The Midtown MFT Staff
Ellen M. Gregory, LMFT, Founder and Practice Director
Ellen's theoretical
approach is an integration of psychodynamic, humanistic, holistic, and
systemic theories. Through long term, in-depth psychotherapy, Ellen
creates safety within the room so couples can drop their defense
structures and protections, speak authentically about what they feel,
and really be heard, sometimes for the first time.
Ellen believes that given the safety of the therapeutic process, clients will emerge, and show their authentic selves’. It is this process where couples learn to validate the others experience and become responsive to one another’s needs. Restored connection comes from accepting each other’s experiences and healing the emotional wounds that have prevented them from truly hearing one another. Once clients can connect in this way, they use their own inherent strengths to make the changes they need. They become compassionate and responsive to the other.
In working with individuals, Ellen uses the same approach and framework so clients can clearly see through their defenses and find their lost ‘self’. By creating a safe space for clients to process their history and heal their wounds, they discover who they are, and use their own strengths to ‘appear’ in relationships.
Ellen has focused the majority of her clinical career on anger management NYC. Ellen works with individuals, couples, families, and groups, to break the destructive, reactionary patterns of anger, to provide relief, and hope for growth and change. Ellen shows her clients healthy ways to voice their needs and wants and how to heal from past pain.
Ellen specializes in anger management NYC within relationships, working with her staff in multiple modalities to deeply heal both the individual and the couple/family system.
Ellen is a New York State Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Clinical Member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and a Member of the Board for the New York Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.
Ellen received a Bachelor of Science
degree in both Psychology and the Administration of Justice, from the
University of Pittsburgh and her
Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, from Hofstra University.
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Elena B. Hull, MA,
LMFT, CAT, Clinical Director
Associate Supervisor
Elena’s personal and
professional paths have led her to combine creativity and healing
towards a life well lived. Elena offers individual in-depth
psychotherapy, couples therapy, brief solution-focused therapy, and
group therapy at Midtown MFT. Elena comes to us with
extensive training in the healing arts and works with deep appreciation
for the rare opportunity the therapeutic relationship offers clients to
revision and enhance their lives.
Elena’s clinical approach is engaged, creative, practical, and compassionate. She acknowledges self-expression as a tremendous resource for healing, understanding that it offers us a place beyond anxiety and depression. Elena considers therapy an experience of reunion: reunion with our whole selves, our latent possibilities, our bodies, our intuition, and our purpose within community. She has experience counseling individuals, and couples through life transitions, repetition in relationship, trauma recovery (specifically sexual assault and abuse), anger, depression, and anxiety. Her directive approach is guided by the goals of personal transformation, self-awareness, spiritual connection, empowerment, and living a deeply fulfilling life.
She currently provides in-depth psychotherapy to individuals and couples at Midtown MFT, and in her private practice located in Greenwich Village, New York.
Elena keeps artistic expression a part of her life through painting and writing. As a Creative Arts Therapist, Elena combines her passion for creative expression with her therapeutic work, creating a safe space for deep healing and recovery of sexual abuse and assault.
Elena has shown her dedication to survivors by working as a Retreat Specialist and Clinical Consultant for The Joyful Heart Foundation. The foundation, in association with world-renowned rape crisis centers, takes groups to Kona, Hawaii to experience the therapeutic and healing experience of swimming with dolphins, and engaging in art, writing, and movement.
Elena is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the State of New York, a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist, and a Clinical Member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy. Elena has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Studio Art and Art History from the Honors program at Boston College and her Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Expressive Arts Therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.
(top page)Christina Curtis,
LMFT, Assistant Clinical Director
Intern and Group Supervisor
Christina brings a
deep and varied set of professional experiences to her work as a
therapist. She has a longstanding affinity for working with individuals
in crisis and her professional background reflects that passion for
reaching out to and supporting those experiencing crisis.
Most recently, she worked as the Community Education Coordinator at Crisis Support Services of Alameda County (formerly Suicide Prevention) where she provided in-depth trainings on Suicide Assessment and Intervention, Suicide Assessment and Intervention with Adolescents, Depression in Older Persons and Grief and Loss. In her work at Crisis Support Services, Christina served as a public face of the agency for the therapeutic community at large and in addition to her trainings, also wrote articles for local publications highlighting the problem of suicide.
