It’s not about us
We still feel it’s important for you to know who we are and what we do
Meet The Team
We believe it “takes a village” for a community to thrive. Our team took their experiences in education and life and created Collaborative to tackle even the most toughest of challenges.
Please feel free to search for your service, location or insurance provider. You may also book with a provider on their profiles below.
Elizabeth Malakhova, MSEd, CRC, MHC-LP
Elizabeth (she/her) has a deep passion for helping people of all ages. She is dedicated to providing compassionate and effective mental health care. She enjoys working with children, teens, young adults, and adults. Elizabeth seeks to guide them through their unique challenges and supports their journey to well-being.
Elizabeth holds a Master of Science in Education in Rehabilitation in Mental Health Counseling. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) specializing in vocational counseling from Hofstra University. She is also certified in SMART Recovery, which enhances her ability to help clients overcome addictive behaviors. Her approach to therapy is relational and client-centered, rooted in trauma-informed care. Elizabeth uses techniques from CBT, DBT, and Motivational Interviewing to create personalized and holistic treatment plans.
Elizabeth has expertise in many mental health issues, including PTSD, ADD/ADHD, OCD, mood disorders, relationship concerns, family systems, substance use, anxiety, and depression. Her diverse background helps her connect with clients from various walks of life. Born in Belarus and raised in the Bronx, she is fluent in both English and Russian.
Elizabeth believes in the power of a strong therapeutic relationship. She strives to create a safe, empathetic, and non-judgmental space for her clients. By focusing on everyone’s strengths and goals, she empowers them to achieve personal growth and healing.
In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys cooking and trying out new recipes. She also loves spending time with her friends and family and listening to music. An avid reader, Elizabeth’s favorite activity is curling up on the couch with a good book and her two kittens, Archie and Sawyer.
Lauren Familia, MS, MHC-LP
Lauren (She/Her) was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. She has a master’s in school counseling from Brooklyn College and a certificate in mental health counseling from Alfred University. As someone who is kind and intuitive, Lauren has always been a helper who seeks to understand others. As a person with family members with various mental health disorders, it has been Lauren’s goal to decrease the stigma of mental health, increase awareness, and provide easy access for mental health services. She has years of experience working with children, adolescents, and families both in private and school settings. She has provided therapeutic services to clients who have been incarcerated, homeless, and have substance abuse issues. She has extensive experience working with students and clients that have ADHD, ASD, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. It has been a pleasure for her working with children, adolescents, and adults, and assisting them with increasing their social skills, self-esteem, and emotional regulation skills. As an extrovert/introvert and someone who loves learning about herself and others, Lauren enjoys working with people of all ages and all backgrounds. She has experience doing individual and group therapy.
In treatment with Lauren, she utilizes a holistic, non-judgmental, empathetic approach rooted in active listening. She believes therapy should be catered to the needs of the person or groups of people. She incorporates her adaptability, patience, and creativity into her work. She frequently uses the modalities of person center therapy, trauma informed care, emotion focused therapy, rational emotive behavior therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and dialectical behavior therapy.
Lauren wants her clients to feel empowered, safe, strong, and heal from any trauma they may have. While working with Lauren she will provide a secure environment in which you can work on your goals, express/identify your feelings/emotions, and utilize various mindful skills. Lauren is caring, which allows her clients to feel supported.
She enjoys running and cycling in various New York races. She loves reading, her favorites are mysteries and classics. She likes to cook, go to concerts, and spend quality time with her friends, family, and her cockapoo Mickey.
Victoria Cavaliere, MA, MHC-LP
Victoria (she/her) is a compassionate and driven psychotherapist. She was born and raised in Queens, NY, and has a passion for providing mental health services. She attended John Jay College of Criminal Justice and earned her master’s in forensic mental health counseling with a victimology certificate. Victoria is motivated to make a change in the mental health community.
Victoria’s values are rooted in empathy, respect, and collaboration. She works to create a non-judgmental space for clients to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences. She has experience doing both groups and individual therapy. Victoria has focused on addressing key problem areas such as anger management, problematic sexual behavior, relationship challenges, academic challenges and much more. She is eager to extend her support to adults, young adults, couples, and adolescents.
Victoria employs a relational approach, while also being flexible to meet each client’s unique needs. She has worked with various concerns including anxiety, depression, relationship challenges, stress management, family issues, and career/life challenges. Her interest in attachment styles and childhood upbringings allows her to adapt to each client’s unique experience. By using multiple approaches and skill building exercises, she encourages for a deeper understanding of the self and ability to self-reflect.
