What year did you graduate?
2011
Undergraduate College/University
NYU
Undergraduate Major
Psychology
What was the best class you took as an AP student?
Group Dynamics with Dr. Mary McRae.
What was the most influential part of your experience in your program?
The combination of the professors who continue to be colleagues and friends today, along with my Supervisors at my internship at Christ Hospital in Jersey City.
Do you have any thoughts you’d like to share with prospective students?
Graduation is not the end, It is just the beginning of your education. Any school, including NYU, prepares you to be in this field, but your professional development and learning lasts throughout your entire career if you want to be more than mediocre at best. With this degree, you can do anything, but you have to more than the bare minimum to get there. Getting my Master's in Mental Health Counseling from NYU was by far the best thing I've ever done, and I had led a pretty interesting life beforehand :) Lastly, I highly recommend you be in your own personal therapy before, during, and after this program. Your own therapy is absolutely essential to being a good therapist for many reasons. It will make the difference between you being an ok therapist vs. an excellent therapist, and it minimizes the potential vicarious trauma and burnout that results from doing this work.
What was your first job after you graduated?
Counselor/Case Worker at The Institute for Community Living
What is your current job?
Adjunct Professor - NYU/Mental Health Counseling and I'm owner/Clinical Director of The Soho Center for Mental Health Counseling
Do you have any advice for people interested in a similar career path?
This is one of the most rewarding careers you can choose, and there are many reasons why we all choose to go into this profession. Most of us have chosen this field because this field has really chosen us; we have been helped by therapists or we have gone through our own personal struggles and this is a way to help others with theirs. Some of us go into this field because we are problem solvers and people pleasers and natural helpers. Whatever the reason, you must understand yourself before you can understand your client, which is why being in your own therapy is highly recommended. This is a career in which you must be deeply reflective and engaged in self-examination regularly.
Counseling philosophy and endeavors.
My main interests are:
• Using relational therapy to help people better understand how they see and understand themselves in the world versus how the world sees and understands them.
• EMDR and it's efficacy on Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia, as well as treating complex PTSD.
• Diversity training/cultural competency inventions within organizational contexts
I am a regular contributor to the Huffington Post, New York Times, and NyPost on issues related to mental health.
I am the co-author of “Sexual Non-Minority & Sexual Minority Youth: Identity Development, Mental Health, and Risky Recreational Sex Behaviors” in Annals of Leisure & Recreation 2010.
Did you get licensed?
Yes