Previously, Christina worked for three and a half years as a hospice bereavement counselor in a busy city Hospice agency during the height of the AIDS epidemic, where she counseled individuals, groups and families and provided trainings on grief and loss. Christina has received additional training in CISD (Critical Incident Stress Debriefing).
Christina grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she still has strong family and professional ties and moved to New York, the city she loves, in 1998. Her life in New York has been divided between her work in mental health and her work as a poet, essayist and professor of English literature.
Areas of Specialization include working with couples and individuals
dealing with stress in their intimate relationships through individual
and marriage counseling NYC as well as working with those experiencing
bereavement, crisis and traumatic stress.
She operates within a depth-oriented and humanistic framework but also
employs cognitive behavioral and somatic techniques in order to break
the “stuckness” that many people experience during crisis.
As a writer herself, Christina is interested in developing her practice to include writers and artists in order to explore the unique strengths and challenges artists bring to the therapeutic process. Christina is a published poet and essayist and sees her two passions, mental health and creative writing as complementary—working in tandem to support her evolution as a person and as a professional.
From the University of San Francisco, Christina received a BA in Philosophy and an MA in Counseling/Psychology. She also received a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing (MFA) from Sarah Lawrence College. Christina was first licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist by the State of California in 1998 and was licensed by the State of New York in 2008.
(top page)Rachel McDavid, LMFT, Anger Workshop and Women’s Anger Group Facilitator
Rachel’s passion in
the last several years has been learning, teaching and working with
people using Nonviolent Communication (NVC) or Compassionate
Communication as it is sometimes called, a modality founded by
Marshall Rosenberg, which focuses on understanding feelings and needs
through connecting with what is most alive in ourselves and others.
Rachel leads anger management groups and workshops in which she teaches
NVC skills to support people in learning how to manage
their anger more effectively. In using NVC with her
clients, Rachel offers tools, which allow clients to resolve issues on
their own.
Rachel is also currently in a certificate program in Somatic Experiencing (SE) based on the work of Peter Levine. SE focuses on healing trauma through body awareness. Her interest in this topic is both to have greater understanding and tools for working with people who experience trauma and to incorporate a more holistic approach to healing by having more awareness of the body’s process as we experience pain and change.
In her theoretical approach, Rachel incorporates NVC, empathy and somatic work to her training in family systems and solution-focused therapies. With an emphasis on being a collaborator in the client’s process, she supports clients on their journey toward feeling more self empowered, understood and connected.
Rachel works with clients in identifying and changing the stories that are no longer serving them; in order to support them in shifting from the areas in which they feel stuck to having a greater sense of freedom and choice.
Rachel is a New York State Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who received her Master’s degree from Antioch New England Graduate School. She also has an M.A. in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica, and is a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).
(top page)Geraldine Sweetman, MA in MFT, Marriage and Family Therapy Associate
Gerry began her
career in Physical Therapy, and soon became intrigued, as to why
patients with similar diagnoses would often have radically different
outcomes to their illness or disabilities. She was aware that her
training as a physical therapist had not addressed this area of human
experience. Some years later she went to work in a hospital in Central
America and began to understand the extent to which the world we live
in, and experience, is shaped by our beliefs. The desire to understand
how our emotional, cultural, and educational experiences shape our
lives, led to a Psychology degree at Brunel
University in Uxbridge, England.
Having completed her studies Gerry moved to the US where she continued to work in Healthcare and wellness. A move to Chicago introduced the option of a Masters in Family Therapy. After much research and deliberation, Family Therapy was the chosen path, as it takes into account the Big Picture, allowing all the important factors to be weighed and acknowledged: this approach and framework made the most sense.
Gerry’s mission is to provide in the therapeutic encounter, a safe
space where clients can begin to unravel and explore all the pieces in
their own personal jigsaw puzzle.
Therapy can provide a place to learn and practice an attitude of
curiosity and compassion towards oneself, and towards others in their
life. It is her belief that the haven of therapy allows the exploration
of how our deep, and often unconscious beliefs about ourselves, and our
history, can rule our lives and our choices.
