Kara McElaney – LMFT

Kara believes in the the co-created experience of therapy between therapist and clients. Trained in Narrative therapy and a range of therapeutic models such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-focused therapy, and Trauma-informed care, Kara works to create a safe and reflective space in which clients can be met where they are at with curiosity, respect, and compassion.

Kara values partnering with clients in understanding how problems can get in the way of more preferred ways of being. She believes in the power of therapeutic conversations bringing opportunities for clients to be cared about and known in ways which are a fit for them. By creating space for clients to story their intentions and hopes for their lives, while recognizing how relational histories and cultural messages may impact our relationships, more possibilities may emerge to take action on one’s behalf. Kara has experience working with a range of clients of all different ages and backgrounds, providing client-centered therapy grounded in social justice and relational ethics.

Kara completed her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and received her Bachelor’s degree from The New School. Kara’s previous experiences includes residential/group home settings, Americorps, as well as working for a non-profit agency providing in-home family therapy and clinical supervision.

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Bree Loethen, MFT

Bree believes that every client has the potential for positive growth and that the therapeutic relationship is a key factor in that growth. She values compassion, curiosity, and open-mindedness within that relationship. Bree views the therapeutic process as a collaborative experience between therapist and client that is unique to each individual, and so encourages feedback about what is and is not working for her clients. She wants her clients to feel as though they have an active role in their journey of change. The act of telling one’s story to another can itself have healing powers and Bree honors the strength and vulnerability it takes to do so.

Bree recognizes the importance of clients’ relationship to themselves and to others. Problems often arise in these relationships when clients are stuck in feedback loops that they are unaware of, influenced by individual, interpersonal, intergenerational, and environmental factors. She works with her clients to identify what these loops are, what is maintaining them, and how to begin to do things differently. Bree believes that emotion plays a fundamental role in the maintenance of maladaptive functioning and so bases much of her work in Les Greenberg’s emotion-focused therapy and Sue Johnson’s emotionally-focused couples therapy. She helps her clients to identify their emotions, tolerate them, communicate them effectively to others, and use them to guide adaptive action. She aims to provide a safe, validating, and compassionate space for this emotional exploration. Although she pays particular attention to emotion, she also considers intervention in the realms of thought, behavior, and body. Other approaches she commonly integrates into her work include compassion-focused therapy, CBT, narrative, and mindfulness.

Bree studied psychology in her undergraduate education at Skidmore College. She received her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Thomas Jefferson University, with a concentration in sex therapy. While studying at Thomas Jefferson, Bree interned at The Council for Relationships, providing therapeutic services to individuals and couples. During this time she also worked at ACTS, a women and children’s homeless shelter, conducting group therapy and family therapy sessions. Bree has experience working with a wide range of clients and has a specific passion for work with the LGBTQ community.

As an associate therapist, Bree can accept sliding scale clients.

 

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Alyssa Calderon, MFT

Alyssa believes an essential, if not most valuable, part of therapy is curiosity and the art of listening. Trained in systems-based, relational therapy, Alyssa constantly aims to puzzle together the parts of clients’ lives to fully understand their whole context and the pieces within. Alyssa combines her focus in Mental Research Institute therapy, postmodern theory, and Narrative therapy, to identify with clients, areas where they feel stuck. Alyssa believes therapy requires collaborative work, where together, she and clients explore how the problem has been influenced by discourses of race, gender, class, sexuality, and personal beliefs, informed by clients’ relationships and experiences.

 

Alyssa believes ethical and effective therapy requires the therapist to be mindful of their position, biases, and role in the therapeutic relationship. She is not the expert of the client’s life, rather she is the expert of change. Alyssa does not view herself as an authority figure, rather she is a partner on your journey. Given this assumption, she considers it a privilege to learn from and work with clients to create a difference in their lives. She respects, and celebrates, the differences that exist, not just between herself and the client, but also between the client and other central members of their lives.

 

Alyssa is a bilingual therapist and received her master’s degree at Valdosta State University. Alyssa is pursuing full licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist because she values the relational and inclusive approach of the field and practice. Prior to focusing on a clinical career, Alyssa studied and performed music and received her bachelor’s degree in music industry at York College of Pennsylvania. She looks forward to uniting her two passions to better serve clients.

 

As a associate therapist Alyssa is able to accept sliding scale clients.

