Meet Our Team

Shafeena Khan, MS. Ed, LMHC, CCTP

Director of Clinical Services 

Shafeena is a licensed mental health counselor and founder of Breakthrough Mental Health Counseling. She started BMHC in aspiration of being able to provide a community with a space that was warm and welcoming to those in need of mental safety.
Shafeena is of Indo-Caribbean heritage which allows her to provide culturally sensitive treatment to those of Indo-Caribbean, West Indian, and Caribbean cultures. She works with adolescents, teens, and adults struggling with difficulties of everyday stressors with a focus on how impactful the use of daily technology may be contributing to these stressors.  In addition, Shafeena is experienced in working with individuals struggling with moving forward in their lives from traumatic experiences and events.  At Breakthrough, Shafeena is the supervising clinician for mental health counselors in training, on site. 
Shafeena utilizes interventions from the schools of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), person-centered therapy, and solution-focused therapy to meet her clients’ needs. 
​
  • Certification in Trauma Treatment
  • Certification in Tech Addiction and Digital Health

Aasma Mehdi, MS., LMHC, CATP

Staff Psychotherapist
​​Aasma is a multilingual licensed mental health counselor.
She is fluent in Urdu, Punjabi, and Hindi. Aasma has been exposed to culturally sensitive communities including, in-patient, outpatient clinics, residential, school-based, and community based settings throughout NYC and Long island. Aasma specializes in working with South Asian adolescents and adults who may be struggling with depression, anxiety, domestic violence, or trauma. In addition to private practice, Aasma is the Chief Operating Officer of Council of Peoples Organization and is currently pursuing her PhD at Pace University.
Aasma  utilizes interventions from the schools of cognitive behavioral therapy, and person-centered therapy to help meet her clients' needs.​
  • Certification in Child & Adolescent Trauma

Maya Wilder, MS., MHC-LP

Affiliate Psychotherapist​
Maya is a mental health counselor who is also in the process on attainting her certification in Drama Therapy with the North American Drama Therapy Association. Maya encourages authenticity and curiosity in the counseling space. Her aim is to support clients as they learn and put into action new skills while growing their sense of awareness, self-acceptance, and agency. Maya works with individuals living with trauma, depression, anxiety, ADHD, autism, disordered eating, and challenges related to parenting neurodivergent and disabled children. 
​Maya’s approach is integrative, often blending existential-humanistic therapies with a bit of creativity to help make change. Maya also strives to create a judgement-free zone where she welcomes all parts and will center you in the counseling relationship.
  • North American Drama Therapy Association - ​                   Alternative Training Program

Sarah-Joe Hylaris, MS., LMHC

Affiliate Psychotherapist
Sarah-Joe is a licensed mental health counselor whose goal is to create a safe space with the clients she serves in order to provide them the skills needed to seek clarity in areas they are struggling with. Sarah has worked primarily with adults of many different backgrounds who struggle with anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder focusing on personal growth. In addition, Sarah is the Assistant Director of the Community Living Program with the Mental Health Association of Nassau County. In addition, Sarah is supervising clinician for interns on site.
​Sarah utilizes cognitive behavioral therapy to assist clients with challenging negative thinking patterns while learning new techniques to cope with difficult situations. 


Marissa Mangione, MS., MHC-LP

Staff Psychotherapist
Marissa is a mental health counselor who wants to help her clients attain their goals through processing any challenges that presents.  Marissa prioritizes creating a therapeutic environment with her clients that is safe, empowering, collaborative, and all the more insightful. Her objectives in working with clients include helping them to make personal discoveries and connections about their mental health, to explore the significance of their life experiences and relationships, and to learn how to effectively cope with life's many stressors. Marissa has previous experience in working with adults who experience depression, anxiety, trauma, relational issues, as well as self-image and identity difficulties.
As a counselor, she uses an integrated approach with strong influences from person-centered, emotion-focused, and cognitive therapies and she frames the counseling experience as gratifying hard work.

The Interns

Meet some of the field's newest clinicans-to-be!
​At Breakthrough, our interns are graduate students working directly with their supervisor in order to 
​provide the best treatment to our clients!

Karina Gopeesingh

Being part of the Indo-Caribbean culture, Karina hopes to provide treatment to individuals that are part of  the culture and to decrease the sigma in the Indo-Caribbean community. Her style is non-judgmental while aiming to challenge change.  Karina utilizes interventions from cognitive behavioral therapy, and person-centered therapy to meet her clients’ needs.

Kellie Cassidy

Kellie is particularly interested in working with adolescents and young adults who are dealing with depression, anxiety, stress-related issues, adjustment stressors and trauma. Kellie takes an empathic and nonjudgmental approach. She uses interventions from cognitive behavioral therapy, person centered therapy, and solution-focused brief therapy (SFBT) to help meet her client's needs. 

Rebecca Singh

Rebecca hopes to increase mental health awareness and decrease the stigma in the South Asian, West Indian, and Indo-Caribbean communities by offering authentic support to her clients. Her style is empathetic and non-judgmental while increasing client awareness and acceptance. Rebecca utilizes interventions from cognitive behavioral therapy, person-centered therapy, and a humanistic and existential approach that encourages her client to live a more fulfilled life.

Nicole Layer

Nicole encourages her clients to feel comfortable speaking
freely, as she is committed to meeting her clients with empathy and understanding. She has also worked closely with, and is part of,
the LGBTQIA+ community and strives to bring her knowledge of LGBTQIA+ topics into the therapeutic environment so that these clients can feel heard and understood.  Nicole’s approach is integrative, with strong influences in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Person-centered therapy,
and Adlerian therapy.