Victoria strives to empower clients to tap into their strengths and resources to promote personal growth and positive change. She places emphasis on building a strong therapeutic alliance and strives to make a meaningful change, so her clients feel heard, valued and empowered during therapy.
Victoria loves to cook and has been on her own journey to create more recipes she could use for family gatherings. She also enjoys spending time with friends, family, her partner and German Shepherd, Xena. On her free time, she enjoys shopping, listening to music, spending time in the sun and finding new restaurants to call her “new favorite”.
Sophia Berlin, MS, MHC-LP, CRC
Sophia: (She/Her) completed her Master of Science degree in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After enjoying many years in the south, she is excited to move back to her home state of New York. Sophia uses experience and insights to inform her work and feels fortunate to work with and learn from her clients.
Sophia’s concentration in psychiatric disabilities and rehabilitation counseling offered opportunities to gain experience working in various settings with diverse populations. Her experience in hospitals, specialized mental health clinics, and the VA Health Care system provided opportunities to develop her counseling skills and knowledge. She has experience working with developmental disabilities, chronic illnesses, posttraumatic stress disorder, substance use, self-injurious behaviors, anxiety, and mood disorders. While working with Veterans, she developed her interest in trauma-informed care and addressing co-occurring disorders. Over the last several years, she collaborated on evidence-based psychotherapy research and publications to advocate for access to informed care.
As a therapist, she strives to develop trusting relationships and offer a unique space for authenticity and support. She believes in the importance of recognizing individual strengths, while empowering self-awareness and growth. Her approach is relation-centered and integrative to incorporate modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Humanistic Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Trauma-Informed Care. Sophia uses an eclectic approach, which creates space to recognize different experiences and ensure therapy is accessible and effective.
Sophia could be described as an introverted extrovert. While she enjoys spending time with others and getting lost in conversation, she always carves out time to retreat to the comfort of reading a book on the couch. She is happiest near a body of water and swimming is her favorite form of exercise. Dog time is a staple in her life, and she enjoys any chance to get outside and explore new places.
Michelle Castellanos, MSW, LMSW
Michelle (she/her) is a New York City based psychotherapist and licensed social worker whose focus is building trusting relationships with her clients. She was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY before she headed off to study Psychology and Spanish at Swarthmore College. She returned to New York where she graduated with a Master’s in Social Work from Fordham University in 2019. Michelle can conduct sessions in English and Spanish. She is passionate about providing quality care to people of all backgrounds. She has gained a wide array of experience working with many diverse types of clients working in agencies, nonprofits, hospitals, and community mental health.
Michelle is enthusiastic about creating strong therapeutic relationships with clients. She knows that the relationship between client and provider is one of the building blocks to achieve a client’s goals and that the vulnerability developed during the session is a sacred thing. She partners with her clients to strive for meaningful change. She has worked with different types of people, including children, teens, birthing people, domestic violence survivors, immigrants and refugees, families, and more. She is particularly focused on the impact of trauma on a person’s life and how the process of healing can create new opportunities for someone. With her social work background Michelle is aware of the effect systems have on a person and a group and uses a social justice approach to help clients reach their goals. She aims to empower her clients to gain self-awareness and to develop effective coping strategies.
An enthusiastic reader, Michelle is always happy to get book recommendations of all genres. She is also a happy pet mom to her cat Chicharron. In her free time Michelle also enjoys baking cakes and pastries, crocheting blankets and sweaters, and watching TV with her husband and her cat on her lap.
Taiwo Majekodunmi, MA, LMHC
Taiwo (She/Her) was born and raised in New York City, specifically in Queens and Brooklyn. She is a licensed mental health counselor and holds a master’s degree in mental health counseling from CUNY Brooklyn College. As someone who is voraciously curious and naturally empathetic, Taiwo has always had an ardent desire to understand the inner workings of the mind, which has allowed her to have vast experience in working a diverse demographic. As a first-generation Nigerian American woman, it has been Taiwo’s mission to provide access to those who are underrepresented with the tools they need to overcome their obstacles and heal from their pain. It has been her pleasure to serve those who need it and may not have the resources to access that help, especially because she has experience dealing with financial, racial and emotional hardships. She has provided adolescents and young and middle-aged adults with complex trauma, self-esteem, interpersonal relationships, personality disorders, anxiety, depression, and other mental health concerns in diverse clinical settings.
