I believe we can all live rich, rewarding, meaningful lives and that we all, regardless of how much we are currently suffering, have a core self that knows how to do this. My goal as a therapist is to help my client’s put their core selves in the driver’s seat.

My primary strength as a therapist is connecting with my clients and helping them understand the feelings and thoughts behind their beliefs and actions, and then helping them learn to love themselves. If we work together, I will strive to help you connect with your core, centered self such that you can make decisions and take actions from a healthy, confident, calm and curious place rather than from a frustrated, angry, depressed or anxious place.

I work with individuals and couples, in addition to specializing in helping caregivers of those with eating disorders. My primary therapeutic approach is Internal Family Systems (IFS) and I also offer ketamine-assisted psychotherapy (KAP) to deepen the therapeutic process. Previously, I worked with mentally ill and developmentally disabled adults for 5 years after college before going back to school to get my MBA from Syracuse University. I then worked in upper management for small and medium sized companies, most recently as the CEO of Webucator, a national training company headquartered in Upstate NY, where I worked from 2009 to 2022. Throughout my adult life I have remained interested in mental health and over the last few years it became increasingly clear to me that I wanted to get back into the mental health field. In July of 2024 I graduated from Le Moyne College with my Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling

My oldest daughter (now 22) developed anorexia at the age of 10. Since then, eating disorders have been a big part of my life in many ways. In addition to the obvious personal ways, I speak regularly to other parents who are going through what we went through at home, I joined the board of FEAST (Families Empowered And Supporting Treatment for Eating Disorders) and I wrote and published a book titled Love, Crowd Out, Forgive, Accept: A Guide to Supporting a Loved One with Anorexia. This whole experience was instrumental in my desire to get back into the mental health field.

My primary non-work activities are spending time with my family (my wife and our three children as well as a lot of extended family we live near and see regularly), playing/working in my yard and gardens, reading and walking in the woods. I’m also loving pickleball! I try to live intentionally, which for me has meant spending more time every year doing mindful activities including meditating, stretching, spending time in nature and more. I serve as Chairman of the Board of the Montessori School of Syracuse, which all three of our children attended, and as Chair of the Finance Committee on FEAST’s board.

Read more on my Psychology Today profile. 

Credentials

• BA, Comparative Religions, Hamilton College

• MS, Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Le Moyne College

• MBA, Finance and Human Resources, Syracuse University

• Limited Permit, MHC

 "There is no such thing as a bad part - only parts burdened by pain."

Richard Schwartz