Dr. Thomas Parinello

Dr. Parinello is a part-time clinician at Elysian Psychological Services. He is a U.S. Navy Veteran with 11 years of service, primarily in the aviation community, and has multiple deployments to several combat and high-hazard areas in support of combat and intelligence operations. He completed his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, and completed his pre-doctoral internship at the Hampton VA Medical Center in Hampton, Virginia. Dr. Parinello has worked in various clinical settings including private practice, university counseling, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Parinello also holds M.A. and Ed.S. degrees in counseling from Seton Hall University.

Dr. Parinello has experience in psychological assessment, psychotherapy, and consultation. His focus areas in treatment are depression, anxiety, sleep issues, ADHD, obsessive-compulsive disorder, childhood and adult trauma, PTSD, grief, loss, death and the dying process, medical and health-related concerns, and life transitions/stage of life concerns. Dr. Parinello aims to empower the individual toward personal growth and change through challenging their patterns and behaviors and engaging in deeper thought. Dr. Parinello uses evidence-based psychotherapies in combination with an existential, often integrated conceptualization, driven by the individual and their needs. He is competent in providing evidence-based interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), trauma-informed care, and Mindfulness-Based interventions. He is also formally trained in Existential-Humanistic Psychotherapy which remains his primary approach.

During the intake session, we gather information central to the main concern as well as gather a wide range of history, including family, social, and even medical. Following the intake session, we begin by exploring the main concerns in terms of effect to functioning. Therapy also focuses heavily on the areas of emotional communication, emotional responsibility, boundary setting, awareness, use of language and the words we use, all in terms of self and others. I have found these areas helpful in using the more structured interventions. Therapy is shaped as we go and according to what works best for you, notwithstanding guidance from me. However, typically we have a course defined in earlier sessions.