Find a Therapist in Staten Island, New York.

For the past 12 years, I have been helping individuals, couples and families heal themselves, their relationships and childhood hurts. I facilitate this by being compassionate, creating a safe environment and caring about my clients. I help my clients build higher self-worth and strengthen their relationships. In a very short time, I can provide you with the tools to communicate effectively, manage difficult feelings and not take others' behavior personally.

Our credentialed music therapists tailor sessions to each individual, utilizing personalized music exercises and interventions to address each person's unique symptoms or concerns. Our music therapists work with each client using musical elements like songwriting, processing, and guided imagery to help clients find their own voice and path on the journey to mental wellness.

We are charting a new path that brings outcomes focused therapy to you. We simplify over 100 years of proven psychology and make it meaningful to your needs, goals, and journey. Our approach is adapted to fit your specific needs. Together, we map your path forward with our LifeMAP — a unique set of tools we have developed to clarify your goals, transparently track your progress, and move you towards your destination, so you can see and feel the progress being made.

I provide compassionate, confidential and professional therapy services for marriage and relationship issues, depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, divorce and loss. I help couples dealing with conflict, communication, intimacy, and sometimes, infidelity. I work with individuals coping with depression, low self-esteem, relationship issues, an affair, divorce and loss. It's important to me to help my clients feel safe, supported and understood as they discuss difficult issues. I'm open and accepting of all backgrounds, lifestyles and beliefs. I encourage to take the first step and contact me for a free phone consultation.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a type of therapy that focuses on the connection between your feelings, beliefs and behaviors. Through CBT, I will help you understand how your distorted, unhealthy and/or self-destructive thinking patterns influence how you behavior or respond in certain situations. Once you are able to grasp why you think the way you do and how your thinking affects your behavior, then you can begin to change your mindset so it reflects a healthy, well-adjusted individual.

The term "psychotherapy" comes from ancient language which literally means "soul healing". Many people see this as going beyond religious conceptions, and refer to it as healing of the inner person. There are many tools, approaches, and methods that can be effective in the healing process and I would like to help in that journey. With support and challenge, positive change can happen!

Prioritize your wellness with psychotherapy in conjunction with medication management. Psychotherapy can offer a place to look at your current and past experiences from new perspectives and receive support as you move into the next chapter of your life. Let’s look at your wellness beyond just the biology. I want you to feel in control of your own wellness. As your doctor, I am committed to equipping you with the information you need to make clear, informed choices about your health.

Psychotherapy is a safe place in which you learn to tell your truth. Psychotherapy has been called the "talking cure" because it has demonstrated, again and again, that telling your truth, your story, to someone who is empathetic and neutral reliefs symptoms such as depression and anxiety. However, psychotherapy is much more that just telling your truth; as a therapist, I am listening to what you are saying and what you are not saying, and I will make connections between "dots" in your life and share them with you. This process will help you look at your life, your relational patterns and your reactions from a different perspective allowing you make long lasting change.

Although I am licensed as a psychoanalyst in New York, over my 37 years of practice I have also trained in Gestalt therapy, bioenergetics, art therapy, psychodrama, group therapy, couples therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Thus I am eclectic and I apply whatever modality is needed in each case. Over the years I have developed a reputation as a psychotherapist who genuinely cares; and those clients who make a commitment to therapy make real progress.

Psychotherapy is about understanding how your past has impacted your present. This is a critical process in understanding deep unconscious motivating forces, you may not be aware of, that can me controlling your life. Uncovering your past and how you came to be who you are today is one of the most important processes you can go through. This can lead to feeling a sense of freedom in ones life and choices you didn't realize you had.

I believe that an attuned and empathic relationship is the basis for effective therapy. Therapy can provide the space to address difficult life issues with support and guidance. I work to create an atmosphere of safety and respect in which issues can emerge, be understood and resolved. Psychotherapy can lead to deep and lasting change, and empower you to live life to the fullest.

As experienced, highly-credentialed clinical psychologists and couples counselors, Dr. Joel Stukalin and Dr. Sara Mandelbaum have the necessary background to conduct short-term or psychoanalystic psychotherapy with clients. This means that clients can decide to work on direct symptom-relief or more comprehensive therapy that may lead to a deeper understanding of inner-conflicts, self-aspirations and unconscious processes. In order to do our psychotherapy compassionately and effectively, Dr. Joel and Dr. Sara collaborate closely with clients to understand their initial motives and unfolding goals within the psychotherapy process. Clients often benefit from this higher standard of care.

Life can be hard. Help is here for you. Challenges and problems are part of life. It's good to reach out for help. You are the expert in your life, in your goals, values and aspirations. I am here to provide tools, accountability, support, encouragement and help in revealing to you all your inner awesomeness. I have unwavering confidence in your capabilities and potential, even when you find it hard to see them. Together we create a place to step back and gain perspective, test ideas, create solutions and move towards a life that is fulfilling, meaningful and connected.