Ms. Aquino has devoted her life's work to helping people lead happier and healthier lives. She firmly believes that mental health is a essential requirement for physical health. She earned her Masters degree from NYU School of Social Work, with a focus on psycho-education. She also has an advanced certificate in family therapy. She is also a faculty member and supervisor for the Family Therapy Training Program at The Center for Family Learning in New Rochelle, N.Y. She has been in private practice in 1983, and continues to love her work.
Ms. DeCesare has been with the practice since February 1992. She received her MSW from the Hunter School of Social Work in 1986. She received postgraduate training at the Brooklyn Institute for Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Ms. DeCesare has many years of experience in psyhciatric work with patients in hospital, and outpatient settings. She also has experience in the assessment process of school-aged childrean and adolescents in her work in the New York City school system. Her clinical focus is on providing symptom-based treatment for adults, children, and families. Ms. DeCesare has extensive experience treating depression and anxiety disorders, and utilizes a systems approach to treating families and couples.
Ms. Harris, a psychiatric social worker, has been on staff with the practice since January 1997, specializing in treatment of adolescents, adults, couples, and families who present with a diverse range of problems and issues.
She was a senior clinician at Staten Island University Hospital Outpatient Psychiatry (south site) from 1984 to 2011, treating a similar clientele. Since receiving her Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Chicago in 1979, Ms. Harris has had extensive clinical experience in a variety of settings, including as a high school social worker, in several family agencies and in a private practice.
Dr. Mancino is a licensed psychologist who joined the practice in 2013. She has a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Columbia University, and she completed an APA approved internship in clinical psychology at The New York Harbor Healthcare System, Brooklyn VA Campus in 2004.
Dr. Mancino has been a full-time staff member at South Beach Psychiatric Center for over 10 years where she works with a chronically and persistently mentally ill inpatient population. Prior to that, she worked as a staff psychologist in the Comprehensive Psychiatric Emergency Program (CPEP) at Brookdale University Hospital.
Dr. Mancino has had a variety of experiences in her professional training including work in college counseling centers, community mental health clinics, and hospitals. She has worked with a diverse population including children, adolescents, and adults from various demographic backgrounds. Dr. Mancino works under a primarily psychodynamic perspective, but includes cognitive behavioral techniques in her practice. She treats individuals, couples, and families. Her areas of interest are treatment of anxiety disorders, depression, grief and bereavement, eating disorders, and relationship problems. She also provides comprehensive psychological testing for the assessment of IQ, learning disabilities, developmental delays, emotional and behavioral disturbances, attention deficit disorder, as well as personality and cognitive abilities.
Karen B. Massoni is a clinical social worker with 20 years experience. She received her MSW from Columbia University in 1996. She also studied and trained on the graduate and postgraduate levels at the Smith College School for Social Work. She joined the practice in 2011.
Ms. Massoni has worked in a number of mental health settings, most recently in the Trauma Treatment Center at the Karen Horney Clinic. While she has worked with children, adolescents and adults, her current focus is on providing individual psychotherapy to adults. Trained in psychoanalytically-oriented psychotherapy, Ms. Massoni has expanded her therapeutic framework over the years in order to meet diverse client needs. She provides both long-and short-term treatment, partnering with clients to develop a plan for resolving and/or better managing their issues. Her experience includes, but is not limited to, working with individuals struggling with depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, relationship dysfunction, work-related issues, personality disorder, and sexual orientation. She has extensive experience working with adult survivors of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.
LAUREN ROGERS-SIRIN PH.D.
Dr. Rogers-Sirin is a licensed psychologist who earned her MA and Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Boston College. She works with adolescents, adults, and couples with a broad range of mental health issues including mood disorders, personality disorders, post-traumatic stress
disorders, bereavement, and adjustment disorders.
She is also a professor of psychology at the College of Staten Island CUNY, and she specializes in providing counseling and supervision to other mental health practitioners.
Dr. Rogers-Sirin views healthy interpersonal relationships as central to psychological well-being, and isolation as a major factor in psychological suffering. She works collaboratively with her clients to identify interpersonal patternsthat are causing difficulty, helps her clients gain insight into how these patterns developed, and empowers them to make positive changes.
She understands that human development unfolds within cultural contexts that have tremendous influence on well-being. Socio-political forces that may affect her clients’ well-being are openly discussed so clients may gain healthy strategies for coping with marginalization, abuse, or injustice. Her practice is LGBTQ affirming, and she stresses cultural competence in every aspect of her work.
Robert Schaer is a clinical social worker, and has been with the practice since 2011. Mr. Schaer received his MSW from NYU School of Social Work. He received post-graduate training at the Washington Square Institute for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, and was awarded a certificate in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. He is currently the manager of outpatient ambulatory mental health services at Staten Island University Hospital. Mr. Schaer’s provides psychotherapy for adults, couples, and families with a focus on mood and affective disorders, as well as a broad spectrum of relationship issues.
Jacqueline Szoychen is a licensed clinical social worker; she has been a clinician since 2006, providing psychotherapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups in Spanish and English.
She developed an interest in domestic violence and trauma, at Human Options in Costa Mesa, California, where she worked before acquiring her Masters in Social Work.
She also worked at a hospital in San Diego, and at an academy of performing arts, where she created the first psychoeducational and social group geared toward the autistic population.
In New York, she has worked at Richmond University Medical Center, where she treated a population with severe diagnoses, mood disorders, anxiety, and personality disorders. She created the first group on Staten Island for the Asperger’s population. Her clinical work has been executed in Spanish and English, with children as young as 5, and adults up to 90. She also trained with the Family Therapy Training program at the Minuchin Center for the Family in NYC.
Her current work, the most challenging, but also the most fulfilling, is with families, children, and couples.
Ms. Szoychen's other specialties include sleeping disorders, stress and anger management, and work with the LBGT population.