It's Really Not About Us

We don’t act like we know it all. Our team maintains a curious and collaborative approach to understand exactly what is going on, through integrated communication strategies. But we feel it’s still important for you to know who we are.

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OUR PEOPLE

Meet The Team

We believe it “takes a village” for a business to thrive. Our Founders took their experiences in life and profession and built Collaborative to solve the problems they had encountered before. It’s new, it’s fresh, its humanity at its peak.

Please feel free to search for your service, location or insurance provider. You may also book with a provider on their profiles below

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Maria Pietruszka, MS, LMHC, CASAC-T

Position: Psychotherapist

Phone: (862) 329-6826

Email: maria.pietruszka@collaborative-therapy.com

Areas of Work: Out of Network, 12- Step Friendly, Abstinence Based Psychotherapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Addiction Counseling, Adjustment Disorder, Adolescent / Teen Issues, Adolescent Addiction / Substance Use, Adoption, Adult Psychotherapy, Adults (25-64), Affirming Therapy, Aging Parents, AIDS - HIV, Alcohol Use, Alcoholism, Anger, Anger Management, Animal-Assisted Therapy, Anti-Social Personality Disorder (ASPD), Anxiety Disorder, Artist-Related Stress, Asexual, Attachment Disorder, Behavior Modification, Behavioral Issues / Problems, Behavioral Therapy, Bereavement / Grief Counseling, Betrayal Trauma, BIPOC Mental Health Issues, Bisexual, Bisexual, Body Positivity/Health at every size, Body-Focused Therapy (ex: Tapping), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Buddhist, Bullying, Burnout, Canabis Use disorder, Career-Related Stress, Caregiver Burnout, Chemical Dependency Assessments, Childhood Trauma, Children (<13), Christian, Christian Counseling, Chronic Relapse, Client Centered Therapy/Rogerian Therapy, Clinical Supervision and Licensed Supervisors, Codependency, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Psychosis (CBT), Commitment Obstacles, Community Violence, Compassion Fatigue, Confidence Issues, Coping Mechanism Development, COVID-19 Stress, Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, Cultural Competence, Cultural Diversity Issues, Dance/Movement Therapy (DMT), Dating, Depression, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Disruptive, Impulse-Control and Conduct Disorders, Drug Addiction, Drug Use, Dual Diagnosis, Early Childhood Trauma, Emerging Adulthood, Emotion Regulaton Therapy (ERT), Emotional Abuse, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, Emotional Disturbance, Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Family Conflicts / Issues, Family constellations, Family Dynamics / Systems, Family Planning, Family Systems, Fear of Failure, Female Identifying, Feminist, Fidelis Care of New York, Forensic Psychology, Gambling / Crypto Addiction, Gay, Gay, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Group Therapy, Group Therapy, Harassment, Harm Reduction Therapy, Health at Every Size, Health-Related Concerns, Humanistic Therapy, Immigration, Immigration Psychological Evaluation, Imposter Syndrome, Impulse Control Disorder (ICD), Indecision, Individual Therapy, Intergenerational Trauma, Internal Family systems (IFS), Internet Addiction, Intersex, Intervention, Intimate Partner Violence, Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Trauma, Intrusive Thoughts, Irrational Fears, Jewish, Lesbian, Lesbian, Level 3 Clinician, LGBTQIA+, Life Transitions, Life Transitions, Loneliness, Low Self Esteem, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Male Identifying, Marijuana Disorder, Marriage Counseling, Masculinity-Related Stress, Medication Management, Medication Management, Medication-Induced Anxiety Disorder, Mental Health Problem / Illness, Mental State Opinion, Mentalization Based Treatment, Mid-Life Crisis, Migraines / Chronic Headaches, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Money-Related Stress, Mood Disorder/Mood Swings, Motivational Interviewing (MI), Multicultural Therapy, Music Therapy, Muslim, Natural Disasters, Non-Binary, Non-suicidal Self-Injury, Non-Traditional Romantic Stress, Nonreligious, Open Relationships/Non-Monogomy, Parenting, Peer Relationships, Perfectionism, Performance Anxiety, Positive Psychology, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Counseling, Pre-College Fears, Premarital / Marital, Premenopausal Symptoms, Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD), Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), Procrastination, Psychedelic Integration Therapy, Quarter-Life Crisis, Queer, Queer, Queer-Competent, Questioning, Race-Related Stress, Racial Justice Framework, Racism Issues, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), Reality Therapy, Recently Moved, Refugee Trauma, Relapse Prevention Therapy, Relationship Struggles / Issues, Romantic Life, School Phobia, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), Self Esteem, Seniors (65+), Separation Anxiety, Sex Positive/Kink Friendly, Sex Worker Positive, Sexual Identity, Sexuality, Sibling-Related Stress, Social Anxiety, Social Anxiety Disorder, Social Justice, Social Life, Social Therapy, Spiritual Crisis or Transition, Spirituality, Straight, Strength-Based, Strength-Based Therapy, Stress, Stress Management, Teaching, Teenagers/Adolescents (13-17), Trans-Competant, Transgender, Transitioning, Trauma / Trauma Focused, Trauma Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Vegan, Vulnerability, Women's Issues / Obstacles, Women's Issues Therapy, Work-Related Counseling, Worry, Young Adulthood, Young Adults (18-24)

