David Sheinman-Smith is a licensed clinical social worker offering behavioral health services to adults throughout New York state. He has an array of clinical interests; however, his expertise lies in anxiety disorders, grief counselling, depression, interpersonal relationships, and trauma & PTSD.
After taking on the role of emotional helper to family as well as friends at an early age, David grew up knowing in his heart that he wanted to spend his life helping others by providing empathy, emotional support, and trying to help empower people to improve their quality of life.
His method for helping patients is based on a customized and collaborative process. He provides a safe space with confidentiality that is free from judgement as to create a therapeutic sanctuary. There, he hopes that his patients feel empowered to meet their goals and feel supported throughout the therapeutic process.
David feels honored to contain whatever information his patients are ready to share with him, which also may help facilitate emotional healing and growth. At times, David will ask his patients questions or request that they think about considerations that may challenge their thought process. He says that this is done to help his patients think of alternative ideas that might function to better improve their quality of life.
When David is not treating his patients, he enjoys cooking many types of dishes and replicating them as gluten and dairy-free versions. He also listens and dances to music every day as part of his self-care routine!
"Human potential at its best is to transform a tragedy into a personal triumph, to turn one's predicament into a human achievement." – Viktor Frankl
Gianna Vaccarino is a licensed mental health counselor offering services to children, adolescents and adults in New York. She has a variety of clinical interests; however, she specializes in trauma and PTSD, anxiety disorders, domestic violence and abuse, and self-esteem. Gianna found a lot of personal relief in therapy through the different stages of her life. It is because of this experience that she chose to pursue a career that could do the same for others.
Gianna takes a very human to human approach with her clients. She wants them to feel comfortable and to feel as though they are equals. Gianna tries her best to combine empathy and therapeutic skills to be an integrative part in overcoming whatever obstacles her clients bring to therapy.
Gianna has a fur-baby named Theo and is currently learning to speak Italian. Her favorite thing to do is to read a new book at the beach.
"The only way out is through it."
Sharon Kopyc is a licensed clinical social worker offering behavioral healthcare services to residents in Kentucky, New York and Pennsylvania. She specializes in trauma, women's issues, addiction, mood disorders and stress management utilizing the EMDR, mindfulness-based (MBCT) and structural family therapy methods, to name a few.
Sharon became interested in behavioral health care while in undergraduate school when she was drawn to courses in psychology and sociology and always had a keen interest in listening to people and helping them sort out their problems. She was encouraged to pursue a career in behavioral health care when those who she helped would thank her for being so supportive!
Sharon prefers a person-centered approach to care where she views her patient as an expert in their own life. This allows her to work directly with her patient to help facilitate a path to a happier and satisfying life.
She is also an author having just published Writing Measurable Outcomes in Psychotherapy with Oxford University.
"The struggle you're in today is the strength you need for tomorrow."
Ruth Fogarty is a licensed mental health counselor offering services to adults in New York state. She has a vast array of clinical interests and her areas of expertise include trauma/PTSD, substance use/addiction, LGBT, domestic/sexual abuse and relationship issues.
Her interest in the counseling field developed in her late teens from a sibling who suffered from depression. Ruth knew that counseling was a natural fit for her when she realized she had a knack for helping people feel comfortable when sharing life struggles with her.
Ruth's approach to treatment is to build a rapport with her patients and is accomplished through attentive listening and caring support that may, at times, be in the form of frank observations and feedback. Her philosophy is to honor each person who chooses to trust her with their thoughts and feelings. One of Ruth's greatest passions is to counsel military members and their families on bases around the US and Europe.
When Ruth is not treating her patients, she is spending time with her four children and eight grandchildren. Her greatest joy and best gift to the world!
"Loving ourselves is perhaps the most loving thing we can do for others and peace in our world."
Marsha Caraway is a licensed mental health counselor and licensed professional counselor offering services to adults in New York and Texas. She has a variety of clinical interests; however, she specializes in relationship issues, anxiety disorders, depression and trauma. In her practice, Marsha's philosophy of care is to get to know her patients. She believes the more "life" puzzle pieces that you have, the more the patients' symptoms make sense.
Marsha's interest in mental and behavioral health care developed in college. She had an excellent professor who kept her spellbound when she shared her experiences from Bellevue Mental Hospital in New York City.
Marsha has worked on 15 different military installations. She loves to chop and stack wood and loves train rides.
"When life begins to drag you down, just do the hokey pokey."
Jocelyn Martinez is a licensed clinical social worker offering services to children, adolescents and adults in New Jersey and New York. She has a variety of clinical interests; however, she specializes in family therapy, parenting, communication issues and dialectical behavioral therapy. In her practice, Jocelyn's approach to care is client-centered and is eclectic to individuals' needs. She helps individuals focus on their strengths and values to help empower them throughout treatment. Jocelyn utilizes CBT, DBT, structural family therapy, journal therapy and solution-focused therapy. She would describe herself as warm, caring and supportive. Furthermore, she believes therapy promotes healing and growth within individuals and families and hopes to be an effective tool in helping people through their journey of healing.
Jocelyn's interest in mental and behavioral healthcare developed naturally through her enjoyment in working with children. Through her studies, interactions, volunteer work and employment she recognized the value of becoming emotionally intelligent and wanted to empower, help and strengthen children and adults in need.
Jocelyn's family and friends have said she is a philomath because she enjoys learning and studying. She hopes to pursue her Ph.D. in the near future. Jocelyn also enjoys journaling and has taken courses on it, and enjoys traveling to tropical places with her family.
