Daniel Polyak

Daniel Polyak is an adjunct lecturer in the Women and Gender Studies Department at Hunter College. His courses explore gender and sexuality, feminist theory, discourses on mental illness, and masculinities.

In addition to teaching at Hunter, Mr. Polyak is a psychoanalyst and psychotherapist in private practice in NYC. In his clinical work, he brings together a psychoanalytic approach to psychotherapy and a sensitivity to the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, class, ethnicity, nationality and ability. His goal is to incorporate what he teaches into how he listens as a therapist and to bring together critical social theories and clinical psychoanalytic practice.

Mr. Polyak received a MA in philosophy from the New School for Social Research and completed his postgraduate psychoanalytic training at The National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis in NYC. He is currently an advanced candidate at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR).

• Polyak, D. (2022). On Growing Up: A Cautionary Tale for Psychoanalysts. In Leiber, E. and Fishzon, A. (Eds). The Queerness of Childhood: Essays from the Other Side of the Looking Glass. UK: Palgrave Macmillan
• Polyak, D. (2023). "A Comfy Gender: Transitional Spaces and Virtual Reality." Parapraxis.
• Polyak, D. (forthcoming). "Cis Pathology: Psychoanalysis of Cisgender." Studies in Gender and Sexuality.

By appointment