Francis Novak (he/him) is a Psychoanalyst, Psychotherapist, and Musician based in private practice in Manhattan. He serves on the faculty at both the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis and the Institute for Expressive Analysis, where he teaches Psychoanalytic History, Theories, and Practice in their Licensure Qualifying Programs. Dr. Novak trained at the Manhattan Institute for Psychoanalysis and earned his Doctor of Psychoanalytic Studies (DPsa) degree from the Parkmore Institute. He holds a BA and BM from the University of Michigan and an MSW from New York University. Dr. Novak is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Psychoanalyst. With 25 years of experience, he spent over a decade practicing in community mental health settings across New York City, including as a Clinical Supervisor, before transitioning to full-time private practice.

Dr. Novak is the author of Seeing Is All the Rage (Psychoanalytic Perspectives, 2023) and the recent article Queering Up Psychoanalysis – An Integrative Model with the Power to Meet the Moment (Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 2025). In this article, he introduces the Golden Girls Theory—a dynamic framework that identifies four fundamental self-states essential to a fully integrated psyche. Drawing from Queer Theory, Hippocratic and Galenic medicine, Jungian and Kleinian thought, and contemporary psychoanalytic theory, the model demonstrates how harmony among these self-states allows individuals to express their unique light and realize their deepest potential. Accessible yet complex, it is a healing model that directly addresses trauma-based shame and dissociation. Inspired by the television series The Golden Girls as a vivid representation of these four core archetypes, Dr. Novak illustrates the model through four compelling clinical examples. You can access the article here.

As a classically trained professional musician, he is the Principal Clarinetist of the Queer Urban Orchestra for which he is a founding member. He also toured 13 cities in China twice as a Clarinetist with the Manhattan Symphonie, he was the Assistant Conductor of the Queer Big Apple Corps Symphonic Band, and was the Youth Orchestra Director at the Turtle Bay Music School. He continues to enjoy a fulfilling musical career and loves the emphasis on human expression in all of its various creative forms that is at the heart of his professional practice. He can be heard on the Albany Records album, James Adler's That Star in the Picture, performing "Pie Jesu" with Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Victoria Livengood.