Trauma & Relational Therapy for Adults in New York
Mental Health Counselor- Graduate Intern
You tell yourself this time will be different.
And then a few weeks in, you’re rereading texts, wondering if you said too much or not enough. You leave a conversation and immediately replay it in your head. You start pulling back without fully meaning to... taking longer to respond, needing space, convincing yourself it’s just easier this way. You stay, even when something feels off, because you don’t fully trust yourself to do something different.
It’s not that you don’t see the pattern.
You do.
It’s just that seeing it hasn’t been enough to actually change it.
What Brings Someone Into Therapy at This Stage
- A breakup that feels familiar in a frustrating way.
- Moving out or starting something new and realizing confidence didn’t automatically come with it.
- Having more independence and noticing how quickly overthinking, stress, or self-doubt take over.
Clients often describe feeling:
Stuck in the same relationship patterns, on edge or unsure where they stand with people, mentally drained from replaying conversations, and hard on themselves even when they’re trying.
For many, these patterns started earlier in relationships or environments where you had to adapt by staying hyper-aware, avoiding conflict, or disconnecting from what you were feeling.
Those strategies made sense at the time but now they’re showing up in ways that make relationships, confidence, and decision-making feel harder than they should.
How We Work Together
Therapy with me focuses on helping you understand your patterns in a way that actually translates to real life. We pay attention to what’s happening in the moment... when overthinking starts, when you feel yourself pulling away, when self-doubt shifts how you respond in a conversation or relationship.
Instead of staying stuck in your head trying to analyze everything, we slow those moments down and figure out what’s underneath them.
That often includes:
- breaking down relationship patterns so you can see how they repeat
- understanding emotional triggers and why certain situations hit harder
- working through the urge to avoid, shut down, or detach
- learning how to respond in ways that feel more steady and less reactive
- getting clearer on what you actually want instead of defaulting to what feels familiar
We also look at the beliefs you’ve been carrying about yourself. The ones tied to self-worth, confidence, and identity and start separating those from who you actually are.
For clients exploring identity, including LGBTQIA+ clients, therapy is also a space to sort through what feels true for you versus what’s been shaped by outside expectations. We take time with that process, using approaches like narrative therapy to help you make sense of your story and start defining it in your own way.
If trauma or difficult family dynamics are part of your experience, we move at a pace that feels manageable, focusing first on building emotional grounding before going deeper.
Why Marcella Is a Strong Fit for This Work
A lot of the clients I work with have already spent time trying to understand themselves. They’ve thought about their patterns, noticed the cycles, maybe even tried to change them but still find themselves ending up in the same place.
What shifts in our work is not just understanding why something happens, but being able to catch it earlier and respond differently when it does.
My role is active and collaborative. I’m helping you notice patterns in real time, asking questions that get underneath the surface, and giving you tools you can actually use when you’re in those moments not just after the fact.
Over time, clients start to notice that they’re not spiraling as long after interactions, they understand their reactions instead of feeling confused by them, they feel more steady and clear in relationships, and they trust themselves more when making decisions
Professional Background
I am a supervised Graduate Clinical Intern in Mental Health Counseling, currently completing my Master’s Degree in Mental Health and Wellness at New York University (NYU). I hold a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology from Siena College.
I also have experience working in a women’s center and in a domestic violence shelter, supporting women and families navigating relational trauma, safety concerns, and complex life transitions.