 

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Jenn Lief – Therapy Intern

All people have the ability to let go and change and the collaborative relationship between client and therapist can assist with this. Jenn believes strongly in the family systems theory that looks at not only the individual but the system created by the family as a whole. Jenn works alongside her clients to empower them with the tools to stay more connected to both themselves and their partners. Her work with clients is strengths based, person centered and recovery oriented. She uses a goal centered approach to determine and dissolve the blocks between clients and deeper connection.

Jenn is a non-traditional student in her third year of masters study in Marriage and Family Therapy at North Central University. She is also a certified business coach through the ICF with advanced training in coaching from IPEC.. Jenn also holds a BA in Human Ecology, an MA in Liberal Studies and is the recipient of The Thomas J. Watson Foundation Fellowship.

 

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Meet our WILLIAMSBURG Therapists

 

Jennifer Aull, LMFT, Founder and Director

Jennifer is passionate about empowering people to live their fullest lives. This dedication has been lived out through some her personal and professional experiences. Jennifer brings with her a wealth of life experience. Along with her marriage and family therapy practice, Jennifer serves part-time as a pastor at the Greenpoint Reformed Church. She has also worked as a chaplain in both hospital and hospice settings. These experiences have taught her that life can be a journey toward greater awareness and spiritual growth and that such awareness can bring about deep joy and fulfillment.

Jennifer enjoys working with clients to help them author an authentic life for themselves by examining their most challenging past experiences. By creating a warm, safe, non-judgmental environment, she encourages clients to assess those elements that are limiting them. Through the use of both short-term, solution-focused therapy and deeper relational techniques, Jennifer guides clients to find the relationships they long for. Jennifer is experienced in working with a wide variety of people, regardless of religions, genders, cultures, life circumstances and sexual orientations.

Jennifer is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and completed her Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Hofstra University. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature from San Francisco State University. After working for several years as a technology specialist for a number of investment banks, Jennifer attended Union Theological Seminary where she received a Masters of Divinity Degree. She is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ and a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

Jennifer is a certified Prepare-Enrich premarital counselor with ten years’ experience helping couples prepare for greater levels of commitment. She is an AASECT certified sex therapist.  She is available for both individual and couples therapy.

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Christina Curtis, LMFT, Clinical Director

Christina Curtis, LMFT, has been licensed since 2008 in New York and since 1998 in the state of California. She previously held the position of Co-Clinical Director at Midtown Marriage and Family Therapy in Midtown Manhattan, where she served as a group and individual supervisor of therapists and therapists in training at all levels.  She maintains a private practice in Brooklyn Heights.

Christina has twenty plus years experience in mental health, beginning with work in crisis and bereavement, including hospice bereavement counseling, suicide assessment and intervention training for first responders and crisis debriefing. She holds an MA in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco and an MFA in Creative Writing/Poetry from Sarah Lawrence College. In the last eight years Christina has deepened her psycho-therapeutic work with individuals, as well as short term (Prepare/Enrich Premarital Counseling) and long term work with couples of all backgrounds.  Trained in Family Systems theory, and with a grounding in trans-personal, somatic and narrative perspectives, Christina is a couples therapist who respects the sacredness of individual identity and autonomy and an individual therapist with a deep understanding of couples’ relationships and how they impact personal development. Christina sees her early crisis training as having bestowed the gifts of clear boundaries and a gut-level instinct about what’s most essential for clients. Her background as a poet and writer have enhanced her ability to use symbol, metaphor and story to help clients make meaning of their lives. Her more recent developing passion for work with premarital couples has been one of the most compelling periods of her long career.

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Marc Fernandez, LMFT

Marc views the therapeutic process as a road to greater self-awareness and clarity leading to new opportunities for desirable and lasting change to occur. Through his experience working with individuals, couples and families from varying backgrounds, he thoroughly acknowledges each individual’s own unique life experience and narrative and how it plays a role during therapy. Marc believes in the eudaemonistic ability of each individual within their system. Eudaemonia can be defined “human flourishing.”

He is able to provide counseling in both English and Spanish. Along with his work at North Brooklyn MFT, Marc works in the not-for-profit sector on Long Island, where he operates a couples and family therapy practice called Family First.

Marc earned his Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Iona College, a COAMFTE accredited university, and earned his Bachelor’s degree from the University at Buffalo, where he majored in Psychology and Spanish Language and Literature.

Marc is certified to lead the evidence-based Strengthening Families Program. He is a certified Prepare-Enrich counselor with premarital counseling experience. Marc is also a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) (link is AAMFT.org), an AAMFT Approved Supervisor Candidate and a member of the American Family Therapy Academy.