Location: Tele-Health/Virtual

Maria 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.

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Maria Pietruszka, MS, LMHC, CASAC-T

Psychotherapist

Maria was born in Poland and migrated to NYC at...

Alex Nourishad M.D.

Position: Founder & Psychiatry President

Phone: (929) 419-3981

Email: alex.nourishad@collaborative-psychiatry.com

Areas of Work: Out of Network, Addiction, Adults (25-64), Aetna, Afflictions, Anxiety Disorders, Indecision, Level 4 Clinician, Life Transitions, Male Identifying, Medication Management, Medication Management, Personality Disorders, Queer-Competent, Romantic Life, Self Esteem, Self-Reflection, Sex Positive/Kink Friendly, Sex Worker Positive, Stress, Young Adulthood, Young Adults (18-24)

Location: Tele-Health/Virtual

Alex begins every therapeutic relationship with a comprehensive assessment that helps guide the direction of treatment. He then works with you to develop a plan that will meet your individual needs and concerns. If medications are recommended, Alex will discuss the risks, benefits, and alternatives with you thoroughly and walk you through a road map of both the results and possible side effects you might reasonably anticipate. If psychotherapy is recommended, you will have the opportunity to discuss whether you would prefer to have a collaborating psychotherapist or work with Alex in this capacity.

Alex takes a relational approach, which means you can expect a casual conversation style that brings awareness to the therapeutic alliance and is unafraid to lean into his various intersectional identities (e.g. LGBTQ, first-generation American, musician) to unlock a vocabulary of shared or divergent life experiences. He prefers to combine psychotherapy with psychopharmacology to achieve optimal results, employing evidence-based techniques from CBT, psychodynamic, and brief relational frameworks.

Areas of focus include exploring identity-related concerns, self-esteem, body image, substance abuse (including medication-assisted treatment with Vivitrol and Suboxone), anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, ADHD, OCD, PTSD, personality disorders, and more. Alex has specialized experience working in LGBTQ community healthcare and outpatient addiction treatment center settings.

Outside of work, Alex loves to eat, travel, and make music. He sings in an a cappella group and chorus and loves to work on individual projects in songwriting, recording, and music production.

Education, Training & Credentials:

Undergraduate: BS, Biological Sciences, Stanford University (Palo Alto, CA)
Medical School: MD, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth (Hanover, NH)
Residency: Adult Psychiatry, Icaahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in affiliation with Mount Sinai Beth Israel (New York City, NY)
Board Certification: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

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