Carlina Leon

Starting therapy often means saying things out loud for the first time. You don't have to have the words ready — that's part of the work.

I work with adults facing anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, and major life transitions, including the particular strain of rebuilding a life in a new country, holding a family across borders, or carrying a loss that happened somewhere else.

Much of my career has been spent with people on the worst day of their lives. I responded to the 1999 Vargas disaster in Venezuela, and worked with Project Liberty in New York after 9/11, training paramedics, firefighters, and highway police along the way. You do not have to protect me from what happened to you.

I trained first as a psychologist in Venezuela and completed my master's in mental health counseling in New York. I'm a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New York and Connecticut, a National Certified Counselor, and EMDR-certified.

Sessions are available in English and Spanish. Not translated — I work in both.

If you're deciding whether to reach out, you don't need to be certain. You only need to be curious enough to start.

My work is person-centered and recovery-oriented: I follow your lead on what matters, and we aim for real change, not just coping. When trauma is what's holding things in place, I use EMDR. Beyond my practice, I build bilingual mental health resources for Spanish-speaking communities — the cultural piece isn't an add-on for me; it's central. The approach follows you, not a manual.

You don't need to arrive with everything organized — whatever you bring to that first session won't be too much. The session will happen at your pace. Together, we will set out your goals so that throughout future sessions we can keep an eye on them and ensure you are getting the results you are looking for. In addition to the longer-term goals, we will also leave room for your more immediate day-to-day challenges as they arise.