MESSAGE TO CLIENTS
When my son was four years old, a teacher asked him about my job, and he answered: "My mother helps people feel better." 

I have compassion for the human experience and believe everybody can change.  In my first session, the client will see how passionate I am about my work and how committed I am to helping them navigate this difficult time. I'm confident in handling complex cases because I am equipped to manage challenging issues.
  
One of the premises of CBT is that clients will learn to be their own therapists. At the end of their treatment, my clients will feel confident that they will have enough skills to manage their problems in the future, know how to make decisions based on their needs/goals, and have more realistic expectations about their lives. 
 
We will work as a team, and you will feel confident that our sessions will benefit you. Even though the client is coming to be helped with specific goals, the treatment will also help them learn new skills to address other problems in their lives.
 
Establishing a diagnosis is an integral part of my job because it helps me monitor my client's symptoms during treatment. However, I do not label them; I will see the diagnosis as only one factor involved in their treatment. Knowing their diagnosis also helps me to moderate our expectations related to the progress in the therapeutic process.
 
Being a researcher and clinical supervisor helps me stay up to date in my practice as a therapist with new publications on evidence-based approaches and differential diagnosis.
 
I believe in the approaches I use in the sessions with my clients because I also use them in my personal life. Knowing that helps me understand how difficult it can be to use in some specific situations.

In addition to psychotherapy, I offer consultation/training/supervision in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

EDUCATION 
I am a Brazilian trilingual LMHC with over 27 years of experience as a researcher, psychotherapist, and clinical supervisor, including over 8 years as a Psychologist in Brazil. I earned a Specialization in Health Psychology and a Master's Degree in Science from UNIFESP, one of the most prestigious universities in South America regarding Psychiatry and Mental Health.  In 2018, I was the recipient of the TBCT Contribution to the Field Award.

I have lived in New York for over 18 years and have held an O-1A visa, a visa for individuals with extraordinary ability and outstanding achievements in the field of science (also called "The Einstein Visa") for many years. In November of 2024, I was granted the EB-1A visa as a self-petitioner. This is an employment-based, first-preference green card for foreign nationals who possess "extraordinary ability" in the sciences, arts, education, and related fields.

LICENSES + CERTIFICATIONS​

• TBCT certified and trained at the Beck Institute
• Beck: CBT for Anxiety 
• Beck: Essentials of CBT: Beck Approach 
• Beck: CBT for Personality Disorders 
• Beck: CBT for Depression and Suicide 
• Beck: CBT for Children and Adolescents
• Beck: CBT for Medical Conditions
• Beck: CBT for Perfectionism
• Beck: CBT for Adult ADHD
• Beck: CBT for ADHD in Youth
• Beck: CT-R Approach to Trauma, Aggression and Self-injury
• Beck: Training CBT Supervisors

​PUBLICATIONS

• Randomized clinical trial of the efficacy of trial-based cognitive therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder
• A systematic review on the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder
• A systematic review to study the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for sexually abused children and adolescents with posttraumatic stress disorder
• ​What if This is My Destiny?’ Children of Alzheimer’s Patients  Sometimes Fear Future Diagnosis

LANGUAGES
English, Portuguese, Spanish

INQUIRIES
​If you want to contact Cristiane Passarela, please send a message to: [email protected]