Gerry considers it a great privilege to be permitted into the private worlds of her clients, as they tackle their issues in Life, acknowledging their grief, illness, loss, disappointments, fears, and uncertainties when dealing with change. Becoming our authentic selves, this, Gerry believes, is our life’s work, and a journey she is fully committed to. Teaching and learning, and being inspired: these elements are essential for a happy life, also remembering to play and to use all her creativity is a lesson well learned, having already discovered how exhausting and expensive living an unhappy life can be.
Gerry has a Master’s degree in Family Therapy from Northern Illinois University where she trained in the Family Center Specialization Program. She ran a private practice in Naperville, outside of Chicago for 7 years, seeing individuals, families, couples and children.
(top page)Jacob Kabasso, MS, in MFT, Marriage and Family Therapy Associate
Before choosing
psychology as a profession, Jacob spent a number of years pursuing a
career in public relations and advertising. As a licensed stockbroker,
he also has experience in finance. Years spent building a career in
business have given him a keen understanding of the issues that
business world professionals face in their daily lives and
relationships.
Growing up in a close knit Jewish family, Jacob understands the importance of establishing trust and effective communication between family members. Having personal experience with issues that an interfaith relationship can bring, he is sensitive and respectful of religious and cultural issues that families might be facing. Having lived on both East and West coasts and in a variety of communities, Jacob uses his experience with a variety of cultures and environments to create an eclectic approach to family therapy.
Jacob integrates a variety of motivational techniques into his approach in order to help individuals and couples work on their issues and achieve their ideal state of relationship. Jacob works with couples of diverse backgrounds who are willing to take an unconventional look at their relationship and to work to change their lives for the better.
Jacob sees his main strength in his ability to empower and inspire people to change their lives. Using his experience as a Certified Personal Trainer, Jacob strongly believes in the mind-body connection and incorporates physical activity into his therapeutic approach. Jacob's approach to therapy is holistic and client-centered, aimed at achieving lasting results through solution-focused work.
Jacob received his Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Mercy College and his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Hunter College.
(top page)Ami Bhalodkar, MPH, MS in MFT, Marriage and Family Therapy Associate
Ami strives to
create a safe space for her clients to share, explore, heal, and grow.
Her style of working with clients is systemic, holistic, collaborative,
and creative. She deeply believes in a client-centered and
strengths-based approach. Her counseling technique is a combination of
insight oriented and solution focused therapy with the goal of bringing
about both paradigm shifts and behavior change.
As someone who grew up in America as part of a tight-knit Indian family, Ami is particularly sensitive to the impact clients’ family of origin, culture, and/or religion have on shaping their beliefs and informing their day-to-day choices. In addition, as a result of her own personal experiences, she is keenly aware of the unique challenges facing intercultural and/or interfaith couples and families. Given her multicultural background, professional experience in the HIV/AIDS field, and non-judgmental and warm nature, Ami is able to connect with others regardless of their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, culture, and/or life experiences. She has a genuine desire to help people improve the quality of their lives and is able to recognize and bring to light the best in them.
Ami earned her Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Iona College and is currently working toward her licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist.
Ami earned her first Master’s in Public Heath from Emory University and worked in the field of HIV/AIDS for ten years as a counselor, researcher, and program director. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in South Asian Languages and Cultures and Pre-medical Studies from Columbia College. In addition, Ami graduated from the One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in June of 2003 as an ordained Interfaith Minister. She is a member of the faculty at the seminary, offers premarital and spiritual counseling, and performs wedding ceremonies.
Ami is a certified PREPARE (premarital) counselor, PREP (relationship) facilitator, and Bringing Baby Home (parenting) educator. She is able to offer all of these programs either in a one-on-one format or group workshop. She also has a strong background and interest in the use of spirituality as a healing and change agent in marriage counseling NYC.
(top page)Genna Brocone, BS, Earning MS in MFT, Marriage and Family Therapy Intern
Central to Genna's
therapeutic view is the use of long-term, in-depth therapy to challenge
emotional and behavioral responses to our lives and environment. By
discovering alternate meanings and hidden strengths, we are given the
opportunity to develop understanding and compassion for our life
experiences, accept those experiences as a part of who we are, and
learn to live as whole beings. Within the secure therapeutic
environment, patterns of interaction and outdated coping mechanisms,
which may no longer serve our best interest, can be uncovered, and new
ways of approaching our lives examined.
