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.
Michelle Pinel, MS
Michelle (She/Her) is a master’s level counselor-in-training who approaches the counseling process from an integrative medicine lens, exploring concerns of mind, body, and spirit. She uses a client-centered approach to care, believing that all human beings possess an inner wisdom and innate capacity for personal growth. Michelle fosters a safe and supportive space to meet clients where they are and guides them forward in their journey of self-healing. She promotes the development of awareness, skills, and coping strategies that improve wellbeing. She lovingly empowers individuals to take control of their life and achieve self-determined goals.
Michelle is in her final year in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program at Saybrook University. She also holds a Master of Science degree in Mind-Body Medicine—an interdisciplinary field that examines healthcare through the lens of humanistic psychology, biology, and anthropology—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 special focus on functional gastrointestinal conditions. She earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, graduating with honors. Prior to entering the health and healing space, Michelle was a corporate executive with 15+ years of experience leading high performing teams.
Maria Pietruszka, MS, LMHC, CASAC-T
Maria (She/Her) was born in Poland and migrated to NYC at the age of 3. She was raised in Brooklyn and carries that as a badge of honor.
Maria attended Hunter College where she graduated with a degree in Sociology. She then attended LIU Brooklyn and obtained her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling in 2017. During her time at LIU Brooklyn, she was the campus representative for the American Psychology Association Division 35 Society for the Psychology of Women. Maria was involved in hosting events that help spread awareness for feminist research, theory and education to understand and improve the lives of girls and women in all their diversities. This helped Maria develop her passion towards working with women and women’s issues.
After graduation, Maria was hired as a full time substance abuse counselor at Outreach, where she completed her internship for graduate school. She worked with adults to help them reach their goals in recovery. Maria implemented harm reduction techniques to help promote a more inclusive and realistic approach for treating substance use disorders. She is determined to approach all her clients by meeting them where they are and empowering them to meet their treatment and therapy goals.
After 3 years, Maria was promoted to Program Coordinator where she was responsible for running Restart Academy, a Department of Education alternative high school for students with substance use and behavioral issues and an after school program for outpatient services for adolescents. Maria enjoyed working and advocating for adolescents and young people. She guided them through different life transitions like: finishing high school, coping with peer pressure and preparing for the next chapters of their lives like college or full time employment.
Maria also supervised new counselors and her approach was always to empower counselors and teach them listen to their “clinical gut”.
Maria is driven by social justice and participated in movements for Black Lives Matter, women’s rights and animal rights. Her approaches in therapy display her commitment to provide an empathic, compassionate and judgement-free space where people from all walks of life can address their emotional issues, life transitions and meet their therapy goals.
When she is not in session, Maria teaches as an adjunct lecturer at Hunger College. She teaches courses like Drugs and Society and the Sociology of Mental Health. In her free time, Maria loves to re-watch “The Office”, spend time with her two cats Rajah and Stella and try new vegan recipes.
Rachel Moses, MA, MHC-LP
Rachel Moses: (She/Her) is a graduate of the master’s in mental health counseling program at Brooklyn College and currently has her MHC-LP. She is dedicated in her work to foster a safe space for all clients to speak openly about life and all that comes with it. Compassionate and patient, she takes on a person-centered approach to ensure clients are being heard and accepted as they are. Rachel also uses evidence-based treatments in her work. She believes that everyone has the potential to grow, to learn, and to flourish already inside of them.
During her free time, she enjoys baking, knitting, listening to Broadway cast recordings, and spending time with her pet dog and parakeet.
Therapy is unlike any relationship and this can be intimidating, but you have taken a brave first step by researching and reaching out. She looks forward to hearing from you!
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