Dena Duke, LMHC-D

I’m Dena Duke, and I’m so glad you’re here. I am a relational therapist and the connection between us is part of the work. Therapy is not about analyzing you from afar. It is about creating a real relationship that helps you feel safe enough to grow, experiment, and imagine new possibilities for yourself. I work with people who think deeply, feel deeply, and are ready for something in their lives to shift.

When we’ve been hurt in relationships or by experiences, we often carry not only the pain of what happened but also confusion or shame about how we learned to cope. It can feel like the ways you protect yourself are the problem, even though they made perfect sense at the time. In our work together, we will slow things down, gently explore those patterns, and understand how they were shaped. From there, we can build new ways of relating that help you feel steadier, more connected, and more in charge of your life.

Success, to me, is when your inner voice becomes kinder and clearer and the things that once derailed you no longer hold the same power. Over time, you start to feel more like yourself. More grounded. More at ease. More able to choose how you want to move through the world instead of reacting from old wounds.

I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New York and Florida, a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, and hold diagnostic privilege in New York. My approach blends trauma-informed and humanistic principles with attachment theory, relational psychodynamic work, parts work, and somatic awareness.

Here, you will find a space that is honest, supportive, and designed to help you build a deeper, more compassionate relationship with yourself and the people you love. To be sure working together is the best fit for you, I offer a free 15-minute consultation.