"In diversity there is beauty and there is strength." – Maya Angelou
Jessica Passero is a licensed clinical social worker offering services to children, adolescents and adults in New York and Wisconsin. She has a variety of clinical interests; however, she specializes in wellness and health promotion, relationships, child and adolescent therapy, parenting, and women's issues and health. In her practice, Jessica uses traditional counseling techniques such as cognitive-behavioral and solution-focused therapy, as well as complementary therapy approaches such as mindfulness, meditation and guided imagery to help clients work towards greater happiness. As a therapist, she empowers clients to make changes to improve their lives. Jessica sees herself as a guide who supports clients in their own journey of personal and emotional growth. She helps clients become more self-aware, improve their communication skills, and understand their emotions at a deeper level. She also aims to teach clients coping skills to help them better deal with life's stresses, as well as the challenges of their mental health symptoms.
Jessica's interest in mental and behavioral healthcare developed at a young age. Because she was very empathetic towards those in suffering, she realized early on that she wanted to be in a profession that helped people. Furthermore, Jessica was naturally drawn to psychology because she had always been curious and interested in people. In college, she saw a flyer looking for individuals to become peer counselors and remembers thinking, "I would like to do that". Shortly after she started began taking peer counseling training classes. She later realized that it was this experience as a peer counselor that planted the seed in her becoming a professional therapist.
Jessica loves to travel. She thinks immersing yourself into a different place, culture, and/or among people is a great educational experience. Her dream is to eventually travel the world. Jessica enjoys spending time outdoors; it helps her relax and feel more grounded. Most of her weekends are usually spent hiking or doing other outdoor activities. She is also an avid crafter. She dabbles in making all types of crafts including creating signs, jewelry, personalized gifts and art.
"The real voyage of self-discovery consists not in seeking out new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust
Wendy Fiol is a licensed clinical social worker offering services to children, adolescents and adults in New York. She has a variety of clinical interests; however, she specializes in adolescent therapy, marriage and relationship counseling, mood disorders and women's issues and health. In her practice, Wendy believes that everyone deserves and is entitled to happiness. She understands that everyone's happiness may look different but believes that if a person can build a rapport of trust and security, then they can ultimately work through any issues to achieve their happiness.
Wendy's interest in mental and behavioral health care began early on. At the age of 15, she decided that she wanted to become a social worker in order to help people. She would see how her school counselor would help her classmates and wanted to be able to do the same. As she researched and learned about a career in social work her passion grew, and she felt an added desire to reach individuals with especially complex struggles with their mental health. Wendy believes that her respectful, non-judgment approach and genuine concern and desire for each of her clients' happiness and well-being is what allows her to help clients tackle some of their most oppressive and inhibiting obstacles.
Wendy loves dogs and believes in their therapeutic qualities. She loves home DIY renovation projects and rarely feels any project is too big to take on, which sometimes gets her into some precarious situations. Wendy is very proud of being a social worker; she loves the values and goals of the profession and shares her passion for her work with others.
"You can never judge someone until you've walked in their shoes but since you can never truly walk in another person's shoes, you can never judge them."
Stephanie Nicolas is a licensed mental health counselor offering services to adults in New York. She has a variety of clinical interests; however, she specializes in homebound/chronic illness, self-esteem, anxiety, life transitions, medical illness and disease management. In her practice, Stephanie's approach to care is eclectic with a foundation in person-centered, goal-oriented, and strength-based perspectives. She provides strength-based, client-centered, acute crisis assessment, intervention, referral and counseling to assist clients to overcome their life challenges. She also encourages her clients to tell their stories and tap into their individual strengths.
Stephanie's interest in mental and behavioral health care stems from her long-time interest in psychology, the mind and the brain. In college, she pursued medicine and thought that she was going to become a doctor. However, during her undergraduate years, she became severely depressed, and her grades suffered terribly to the point where she was at risk of expulsion. She decided to change her major and studied psychology instead. After graduation, she received her degree in counseling and has never looked back.
Stephanie is a quadriplegic and proud Haitian American. She enjoys collecting motivational quotes in her spare time and has published a children's book. She's the oldest of three and orange is her favorite color.
"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become." – Carl Jung
Clinician Gender Identity: Female
Clinician Racial/Ethnic Identity: African American
Treatment Age Range: 18+
Treats:
Gender Identity and Dysphoria
Homebound Illness
LGBT Issues
Marital and Premarital
Medical Illness/Disease Management
Peer Relationships
Treatment Modalities:
Adlerian
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)-focused
Dialectical (DBT)-focused
Family/Marital
Person-Centered
Rational Emotional Behavior (REBT)
Solution Focused Brief (SFBT)
Strength-Based
Mohammed Mazharuddin is a board-certified psychiatrist offering services to adult residents in New York. He has a vast array of clinical interests; however, his specializations are anxiety disorders, addiction, and men's issues and health. In his practice, he believes in a holistic approach; integrating nutrition, exercise, supplements, and behavioral interventions to establish a comprehensive treatment plan along with traditional psychopharmacological interventions when necessary.
Mohammed's interest in mental and behavioral health care started in college, where he minored in psychology. Taking cognitive and abnormal psychology helped shape his understanding of the human mind and carries this knowledge with him today.
Mohammed spent a portion of his medical school clinical rotations studying in England. He spent his residency working in a state mental hospital which gave him a unique professional experience. He enjoys hiking and has developed a keen interest in forest therapy.
"Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." – Lao Tzu