Diana Yaya-Patel Psychotherapy, PsyD

My path to becoming a therapist began as an adolescent when I tried to make sense of the struggles related to the hardships faced growing up in an immigrant family. In my doctoral training, I gained experience working with children struggling with behavioral, emotional, and academic issues. My work with parents was a central focus in my approach to clinical work with children. I strived to help children feel better about themselves, help parents feel empowered and more confident in their parenting, and help both work toward improving the parent-child relationship. My clinical experiences expanded to adult clients when I worked for eight years at a busy, public outpatient clinic for adults in the Bronx. The individuals and families I met and worked with over the course of my career have deepened my respect for each and every client’s resilience, strength, and ability to change.

Whether in need of treatment for depression, anxiety, life transition struggles, or relationship issues, I will offer you a safe space where you can share your concerns, thoughts, and experiences while I help you identify and work on correcting blind spots, faulty thinking, and patterns that get in the way of a more satisfying life. We can also look at patterns more deeply and understand the source of your struggles together, all with the goal of finding resolutions to get you to a better place. Our first meeting will focus on getting to know you and understanding your concerns. Questions may be open-ended or more structured depending on the issue bringing you to therapy. If you’re seeking treatment for your child, I typically meet with the parents before meeting the child. For adolescents, after a short meeting with the parent and adolescent, I believe it is best to give the adolescent the space and privacy to meet alone with me. An ideal client is one who can commit to the process of therapy.

The option of obtaining mental health services via telehealth makes therapy a lot more accessible and practical. Our ability to use technology to allow mental health services into our homes helps normalize and demystify care. As a therapist, it is exciting to see more people become psychologically-minded and increasingly aware of their mental health needs. This translates into receptive clients ready to work on themselves and open up to making changes.