Our Therapists

Creative Arts Therapists share a deep understanding of the value of art-making in human psychology. We specialize in addressing anxiety, depression, mood disorders, trauma and PTSD, couples therapy, family therapy, children, and adolescents.

Brittany is a Licensed and Board Certified Creative Arts Therapist based in Bushwick and founder of Art Therapy Place.

My approach is client-centered and designed to meet each person where they are. Healing is a creative and personal process which requires us to use many tools. Together we can navigate the art studio to express conflicted emotions, practice mindfulness, reflect and create insight into your inner world. I incorporate Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) techniques to address problematic behaviors and thought patterns, develop coping skills, promote healing and foster healthy interpersonal relationships.

Brittany received a Master’s of Art Therapy from New York University and currently manages Art Therapy Place. Her own identity as an artist inspires her to nurture creativity in the people she serves.

Rana is a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist and Clinical Supervisor at Art Therapy Place. Rana leads our team of Creative Arts Therapists in clinical practices and methods to provide the highest quality care for our clients.

Rana is a Lebanese-American woman bringing first and foremost, her grandmother’s teachings of altruism, universality, and advocacy into her work. She lived most of her life in Lebanon, and Art Therapy was a great surprise that she stumbled upon during one of the hardest times of her life. For the past 9 years, through her clinical experiences, Rana has been working with individuals of all cultures and ages in NYC. She feels lucky to have had her art therapy journey engulfed with rich and diverse life experiences from multiple cultures around the world. Working in schools, universities, hospitals, medical programs, and child welfare; every client, patient, and student has made an impact through her sessions and lessons. She is an advocate of knowledge and hopes to plant seeds in safe spaces that may take root and grow into healthy coping skills to use in this whirlwind that we call life.

Rana is an English, Arabic, and French speaker.

Hi! My name is Gabriela and I am a bilingual (Spanish and English) psychotherapist with a Master’s degree in Drama Therapy from New York University. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Drama from the University of Puerto Rico, as well as a strong background in dance and creative movement. I have worked with clients ranging across the lifespan, from 5 year-olds to 95 year-olds, in outpatient community clinics, schools, PROS, older-adult centers and other professional settings leading therapy groups, individual, couple and family counseling. In these experiences, areas of focus have included anxiety, trauma, life transitions, stress management, grief and bereavement, depression, family dynamics and relationships. 

I strive to create alongside my clients a space in which your stories are heard, held, and handled with care, using theater processes to work towards your therapeutic goals. Creativity is a skill and theater-making a behavior that have been recorded extensively throughout human history. I believe that these strengths are part of what makes us human. My approach to psychotherapy is person-centered, relational, affirming, and trauma-informed. As an island-born Puerto Rican, cultural awareness, racial identities, and social justice are key to my practice. Integrating traditional psychotherapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), psychodynamic and humanistic approaches with drama therapy, we will tap into creativity as a pathway to build awareness, insight, manage stress, develop coping skills, and healthy relational patterns.

I have been practicing as a Licensed Creative Arts Therapist for the past 8 years, and have strived to create a space that is both safe and supportive for the clients. What I like to say about those new to Art Therapy is that “What you can’t find the words for, you’ll be able to find them through the art.” There is no need to have any prior artistic experience, nor is it necessary to make art withing every session.

Prior to pursuing a career in Art Therapy, I had been working with children, families, and adults with significant life hardships in diverse settings such as after-school, foster care, in-home; homeless, and clients within the medical or in-home challenges. These experiences inspired me to attain my Art Therapy Licensure, and informed my approach that I now use in practice. 

I use a multimodal approach with clients as each one has their own needs of therapeutic engagement. The various therapeutic methods I utilize are based in a humanistic and client-centered approach. Upon these I have received training for incorporates CBT, DBT; Narrative and Play, Creative Arts, Traditional Talk Therapy and Trauma-Informed Therapy.

Yuko Kyutoku is a registered art therapist (ATR), a certified meditation and mindfulness teacher, and a certified Ayurvedic nutritionist. She received a Master’s of Art Therapy from New York University and has experience providing individual, group therapy, and workshops for children, adolescents, adults, and seniors from diverse backgrounds. Yuko is an English and Japanese speaker. Her background in studio arts, psychology, and mental health, as well as the intensive clinical and holistic therapy training she completed, have shaped her understanding of mental healthcare treatment.