In treatment with Taiwo, she utilizes an eclectic approach utilizing methods from EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), interpersonal psychodynamic therapy, CBT (Cognitive Based Therapy), somatic approaches, ACT (Acceptance Commitment Therapy) and MBT (Mentalization Based Treatment). She believes that one must be present with their inner experiences without shame or judgment to heal from past or present trauma, which is the proactive of mindfulness. Taiwo employs a collaborative and relational approach to treatment, ensuring that the client’s needs are in the forefront of the treatment process. She expels authenticity and warmth that allows the client to feel safe and attended to. Taiwo will work with the client to help them reach their goals, but it will be at a pace that is up to the client as she believes the session is about the client and their emotional safety.
When working with Taiwo, she will challenge you to assist you in getting out of your comfort zone because discomfort, but with a safe space, is needed to grow and heal. She will also remind you to be kind and compassionate to yourself, as the practice of self-compassion is essential in her treatment process and to one’s healing in general. She hopes that the client will utilize these tools for the rest of their healing journeys.
Michelle Pinel, MS, NBC-HWC
Michelle is a master’s level counselor who approaches the therapeutic process from an integrative medicine lens, exploring concerns of mind, body, and spirit to help clients achieve optimal wellness. She works with individuals experiencing a range of mental and physical health concerns, including anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, substance abuse, and chronic physical pain. She uses evidence-based treatment models, including humanistic-existential therapy, behavioral therapy, and somatic therapy, to get to the root cause of mental health concerns and connect clients to their innate capacity for personal growth and healing. She also works with couples and is skilled at empathetically supporting couples as they navigate conflict, communication, and intimacy. Her couple’s work is informed by Imago therapy, Gottman Method, and the Non-Violent Communication framework.
Michelle fosters a safe and accepting space for clients to explore their needs and collaborates with clients to create a tailored treatment plan. She lovingly empowers individuals to take control of their life and achieve self-determined goals. Michelle is a warm, caring, creative, and humorous therapist who deeply cares about the suffering of others. It is her heart-filled mission to help people connect to their strengths, values, and life purpose, so they can live a more fulfilling life.
Michelle is in her final year in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Saybrook University. She also holds a Master of Science in Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University’s College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences. Her research focused on the effectiveness of mind-body therapies in treating chronic health disorders within Mind-Body Medicine from Saybrook University’s College of Integrative Medicine and Health Sciences. Her research focused on the effectiveness of mind-body therapies in treating chronic health disorders, with a focus on gastrointestinal conditions (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome). Michelle is passionate about the mind-body connection and its role in chronic illness. She is also a National Board-Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC) and is adept at using holistic healthcare practices proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and pain while optimizing sleep and self-care. Before entering the health and healing space, Michelle was a corporate executive with 15+ years of experience leading high performing teams.
Frances Zhang, Ed.M, MHC-LP
Born and raised in mainland China, Frances (she/her) has lived in New York City for the past decade. She is a client-centered psychotherapist dedicated to empowering her clients to accept, honor, and find meaning in their everyday experiences.
Frances holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from New York University and earned her Master’s degrees in Psychological Counseling and Mental Health Counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University.
She uses an eclectic approach in her practice, incorporating CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), MI (Motivational Interviewing), and EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy). She is certified in TF-CBT (Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). Her unique style blends Zen Buddhism practices with Western psychotherapy, emphasizing balance and reflecting her own experiences in both worlds.
Trained in the heart of NYC, Frances has extensive experience working with a diverse clientele. She conducts sessions in both Mandarin and English, and adopts multicultural and Queer-and-LGBTQIA+ inclusive frameworks. She specializes in treating depression, anxiety, ADHD, anger management, and grief. She works with individuals, couples, and families, and enjoys addressing intimate relationship and family-of-origin challenges, especially within the AAPI, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Frances is a good match for those seeking a therapist who not only listens, but also challenges, collaborates, and motivates with humor and compassion. In her free time, she enjoys walking with her furry Aussie-doodle son, “Chips,” under abundant sunlight!
David Díaz, MS, LMHC
David’s (he/him) practice incorporates knowledge and techniques from various therapeutic modalities. Fluent in both English and Spanish, David has extensive experience in supporting individuals navigating attachment styles, family conflict/communication styles, trauma work, infidelity, identity issues and issues related to sexuality. Trauma work can incorporate people’ experience with sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, and intergenerational and racial trauma.
He specializes in working with individuals within the Queer and LGBTQIA+ community, offering a supportive and affirming environment. David’s therapeutic approach is rooted in narrative therapy, Emotionally Focused Therapy and evidenced-based practices like CBT and DBT. David draws from various interventions such as experiential therapy, family systems, Gottman’s Method, psychodynamic and structural family therapy.
He aspires to undergo training in EMDR and offer Ketamine-Assisted Therapy. Over the last several years, David’s couples counseling experience has involved many different themes such as infidelity, coparenting, Ethical Non-Monogamy (ENM), Poly Relationships, Erectile Dysfunction Disorder (ED), supporting families with life transitions, improving communication skills, mixed families and more.
