About Me

David Sternberg, LICSW

I’m the founder and owner of DC Talk Therapy, a fee-for-service psychotherapy group practice in Washington, D.C., specializing in treating young adults (20s and 30s) with cognitive behavioral therapy. I started the practice in 2012.

Today, I continue to see a handful of clients because I still find it rewarding to help people navigate young adulthood — a time that can feel so confusing and turbulent. However, I’m spending a significant amount of my time these days writing and editing for others.

In early March 2020, just before Covid-19 hit, I decided to get serious about writing. That meant a return to my roots.

Writing has been a big part of my life since I was young. In high school I wrote for my school newspaper, then later I wrote for my college newspaper. As an undergraduate, I majored in English literature. Since college I’ve been interested in creative writing too. Over the years I’ve written a lot of poetry (some of it published) and short stories.

Experience

For the five years between college and graduate school, I worked as a sports reporter and news reporter for a variety of newspapers, including The Washington Post. It was at The Post where I learned what it was like to work with top-notch editors.

Later, while in graduate school, I worked part-time at The Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat newspaper covering sports, primarily high school football.

Last March, I started advertising my writing and editing services to fellow therapists, at first through my friend and colleague Joe Bavonese’s site, Uncommon Practices (www.uncommonpractices.com), then later through website developer extraordinaire Nenad Milosavljevic at his site, www.artbinaire.com.

The demand from therapists and counselors has been far greater than I ever imagined. I’m thrilled I made the decision to return to writing.

At Pen & Practice, I love being in a position to give shape to therapists’ skills and experiences, to highlight their unique ways of helping. The way I see it, the more people that therapists can help, the greater the impact they can have on their communities. That’s the ultimate reward.

Education

• MSW, Florida State University, 1997
• B.A., University of Rochester (NY), 1990