Genna's clinical approach is client-centered, emotionally-focused, collaborative and compassionate. She creates a trusting, professional client-therapist relationship wherein the ways we relate to self and others can be safely explored. Genna's primary focus is working with individuals, couples and families to improve relationships and life-balance, develop new, healthy coping mechanisms, break old patterns of behavior and lead fuller, richer lives.
Genna is currently in the process of earning her Master of Science Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Iona College. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Northwestern University in 1997.
(top page)Allison Lefkowitz, BA, Earning MA in MFT, Marriage and Family Therapy Intern
Allison’s believes
our earliest relationships with our families have had great influence
on the way we experience relationships today. She provides a warm,
non-judgmental and supportive environment for healing.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California and a new-comer to NYC, Allison has a deep understanding of the difficulties and challenges that arise when making major transitions in one’s life and is committed to supporting her clients through any periods of change that they may have. Growing up with an Italian-Catholic mother and a Polish-Jewish father, Allison fully understands inter-faith couples and families, and some of the challenges involving the blending of religion and culture.
Prior to entering Hofstra’s MFT graduate program, Allison worked several years in the entertainment industry, as well as studying both commercial and animation voice over. She was also a member of a comedy improv troupe and feels that many of the fundamentals of acting and improv are wonderful tools in assisting her clients, and incorporates this into her therapy.
Allison’s clinical approach is combination of solution focused and psychodynamic techniques within a warm, non-judgmental and supportive environment. She prefers a collaborative approach with her clients, and believes that everyone has within them the ability to solve their problems, and is committed to assisting each client in discovering solutions to their difficulties and achieving their goals.
Allison is currently in the process of earning her Masters Degree in Marriage in Family therapy at Hofstra University. Allison graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Theatre Arts from California State University Northridge in southern California.
(top page)Stephanie Skorupski, BA, Earning MA in MFT, Marriage and Family Therapy Intern
Having been raised
in a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, with parents from New York, Stephanie
utilizes her experience with a variety of backgrounds and upbringings
to create a diverse approach to therapy. As someone who grew up in a
single-parent family, as well as a blended household, Stephanie is
sensitive to the integration process that occurs in step-families.
Having first-hand experience with the trauma of losing a close family member to an unexpected accident, Stephanie can easily connect with and support clients facing grief and bereavement.
Stephanie’s clinical approach is client-centered, incorporating the use of both structural and solution-focused therapy. She believes that every client presents uniquely, and therefore deserves a therapy that is tailored to their specific needs. She utilizes a kind, non-judgmental environment to aid her clients to achieve a successful therapeutic outcome.
Stephanie is currently in the process of earning a Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Hofstra University. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology with a minor in Community Health at Hofstra University. Stephanie is currently the President of the Marriage and Family Therapy Club at Hofstra and serves as Student Representative for the New York Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (NYAMFT)
(top page)Franchesca Rodriguez, BA, Earning MA in MFT, Marriage and Family Therapy Intern
Franchesca’s
easy-going attitude and personal experiences make it comfortable for
any of her clients to feel at ease discussing and coming to understand
themselves. She creates an environment of trust, belonging, and
compassion while helping her clients develop the necessary tools to
cope and grow as individuals within a family.
Franchesca’s unique college experience included being a competitive athlete and captain of her Division III volleyball team. A highlight of her collegiate years was participating as a student representative in the NCAA Apple Leadership Conference in California. Franchesca capped off her senior year by being chosen into the highly selective SUNYAC All-Conference First Team.
Franchesca’s Hispanic background provides her with a deep understanding of her roots as well as the richness of others. Having lived in Puerto Rico for a number of years, Franchesca’s sense of family and culture are a priority. Fully bilingual, she is able to easily communicate and connect with clients who aren’t comfortable with the English language.
Having lived in California, Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico and now settling in New York, Franchesca has been able to experience all sorts of people and cultures. Her tolerant and whirl-wind upbringing, have made her sensitive to the unique needs each client possesses. Transition, change, and establishing relationships are skills Franchesca knows quite intimately.
Franchesca is in the process of earning her Masters of Arts Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Hofstra University. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and double-minors in Sociology and Communications at SUNY New Paltz. Franchesca is a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.
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