based thinking to the earliest relationships — a foundation that continues to shape her understanding of how adults bond, repair, and grow.
She served as President of The Women's Mental Health Consortium from 2017 to 2022.
She lives in New York with her husband. Their three adult children also live and work in the city.
If you believe Five Windows may be a fit, you are welcome to reach out.