Art Therapy in Wading River, NY

I am skilled at helping adults with depression, anxiety, grief, trauma, life transitions, improving coping tools, and increasing self-esteem. I use creative approaches in a supportive environment to provide the best care I can for each individual person. Interventions range from traditional talk therapy to mindfulness techniques to engaging one's creativity through art or writing. I also specialize in psychotherapy for older adults and caregivers for medical and mental health issues including dementia.

I have 25+ years of experience working with children, adolescents, and adults. I use a creative, eclectic approach to help my clients gain a better understanding of their thoughts, emotions, and actions, help them through difficult periods, discover coping skills, and achieve a deeper satisfaction with their lives. I work with anxiety, anger, depression, bereavement, self-esteem and family issues. I am a licensed creative arts therapist, registered drama therapist, and certified counselor, and draw from CBT, DBT, and psychodynamic theories to inform my practice. In addition, I offer college counseling as an IEC.

Life is tough. Are you feeling anxious, overwhelmed, stuck? I am here for you. Sometimes words are just not enough. Our bodies tell us things all the time. I will help you, or your child, to develop awareness of those signs, and work to identify coping skills to best support you. Art making and creativity in art therapy allow you to break through barriers from the inside out. You may discover an alternative way to communicate your thoughts, feelings and needs. Let's explore the patterns that are no longer serving you. We can work as a team to navigate life barriers and get you back to a fulfilling routine.

If you’re frustrated having spent lots of time and money on quick fix programs that promised the world, I get it. Life is messy and uncertain. Does it seem like many of the ways you feel inadequate are hard to hide, especially from yourself? What’s holding you back? Are you trying to improve or leave difficult relationships? Are you stressed and want to overcome the hidden affects of trauma and family secrets? If you answered yes, often the answers are in the shadows. When you shine light on your darkness, anxiety and not feeling enough recede. Then you can reclaim your confidence having a vibrant and fulfilling life.

I have 15 years of experience working in the community with clients experiencing depression, anxiety, mood disorders, personality disorders, ADHD, OCD, and other disorders as well. I’ve worked with adults, adolescents, and children in varied settings. In inpatient hospital settings, and partial hospital settings as well as at my private practice. I use varied therapeutic modalities that are tailored to the specific needs of my client. I utilize empathy and compassion to tailor my therapeutic interventions to the needs of you or your child. I can assist with family issues, behavioral issues, marital issues and psychiatric issues.

Sometimes life can get difficult or overwhelming, and it is during those times that reaching out to someone who is understanding and supportive can help get us back on track. I've had the privilege of being that someone to many people throughout the past 20 years. I have extensive experience and education in the field of therapeutic counseling, helping others to overcome the mental and emotional difficulties that hold them back from reaching their goals. I love working together with my clients, building a relationship in which they feel safe to talk about their deepest cares and concerns.

With a combination of creative tools, practical methods, and formal clinical training in psychotherapy, we will work collaboratively to achieve your resolutions. I strive to make therapy feel like a safe place for you. My approach could be described as eclectic which caters to your unique needs. I integrate the useful aspects of psychoanalysis, CBT, family systems therapy, MBT, humanistic and holistic approaches, my own therapeutic relational style, and more. You are the expert of your own life, and my goal is to enable you to gain insight, self-awareness, assist you in identifying patterns and working toward the changes you desire.

You deserve to enjoy life to the fullest. My goal as a therapist is to help you embrace everything life has to offer with ease and confidence. I know life’s challenges can feel overwhelming, producing emotions that can be difficult to process and overcome. I will provide you with a safe, accepting and respectful environment for you to share your experiences without fear of judgment. My approach is kind, genuine and centered on you.

Life can be stressful and overwhelming for teens, and adults. School, work, relationships, family issues, trauma, life transitions and social pressure can become challenging to cope with. These difficulties, in addition to other personal struggles, can lead to trouble in school or work, anxiety, depression, PTSD, opposition and defiance, irritability, relationship instability, feelings of low self esteem, and other concerns. We can work together to help you, or your child navigate a way towards a healthier, happier and more fulfilling life.

Sometimes we have difficulty coping with life’s negative experiences and trauma such as loss, relationship conflict, or anxiety and depression. We cannot always prevent such things, but we can learn how to manage and overcome them.

Stress comes in many shades, regardless of what we face, with no discrepancies of importance, changing how we feel begins with changing our perspective. I aim to guide you through these life challenges and rebuild the mindset that these negative encounters have influenced.

I am currently not accepting new patients. I focus my practice towards children and adolescents with a variety of stressors. I am known for my gentle, empathetic and warm approach with my clients and do my best to meet my clients where they are. I want to help my clients find their inner strength and to identify, work towards and reach their goals.

If you are experiencing feelings of depression, low self-esteem, the misuse of drugs and alcohol, or relationship/intimacy issues, we can examine the underlying thoughts and emotions that are affecting your daily life. Together we can discuss your emotional well-being, limiting belief systems, negative relationship patterns or explore how substances are impacting your life. My specialization is in helping people who are struggling with addictive behaviors in all phases of recovery. This includes alcohol/substance misuse, as well as relational (sex and love) and process (gambling, pornography, shopping, food, internet) addictions.

To assist my clients in areas such as caregiver burnout; chronic illness; anxiety and depression; trauma; mental illness; peri-natal and post-natal mental health and PDDs, I prefer to use a collaborative approach that is individualized based on your individual needs. This becomes a working model that we are both able to examine and adjust as needed to fit your specific goals for therapy.

I greatly value my time working with people who are grieving or dealing with anxiety because there can be immediate feelings of relief once therapy starts even while lasting changes come over time. My goal is to create a space for each person to show up during the week where they don’t have to find the right words, can express any emotion or thought they want to without worrying about judgement, and develop tools to alleviate the persistent feelings while gaining new understanding of what is happening in their lives.

I work with children, adolescents and adults who seek to develop and implement tools in coping with stressors, managing anxiety, depression, trauma and navigating through periods of transition. I utilize art, verbal psychotherapy and EMDR to integrate mind and body, process trauma, explore emotions, express thoughts and feelings. Being a women of color, of Caribbean, West Indian decent and a first generation American, I often can relate to those coping with acculturation while also offering a broad range of mental health services.

Licensed Clinical Social Worker with 25 years of experience working with various populations in a variety of settings including substance abuse, chronic and acute psychiatric, children and geriatric. I believe good therapy is built around a positive, trusting connection with the therapist.