Alison Abrams, LCSW, Ed.M.

I am a strengths-based clinical social worker who will meet you where you are and help you regain a stronger sense of self and well-being so that you can move towards a better life worth living.

I am a patient, attentive, and process-oriented therapist who will approach our work together from a strengths-based perspective. Using a variety of therapeutic approaches, I will help you gain self-awareness and build coping skills that will help you tolerate, minimize, and deal with your stressors in life from a place of confidence. Together we will learn more about how you reached the place you are now and what is getting in the way of you living your best life. I will teach, model, and encourage you rediscover your self-confidence, nourish self-esteem, and expand your awareness of how to control troubling symptoms so that you can feel better, function better, and heal.

Prior to becoming a social worker and psychotherapist in 2015, I was a teacher of children and adolescents with special needs, with a focus on those who had moderate to severe learning disabilities and other neurological conditions (such as ADHD and autism spectrum disorder) that impact learning. It was through these relationships that I learned about the many short and long-term social, emotional, and psychological implications and challenges not only for these children, but also for their siblings, parents, and extended families -- the anger and frustration, the loneliness, the rejection, the shame and guilt, the sadness and grief, the feelings of loss and disappointment and overwhelm, marital problems, sibling resentments, and family conflict. With a foundation based on strong and trusting relationships, I was invited into these children's lives to help them develop purposeful skills to help navigate their daily experiences, observe and interact with multiple environments, identify and communicate their needs effectively in each one, and to gain an overall stronger sense of self. Collectively, my students, their families, and I worked towards building better relationships both within and beyond the confines of family, problem-solving, and creating meaningful support systems. Resilience is what nourished the process.

It was at this time in my professional life that I decided to take my valuable professional and life experiences into the mental health arena. I returned to New York University’s Silver School of Social Work, earning my MSW. Since then, I have worked with children, teens, and adults of all ages in a variety of mental health settings, including schools, psychiatric hospitals, residential facilities, and outpatient mental health clinics to help support them on their individual personal journeys.

I am currently offering virtual sessions, with daytime and evening availability during the week. Please email me to set up a phone consultation.