Yuko has worked with children, their parents and families, teens, adults, and seniors and has experience providing care in various settings, including inpatient hospital settings, schools, nonprofit organizations, community centers, inpatient hospital settings, nursing homes, and more. She has specialized experience working with a diverse population, including children with mental and behavioral issues, immigrant children, and children with neurological disabilities and special needs, as well as their families and parents. She also has adolescents with mental health and behavioral issues and a history of trauma, and adults with depression, anxiety, self-harm, Alzheimer disease, addiction, trauma, school issues, grief and loss, parenting, family conflicts, and other serious mental illnesses, as well as self-esteem, spirituality, stress, life transitions, and physical disabilities.

Through her empathetic and client-centered therapy programs, she will help you find inner growth, self-awareness, focus, and structure in your life. In addition to art therapy exercises, she utilizes mindfulness, meditation, aromatherapy, movement therapy, journaling, and bibliotherapy interventions in her work.

After getting a degree in psychology from the University of Southern California, and working for 10 years as a TV and music producer for HBO and PBS, Dan switched gears and earned his master’s in music therapy from NYU. He has been practicing as a board-certified music therapist and licensed creative arts therapist for over 5 years. Dan has worked with individuals of all ages, in various settings, with kids, teens, and adults with mental illness in inpatient psychiatry, in geriatric work with individuals with COPD, in inpatient pediatrics with children struggling with a variety of health challenges, and with infants and toddlers who are hearing impaired or struggling with auditory processing disorders. Dan also received his training in outpatient clinical work at the Louis Armstrong Center for Music and Medicine.

Using therapeutic songwriting interventions, Dan helps his clients process conflicted emotions, reflect on experiences, and narrate their lives. Through other interventions, such as music-guided relaxation, music listening, and drumming, he assists clients in practicing mindfulness, soothing the senses, and regulating nervous system functioning. 

Depression, fear, and anxiety are some of the most common and uncomfortable emotions that we can experience at some point in our lives. Combined with supportive discussion and reflection, Dan helps his clients create a safe place to heal old wounds, grow from their struggles, become aware of their inner strengths, experience life more fully, and move confidently into the future.

As a little girl in Australia, growing up in a busy household of seven children, Devorah used art as a way of connection. Through her own journey of recovery from disordered eating, she discovered how creative expression can foster healing, and she is dedicated to sharing this transformative process with others. Each session is facilitated from the perspective that the body has the power and resources to heal itself. We have an innate ability and power within us, we just have to learn to access it. Clients are invited to track their body, emotions and sensations as they draw, paint and create and build greater awareness of presence and resources. At times, subtle movements and markmaking are utilized, at other times large and robust movements. Sometimes there is attention to meaning, at other times to sensation and breath. In her sessions, Devorah aims to create a warm, empathetic and empowered space, guided by her clients, where healing, growth and connection can occur.

Devorah is also trained in Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). She brings extensive experience in supporting children and adults with various developmental and mental health challenges, including Autism, ADHD, anxiety disorders, highly sensitive persons, binge eating difficulties, body image issues, as well as trauma—both acute and developmental.

Lastly, Devorah is a licensed behavior analyst and developmental consultant in educational and clinical settings. She excels at helping clients set and achieve meaningful goals that lead to significant improvements in their lives, fostering resilience and empowerment.

Gem earned her Art Therapy degree from Pratt Institute, where her research focused on immigrants suppressed emotion and anger. She is a dedicated art therapist with extensive experience supporting individuals from children to adults. 

Her experience with the school counseling team, inpatient psychiatric unit and survivors of sexually abused have solidified and refined her therapeutic approach. She encourages exploration of emotions through traditional talk therapy and creative expression, utilizing her proficiency in various art mediums.

While transitions are a crucial part of growth, they may bring both cloudy days and sunny days for us to navigate. Adjusting to life’s ups and downs can be challenging and emotionally intense. I understand that the idea of therapy can be intimidating, but we will take small steps together and tailor our session to meet your needs!

Hello, I am Misuk (pronounced Mee-Sook), a bilingual (English/Korean) art therapist, and credentialed as both a board-certified (ATR-BC) and NYS Licensed Creative Arts Therapist (LCAT). I hold a Master of Arts in Art Therapy from NYU. I have worked with kids and teens in a school setting and adults in various settings, including inpatient psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital and community programming for underserved communities, including immigrant families from Latin America and Asia.

I believe each person has an innate capacity to heal themselves. My approach is collaborative and adaptive, using a variety of therapeutic techniques, including CBT/DBT, attachment-based therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), mindfulness, and art therapy, to help you gain insight and process your thoughts and emotions. In sessions, I strive to create a space of non-judgment, where you will learn more about yourself and explore your strengths as well as any unhelpful thoughts and behavioral patterns. We can then work together to create a roadmap toward a more fulfilling life. I draw on my life experiences as an Asian American woman and first-generation immigrant who has navigated many barriers. I feel grateful to be working as an Art Therapist, which is my second career after many years working in the fashion industry. As a life-long learner and as an artist, I work to help my clients experience personal growth by exploring the power of creativity.

