Abby Leefer, LCSW-R
Director of Perspectives Counseling of LI
Abby Leefer has been a licensed clinical social worker since 1989. She graduated and received her Master’s Degree from Stony Brook University. She believes in taking a client-centered, collaborative approach to therapy, treating each case individually. No two people are the same, meaning no two people will have the exact same struggles, nor will they require the same treatment.
Because of this, Abby employs a variety of techniques while working with her clients; she uses cognitive behavioral therapy, the psychoanalytic theory, a family systems approach, and most importantly, Rogerian-based humanistic treatment.
Abby provides a safe, non-judgmental environment in which a client can speak about and explore their issues. She listens to her clients and works with them to understand themselves, their struggles, and how to make any changes they may seek. She also assists clients with self-acceptance and learning to come to terms with factors in their lives that they cannot change.
Most recently, Abby expanded her practice and developed Perspectives Counseling of LI. This growth is a reflection of her desire to provide more people with the opportunity to obtain client-centered mental health services in a time of so much change and turmoil.
Elizabeth ALpert, LMSW
Elizabeth Alpert is a licensed social worker with a master degree from Stony Brook University as well as a masters in English Education from CW Post. She has interned at Outreach House and Long Island Against Domestic Violence.
Elizabeth works with adults, adolescents, and children in both individual and family settings. She focuses on issues related to depression, anxiety, panic, PTSD, CPTSD, and trauma. She also works with those struggling with grief, domestic violence, relationship issues, and peer relationships, as well as adjustment issues and life transitions.
Elizabeth’s therapeutic approach is client-centered, collaborative and insight oriented. Her treatment methods and practices are individual to each client, designed around their specific needs. She incorporates evidence-based practices including cognitive behavioral therapy, solution-focused therapy, and motivational interviewing using a psychodynamic perspective. She works with her clients to develop the necessary coping skills to help them achieve their best sense of self and manage the issues they are facing.
Elizabeth believes we are all the culmination of our past experiences and relationships, and that the events we faced in the past help to form who we are in the present. She encourages her clients to be introspective and reflective. She provides a warm, accepting, and non-judgmental environment in which she works with her clients to determine the best course of action.
“We will work together as a team to look into your past and current life experiences and determine if the thoughts, feelings and actions you’ve utilized are still serving you well. I am fully invested in the processes of healing and growth, and I look forward to our work together.”
JUDITH BERNSTEIN, LMSW, pHD
Judy Bernstein is a New York State licensed social worker. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University, her Master’s Degree in Social Work from
SUNY Stony Brook, and her PhD in Psychology from Brandeis University. She is a warm, compassionate clinician who works with both adolescents and adults.
Judy’s focus is on helping clients adjust to life’s challenges and transitions. Specific issues in this area include imposter syndrome, anxiety, depression, grief, and coping strategies. She empowers clients by emphasizing their strengths and creating an accepting, non-judgmental environment where she can collaborate with them in a true partnership. Since clients have varying circumstances, Judy tailors the therapeutic approach she uses to each individual’s needs using elements of cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, mindfulness techniques, and solution-focused therapy.
Judy believes that we all face difficulties at various times in our lives, and we all have the ability to overcome these obstacles. She is able to form caring and supportive relationships with her clients to help them feel comfortable and to assist them in navigating through these challenges.
LESLYE CASOLARO, LMSW
Leslye Casolaro received her Master’s degree in social work from Stony Brook University’s School of Social Welfare. Leslye has been in the field of social work for several years, providing support to a variety of different populations, including but not limited to, those suffering from addiction and those experiencing negative consequences or caught up in the bureaucracy of the justice system. She received her Bachelor’s degree in fine arts from School of Visual Arts in New York City back in 1999, providing Leslye with a unique skill set and perspective in being able to assist individuals in gaining the tools that will allow them to navigate some of life’s most difficult obstacles.
Leslye takes a compassionate and empathetic approach in providing the highest level of clinical care. She tries to create a safe, judgment free space for individuals by using a person-centered counseling approach.
Leslye specializes in working with clients who have substance use disorders, as well as co-occurring mental health disorders, borderline personality disorders, and trauma. She is sympathetic to LGBTQ+ issues, assisting clients in exploring topics of sexuality, gender, and identity. She helps clients facing discrimination, oppression and navigates relationships with an awareness of family and cultural challenges. Leslye takes a holistic approach and utilizes elements such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Seeking Safety, as well as providing psychoeducation.
LIZ COOKE, LMSW
Liz Cooke is a licensed social worker with a MSW from Stony Brook University and a BA from Fordham University. A native New Yorker, Liz lived for many years in Los Angeles where she raised a family and enjoyed careers in sales and education.
For Liz, the most important aspect of effective therapy is the connection between a client and their clinician. She believes that clients deserve to work with someone who understands them; someone who will listen and offer a non-judgmental, objective perspective with compassion and understanding. She strives to provide a supportive, open, safe space where clients feel safe to address challenges, ask questions, and discover a greater understanding of themselves.
Liz utilizes a collaborative, psychodynamic approach to help clients increase their awareness of their feelings, thoughts and motivations. She has worked with adults in individual and family settings on issues related to anxiety, depression, life transitions, substance use, grief, codependency, and emotional wellness. She has helped clients develop self-awareness, self-compassion and more effective communication and coping skills. Cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing and acceptance and commitment therapy are some of the modalities Liz draws on to build a treatment protocol as unique as each client.
Emily deal, LmSW
My name is Emily Deal and I am an LMSW. I graduated with my Masters in Social Work from Stony Brook University and obtained a bachelor's degree in Human Development and Family Studies from SUNY Oneonta. I work with children, teens, and young adults. My previous experience working in schools has given me a great deal of insight to the challenges faced by youth including academic, social and emotional concerns.