In his leisure time, they enjoy biking to various restaurants with friends, hosting dinners and gatherings, engaging in painting or pottery, dancing in nightlife scenes, and traveling to new countries. David has a preference for sunny weather and delights in lounging on grassy areas, beaches, and spending time on the floor of living rooms with friends. They have aspirations to learn woodworking, master swimming against currents, surf, and enhance their dance choreography skills.
Rachel Moses, MA, LMHC
Rachel (She/her) is a licensed mental health counselor dedicated to providing a safe space for each client. Compassionate and patient, she fosters authentic therapeutic relationships with clients. The cornerstone of Rachel’s practice is meeting each client where they are and accepting them as they are. She utilizes an eclectic approach to therapy, recognizing that no two clients are exactly alike. She pulls from a variety of modalities, such as Cognitive-Behavioral therapy (CBT), Mentalization-Based Treatment, Motivational Interviewing, and person-centered therapy.
Throughout her career, Rachel has found that she works well with many clients, particularly those experiencing anxiety, depression, avoidance, and life transitions. She maintains a curious and non-judgmental stance with all clients. She holds an understanding that each client is an expert of their own experience.
While studying at Brooklyn College, Rachel took classes that delved deep into various modalities such as psychodynamic therapy, CBT, and experiential/humanistic therapy. Rachel is always eager to learn from others, whether in a classroom setting, attending to other clinicians’ experiences, or actively listening to clients during sessions.
Born and raised in NYC, Rachel appreciates finding more peaceful moments amidst the city noise. She takes walks, bakes, reads, embroiders, and listens to Broadway cast recordings to clear her mind. On a daily basis, you can find her spending time with her pet dog named Link and parakeet named Pesto.
Hanni Flaherty, PhD, LCSW-R, CASAC-M
Hanni (She/Her) is a New York City-based Clinical Social Worker specializing in adolescents, young adults, and families. Over the past 10 years, she has worked with clients who struggle with a wide range of issues. Her areas of expertise include treating adolescents and young adults with family conflict, substance use, high-risk behaviors, self-harming behaviors, anxiety, depression, mood disorders, personality disorders, trauma, bullying, gender, and sexuality struggles.
Her practice uses a Cognitive Behavioral Treatment approach that takes into consideration each person’s strength and experience. She has a Ph.D. in clinical social work, an LCSW-R, and a CASAC. She is also trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Family Structure Therapy. In addition, she is a Certified Addiction and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) and New York State DUI evaluator.
Her treatment style encompasses open and honest communication to help clients achieve their goals through short-term treatment, long-term treatment, family therapy, and group treatment. Through the development of a strong therapeutic alliance, they work together to develop effective coping skills. In treatment, she strives to create a safe, understanding, and collaborative atmosphere where her clients can share their emotions and explore their struggles. They all have the ability to overcome obstacles and achieve their goals. Therapy should be a helpful force in achieving life goals and overcoming life struggles.
Kyle McEvoy, MS, LPC, LMHC, CCMHC, NCC
Kyle McEvoy (He/Him) is the Founder and President of Collaborative, a multidisciplinary clinical community focused on establishing effective, evidence-based treatment founded on an adaptive mentalization-based treatment model.
Kyle holds advanced training in mentalization-based (MBT) and adaptive mentalization-based integrative treatment (AMBIT) through the Anna Freud Centre for Children and Families. He specializes in complex attachment and identity-related disorders such as borderline, avoidant, antisocial, dependent, and obsessive-compulsive personalities, along with gender-diverse individuals.
He focuses on understanding the individual to engage in a comprehensive execution of a person’s desires, wants, and needs. Kyle has participated in the client’s long-standing change from maladaptive behaviors, thoughts, and feelings through these scientific approaches. Kyle will implore you to participate in your treatment and discuss the techniques actively. He has helped people struggling with substances, explore individual identity (LGBTQIA+), cope with psychological/cognitive/developmental disorders, accept medical diagnoses, and overcome sexual abuse/intimate partner violence.
In addition to Kyle’s direct clinical work, he is a prominent national speaker, writer, and educator of the mental health community in efforts to deepen provider and patient understandings of mentalization, identity formation, and clinically challenging circumstances. In addition, Kyle continues to bolster his clinical approach through continued education and research of personality development from a psychoanalytic perceptive as a student of the Center for Modern Psychoanalytic Studies.
Kyle believes practical and engaging clinical support has the power to invoke change. Therefore, he goes beyond the typical therapeutic approach when working with you.
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