Greene Clinic offers sliding-scale psychological, psychiatric, and Chinese medicinal services to Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Downtown Brooklyn, and the surrounding communities

Individual Therapy

Individual psychotherapy sessions are typically held once or twice weekly for 45 minutes. Clients meet with one of our psychotherapists to talk through ongoing, past or current concerns. We are able to provide therapy in English, Spanish, Russian, Danish, German, and Portuguese.

Couple Therapy

Couples come into therapy for many different reasons. Sometimes to improve their communication or intimacy, sometimes to figure out whether to stay together or break-up. Sessions for couples are usually 45-60 minutes in length.

Group Therapy

Greene Clinic offers both skills-based and process groups. Skills groups are typically time limited (2-6 months), and the focus of each group is to learn effective and concrete ways of coping, diminishing symptoms (e.g. of anxiety, depression, insomnia), or improving communication. Process groups are more open-ended and ongoing in scope; people often learn a tremendous amount about their interpersonal styles and habits, especially how they relate to and impact other people. Process groups are a way of receiving both support and challenges for growth.

At any given time, the Greene Clinic may offer skills groups such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (including Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Walking the Middle Path Skills), Mind-Body Group, and Qigong. Process groups include focus on Art Therapy, Parenting, Creativity, Relationships, or Eating Disorders. Please reach out for more information or for group requests.

Current groups:

Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Dr. Cassie Kaufmann and Crista Scaturro

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) integrates Eastern philosophical principles with Western behavioral psychology, in order to help individuals find balance between at times opposing ideas, such as acceptance and change, emotion and reason, being and doing. In practice, DBT groups focus on skill building and increasing insight. Specifically, each group begins with a Mindfulness practice and then delves variously into other topics such as tolerating distress, regulating emotions, and improving interpersonal communication. Group participants are invited to work on particular areas of their life they’d like to improve, develop skills to apply to those areas, and discuss and support each other through the difficulties inherent in change.

The group will begin early November and is tentatively scheduled to meet on Fridays at 1pm. Pricing for each group session is $50, but sliding scale options are available. It is limited to a small number of participants.

Art in Therapy with Sonja Stengel

Art is a way of knowing. It is a way to make sense of what our personal experience is. Whether we reflect on our past or consider our current state of being, creating images can be both cathartic and enlightening. Self expression is a liberating and powerful tool used to empower, develop insight, and engage in positive coping skills. Through the support and guidance of a licensed creative arts therapist, the individual is able to make the connections between image, content, and intent, to self awareness and understanding. Common issues addressed through art therapy directives may include stress management, anxiety, interpersonal conflict, trauma, and bereavement. Goals of treatment are discussed individually with each participant. Pricing for these group sessions is between $35-45 and is limited to a small number of participants.

Adjustment to Motherhood with Dr. Gabriella Cardona-Morales

Transitioning into the role of motherhood, whether it is the first time or you have more than one child, can produce a host of mixed emotions. Alongside the experience of love/amazement, there is also anxiety, exhaustion, and feeling naturally overwhelmed. At times, motherhood can also bring about difficult feelings related to our upbringing and relationships with caregivers. This therapeutic group offers a safe space to explore and share these thoughts and feelings, often times hidden by mothers. Additionally, the group teaches practical strategies for navigating this complex role, including ways to enhance self-care, improve confidence, and reduce stress.

Neuropsychological, Psychoeducational, and Diagnostic Assessment

Greene Clinic offers comprehensive neuropsychological evaluations, from which we generate thorough reports and recommendations. Individuals tend to seek out such evaluations in order to receive greater diagnostic clarity and recommendations for conditions such as Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD), specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, dementia, disordered thinking, anxiety, mood disorders, and developmental disabilities. Evaluations usually require a commitment of 8-15 hours, often scheduled over a few sessions.

Forensic Evaluations for Immigration Cases

Some staff at Greene Clinic have expertise in evaluations for immigrants seeking asylum. Please inquire further.

Emotional Support Animal Evaluations

For clients in our care, we offer evaluations related to acquiring emotional support animals when appropriate.

We facilitate referrals to psychiatrists when appropriate.

About Chinese Medicine

Chinese medicine was developed over 3000 years ago. In recent decades it has undergone a renaissance here in the West and today it is continuing to grow in popularity due to its safety, effectiveness and accessibility, spread by the word of mouth of people all over the world who have gained extraordinary benefit from it.

It is said that “the best cure for disease is prevention” – this is the essence of Chinese medicine, and bringing the whole person back to a state of balance is the main goal of treatment.

Chinese medicine takes a holistic approach based on the Daoist philosophy of yin and yang. It not only effectively treats apparent symptoms of disease, but also has the unique ability to detect early signs of imbalance and prevent disease from occurring. It is suitable for people in all stages of life.

A partial list of conditions commonly treated by Chinese medicine:

chronic pain; headaches and migraines; muscle strain, sprain and tension; TMJ; insomnia; anxiety; stress; anger; obsessive thoughts; depression; constipation; digestive issues; stomach pain; lack of energy; women's health issues: PMS, PMDD, dysmenorrhea (painful menses), reproductive supportive, menopausal symptoms; men's health issues; hormonal imbalances and related mood disturbances; acute emotional trauma and PTSD; addiction recovery.

Chinese Medicine Modalities

There are several modalities, or “tools”, in the toolbox of Chinese medicine. The two main and most widely used modalities are acupuncture and herbal medicine. Besides acupuncture needles, acupressure, and moxibustion (a warming technique), other methods may be used in your treatment such as: cupping, qigong healing, guided visualization or meditation. Each and every acupuncture treatment or herbal prescription is unique to the person and situation, and may employ one or several of these methods to bring about a positive change.

In the event of crises (social, political, environmental), we offer support groups to help process events that may cause emotional distress to some of our clients. For more information, look for signs posted within the clinic or reach out to us for updates.

MIND-BODY workshop planned for Fall 2018. This weekly workshop will introduce and facilitate the practice of mindfulness, yoga, qigong, and relaxation exercises for stress and anxiety reduction, mood stabilization, and improved overall physical health. Participation in this workshop will also help to increase awareness and understanding of the psyche-soma/mind-body connection. If interested, please contact us for more information.

Payment varies by type of service and is set with your individual therapist. We accept cash, checks, and credit card. Greene Clinic generally functions on a sliding fee scale. While not all of our providers can offer sliding scale services at any given time, we work hard as a group to provide therapy that is affordable to many and to accommodate the various income levels and resources within the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill community. For clients seeking a reduced fee for services at Greene Clinic, we will ask you to complete a personal budget form along with your other intake materials, in order to collaboratively determine a fair session fee.

As a group, we are currently out of network, but we are willing to help our clients determine their out of network benefits and to submit claims on their behalf. Some of our individual practitioners are in-network for select insurance, including Aetna Columbia Student Health and Empire BCBS.

In order to determine your insurance out-of-network mental health benefits, we recommend calling and asking:

• whether you need prior approval or a referral 
• what is your deductible 
• at what rate (%) your insurance reimburses you, after you have met your deductible. Often insurance plans will cover 70-80% of session costs. Alternately, ask what your co-insurance is (the percent of each session you’re responsible after the deductible has been met) 
• whether they reimburse for the reasonable and customary amount 
• is there a session limit, or alternatively an out-of-pocket maximum, after which they cover the whole session fee.

We ask clients who need to miss a session to give as much advance warning as possible, so that we can try to reschedule if possible. Although providers may have different policies, generally missed sessions and cancellations within less than 24 hours of the session time are charged at the full session rate.