I am committed to helping clients struggling with anxiety, depression, stress related to immigration, acculturation, race and ethnicity, life transitions, relationship concerns, family stressors, and adverse childhood experiences as well as children with ADHD, ASD, and anxiety. I work with individuals, couples, and families.

Through personal and professional experience, I have witnessed the transformative nature of creative expression. Whether a person expresses themselves best through words or artistic exploration, art therapy can build upon those preferences in a way that feels safe and non-invasive. Each of us is vastly unique and, therefore, can benefit from personalized treatment and therapy. Using an integrative approach, I take great pride in providing a space for individuals to engage with different creative mediums, modalities, and techniques to establish and attain their personal goals in therapy.

Isabel Beckenstein received a bachelor’s degree at CUNY Hunter, where she majored in psychology and minored in sociology. She went on to study studio art with a focus on sculpture, painting, and figure drawing. She then received a Master’s in Art Therapy at New York University. Her background in psychology, sociology, and studio art has shaped her understanding of mental healthcare treatment. Isabel has experience providing care in inpatient psychiatric settings, forensic settings, private practices, and more.

Welcome! I am Allyssa (pronounced A-lee-sha), a psychotherapist who offers an embodied presence and safe space for you to creatively sort through any areas in your life that need attention and balance. Meeting you where you are, we will honor, strengthen, and discover together the manners in which you feel most empowered to express your authenticity, improve your overall mental health, and explore your mind-body connection.

I offer a combination of dance/movement therapy (D/MT) and traditional psychotherapy, with a relational-cultural approach that seeks to bring to light current strategies of connection and disconnection with yourself and the world around you. Dance/movement therapy is the psychotherapeutic use of dance and movement to support emotional, physical, social, and cognitive integration. No previous dance experience is needed, we are all movers in life! Like all bodies, a session that incorporates DMT can take many forms depending on your needs, comforts, and treatment goals. We may simply bring attention to the body, to feelings and sensations that arise when engaging in verbal processing in an effort to reveal the roots of unhealthy reactions, behaviors, and habits. We may use movement, improvisational dance, and embodied storytelling to give expression and increase awareness of patterns, beliefs, and beliefs, and past trauma hidden in the body and in the unconscious. In these creative processes of gathering information and wisdom from the body, we will explore healthier coping skills, decision-making, and communication styles. D/MT can also take the form of mindfulness practices, breathwork, and stress/anxiety-relieving techniques. As a student of life, I am committed to consistent continuing education around trauma work and strength-based modalities in order to best support my clients individually.

Years of experience as a bilingual, bicultural Latinx therapist at Mount Sinai Inpatient Psychiatry, as well as in schools and community centers, have greatly informed my commitment to holding space for issues around racial identity, social justice, and intergenerational trauma. As an LGBTQ+, NM/poly, and kink-affirmer, I approach therapy as a supportive and nourishing container for all stories and experiences to be held, seen, and validated. I believe we all deserve this equally.

Coaching and Wellness

In my practice, “Taboo Talk,” I create space to discuss Sex and Intimacy concerns with my clients. Each person’s relationship with intimacy is different. In my coaching practice, topics that feel off-limits in daily life aren’t just permitted, but can be explored without shame in our work together.

A fulfilling experience of sex and Intimacy requires a sense of safety. As a Somatica practitioner, I provide a healthy, judgment-free space where my clients share parts of themselves they haven’t been able to express in their daily lives and relationships. I used a “relationship lab” style. In treatment, we collaborate strengthen the mind-body connection and deepen insight to develop and improve intimacy with self and others.

Using dialogue, body-based tools, breath work, visualization and sensation-mapping, we work creatively at your own pace. Together, we can tackle difficult topics, peel back the layers and find effective ways to meet your sex and intimacy goals.

Leads: Individual and Group Somatica

Andrea is a certified breath coach, vibroacoustic therapist, Reiki practitioner, classical pianist and music instructor. Andrea has explored sound healing through different cultures; From shamanic, yogic and Sufi traditions to academic settings like NYU music therapy, deep listening studies of Pauline Oliveros and private studies with the Grammy award winner and University of California faculty teacher Silvia Nakkach. Her constant curiosity and study create a holistic and practical support to spiritual development. Andrea believes that “sound and movement are essential to human development because they are a direct path to discovering ourselves and connecting with others. If we practice listening to all the noises in the world, outside of us, we will eventually allow ourselves to focus on all the noises inside our mind, and learn to discern them. We will be able to tune into a world of vibration and choose to selectively listen with love to that which is nurturing.

Leads: Soundbath Healing Workshops