 

 

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Stephanie Vigoya, LMHC

Stephanie is passionate about helping individuals, families, and couples create positive shifts in their lives. Her relational approach creates a safe environment to begin a process of self-exploration & personal growth. She uses evidenced based practices to help clients develop a deeper understanding and meaning around their experiences. As a result, goals are developed; barriers are surpassed; and strengths are heightened to support the changes they envision.

Considering that we often grow and develop in the context of our family, Stephanie welcomes meeting the people invested in your life. She often assists couples to engage in conversations that promote increased safety and connection, she provides parents with the tools needed to manage challenging behavior presented by children, and helps individuals resolve issues related to trauma, depression, anxiety, and overall life stressors.

Stephanie is a licensed Mental Health Counselor who received her graduate degree in Psychological Counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University. She was inspired to peruse a two year post-graduate certification from the Ackerman Institute for the Family to better assist culturally diverse & underserved children experiencing severe emotional and behavioral issues. Stephanie ability to support children and families is further supported by her training in MAP evidence-based treatment by New York University Child Study Center which teaches families how to manage and monitor symptoms not limited to depression, anxiety, trauma, and disruptive behavior in youth. Most recently, Stephanie completed an Emotional Focus Therapy Externship to assist couples understand in their patterns during conflict and engage in conversations that promotes bonding within the relationship.

Stephanie is a bilingual therapist where she can provide therapy in both English and Spanish.

 

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Adriana Calo, MFT

Adriana believes that therapy is a partnership between the client and the therapist. This collaborative relationship helps to foster positive changes and promotes growth, healing, and healthier interactions in all aspects of life. She aims to make a safe and welcoming space where each client has a voice. Working with several disciplines from her background with children, individuals, couples, and families, it is her goal to find what works best with each client system and go from there.

While working with couples, Adriana has found that some partnerships need to heal things from their individual pasts in order to move forward in the present. She offers tools to help heal old wounds, while also gaining communication skills, a better understanding of your partner’s world, and how couples can move forward together.

Adriana received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Stony Brook University, and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Hofstra University. In her recent work at The Joan & Arnold Saltzman Center, she has been privileged to work with people from all walks of life. As a result, she has had training in attachment disorder, cognitive behavioral therapy with children, and LGBTQ workshops.

Adriana is a certified Prepare-Enrich counselor with premarital counseling experience.

As an associate therapist, Adriana can accept sliding scale clients.

 

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Pia Alexander – MFT

Pia Alexander believes deeply in providing each of her clients a transformative and unique therapeutic experience. Her approach to working with couples and individuals is centered, gentle, and cultivated by her work with a variety of clients at the Joan and Arnold Saltzman Community Services Center on Long Island. In addition to her Family Systems training, Pia was extensively trained in both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). She was selected to be a member of Hofstra University’s DBT Consultation Team, where she provided Dialectical Behavior Therapy to individuals and families. Pia uses her experience teaching DBT skills groups to inform her general practice with high intensity couples. Pia is also trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and is passionate about using ACT in her work with both romantic couples and adult parent/child relationships. Pia is also Level 1 Trained in Gottman Couples Therapy and Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS).

Pia Alexander is currently a doctoral student in Marriage and Family Therapy at Antioch University New England, where she was awarded the 2018-2019 President’s Doctoral Fellowship. She received her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Hofstra University with Distinction, where she received the 2017-2018 MFP Masters Fellowship from American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Pia received her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism with a concentration in Metropolitan Studies from New York University and studied British and Irish Politics at University College London.

Pia’s practice and understanding in working with individuals and couples in creative industries is also informed by her years of experience as an accomplished television and media professional in the US and UK and her experience as a parent consultant to public and private schools throughout New York.

Pia accepts sliding scale clients as an associate therapist.

 

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Karin Genis – Therapy Intern

After a career in law and management, Karin is pursuing her passion to help individuals and couples transform themselves and their relationships. She seeks to provide her clients with tools to empower them to let go of old relational patterns and replace them with more satisfying and fulfilling connections. Her approach draws on research and evidence-based approaches, including Emotionally Focused Therapy, the Gottman Method, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT).

Karin holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Middlebury College, a Law Degree from George Washington University, and a Master’s Degree in Psychology from New York University, with a concentration in Neuropsychology. She is also a trained mediator and conflict coach. She is currently pursuing an Advanced Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy at Long Island University.

As a therapy intern, Karin can accept sliding scale clients.

 

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