I am an experienced and skillfully trained Licensed Mental Health Counselor.  I provide psychotherapy, including assessment, diagnosis and treatment, to adults, adolescents and couples.  As a private practitioner, I maintain my practice in Port Jefferson Station, Long Island, New York.  I am also an adjunct Assistant Professor at Suffolk County Community College.  Additionally, I am a retired New York City Police Officer and have worked as a full-time Counselor in the Counseling Center at Suffolk County Community College.

I believe psychotherapy is an inherently collaborative process that requires the client to have a desire for self-understanding and the therapist to provide a nonjudgemental, supportive and confidential environment.  The process strengthens existing coping skills, offers an opportunity for personal growth and empowers the client to learn more effective strategies for managing stress, anxiety, inner conflict and combating depression.

My prior occupations and life experiences have provided me with the foundation to excel at my current profession.  As a Counselor at Suffolk County Community College, I furnished students with psychological and academic counseling.  As a police officer, I have worked in many settings. However, the last two years of my career were devoted to working with the Psychological Services Division of the Police Department.  

I am a Certified Anger Management Specialist I through the National Anger Management Association and I am certified in thanatology (study of death). The catalyst for this certification was not only my experience as a police officer dealing with death from many prospectives, but additionally and most significantly, being widowed at an early age of thirty-three.  Subsequent to many of these experiences, I felt the need to pursue death education/counseling and hence, became a Certified Thanatologist through the international organization the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC).

My experiences coupled with the superior training from the Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University have afforded me the opportunity to work with a diverse clientele dealing with a myriad of life's challenges.
 
The services I provide include: assessment and diagnosis, psychotherapy, treatment planning and utilization review, brief and solution-focused therapy, alcohol and substance abuse treatment, psycho-education and prevention programs and crisis management.  I use an integrative approach combining techniques from various therapeutic schools including psychodynamic, humanistic and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies.

I combine compassion and understanding to work with each individual to help them build on their strengths and attain the personal growth they are committed to accomplishing.

• M.A. in Mental Health Counseling, Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies, Adelphi University 
• B.A. in Social Sciences, Adelphi University - Summa Cum Laude

• American Counseling Association 
• American College Counseling Association
• American Mental Health Counselors Association 
• Association for Death Education and Counseling  
• Long Island Mental Health Counselors Association 
• New York City Police Benevolent Association 
• New York Mental Health Counselors Association 
• National Eating Disorders Association 
• Suffolk County Psychological Association