I utilize cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and strengths based approaches to help clients to reach their full potential. I strive to create a comfortable environment to help foster positive change and be a support to clients and their individual needs. I believe that counseling is a collaborative experience and I look forward to working together to help you to achieve your own goals.
Jennifer fischl, LCSW
Jennifer Fischl is a social worker who has been licensed since 2011. She obtained a Bachelor’s Degree from Providence College in Rhode Island in 2009, and earned her Masters from SUNY Albany in 2011. She has also completed multiple post-masters certifications, including one from NYU School of Social Work.
Jennifer specializes in treating those in need of grief and bereavement counseling, and is a palliative care and hospice specialist. She works with adults, children and families who struggle with facing a chronic or serious illness within their family or helping those who have recently experienced a significant loss cope.
Jennifer also has treated patients with generalized anxiety and mood disorders. She employs a person-centered approach with her clients, using narrative therapy to assist them in resolving and coming to terms with their issues. Due to her extensive background in grief counseling, it is of utmost importance to her that she provides a safe, comforting environment in which people feel comfortable discussing their lives.
Jennifer has found value in the phrase from Brene Brown: “Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we will ever do.” She always tries to help her clients be the best possible version of themselves.
Will herman, LMSW
Will Herman has been a practicing social worker since 2011, having obtained his Master’s Degree in 2017. He studied at Binghamton University and finished at Empire State College. He received his graduate degree from Stony Brook University.
Will offers a comfortable and safe environment where he will listen non-judgmentally to his clients. He firmly believes that each client is an expert in their own life. Nobody knows a client better than they know themself, and what they believe to be true is true to them. Will’s objective is to work with his clients to help them obtain their goals in life with the skills they already possess, while learning new skills as well.
Will employs various methods with his clients; each on a case-by-case basis. Among the methods he practices are person-centered care, cognitive behavioral therapy, and psychodynamic therapy.
Will specializes in clients who have experienced significant trauma, depression, anxiety, bipolar and substance use disorders. His goal is to be the person who can make a difference in someone’s life, especially those who have sought treatment in the past without success. His philosophy on being a social worker can be summed up in the words of Gandhi: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
ELIZABETH OSTOP, LCSW
Elizabeth Ostop is an LCSW passionate about helping people of all ages and backgrounds. As we all know, life can be hard. Elizabeth helps her clients navigate their own particular struggles so that their lives are lighter and more manageable. Her approach utilizes various therapeutic modalities backed by her decades worth of experience as a social worker, personalized for each client’s needs.
Elizabeth always maintains a warm, supportive, and non-judgmental environment as she works with adults, adolescents, and families to strengthen relationships, change patterns, and encourage new perspectives. She particularly thrives in working with clients on social and emotional challenges.
Elizabeth's professional experience has been predominantly in community-based settings with children and families. It was in this setting that she became proficient in conducting Structural Family Therapy (SFT). SFT focuses on the relational patterns within the family, placing the value on helping the family to become more efficient in caring for its members and in dealing with the outside world. Elizabeth received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from Coastal Carolina University and her Master’s in Social Work from Touro College.
Rebecca Rohman, LMSW
Rebecca Rohman completed her masters degree at NYU School of Social Work and has been a licensed social worker since the fall of 2000. Rebecca works with individuals that are experiencing difficulties in their daily routines due to life transitions, relationship issues, trauma and/or the existence of a mood disorder. Seeking out a therapist can be a difficult process for some and Rebecca works with her clients to normalize the process—allowing her clients to feel the benefits of seeking the support of a professional to help navigate through difficult times and life adjustments.
In her practice, Rebecca believes everyone has the skills they need to overcome their obstacles but sometimes need help identifying their strengths and learning how to utilize them. Rebecca employs a client-centered approach with her clients and focuses on starting where her client is in life by gaining an in-depth understanding of their life journey and current need for therapy. Together, Rebecca works with her clients to overcome the obstacles that are preventing them from living their best life.
Rebecca employs a practical therapeutic approach that involves a combination of solution-focused therapy and a strength-based perspective. She believes all treatment should be client-centered, and unique to the individual. She works non-judgmentally with her clients using empowerment-based techniques to help them adjust and cope with what they may be experiencing.
SHannon russo, LMSW
Shannon Russo is a Licensed Master Social Worker practicing psychotherapy in New York. Shannon graduated with her Master’s in Social Work from Stony Brook University and her Bachelor’s from St. Joseph’s University.
Shannon utilizes a client centered approach with a combination of strengths based perspective and solution focused therapy. Shannon specializes in working with children, adolescents and adults who struggle with anxiety, self esteem issues, stress, trauma and women’s issues. She understands that meaningful growth begins when clients feel safe, understood and seen. Shannon’s goal is to create a nonjudgmental, safe environment for her clients to be able to explore meaningful ways to break down barriers and find a multitude of techniques to feel empowered and facilitate change.
Kaitlyn Treccagnoli, LcSW
Kaitlyn Treccagnoli is a New York State licensed social worker since 2018. She graduated from the University of Albany with a Bachelors Degree in Psychology, and received her Masters in Social Work from Adelphi University.
Kaitlyn’s main objective is to help her clients become the best version of themselves. She focuses on helping her clients overcome obstacles that hold them back from reaching their goals. She does so by providing a safe environment in which they can openly discuss any issues or hardships they may be facing.
Above all, Kaitlyn encourages her clients to remember that progress is not always linear; you must never give up, and always recognize what progress you have made. Any progress is still progress, and you should be proud, no matter how far you’ve come.
