Breakthrough Mental Health Counseling
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Meet Our Team

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Shafeena Khan, MS. Ed, LMHC, CCTP

Founder of Breakthrough Mental Health Counseling
Director of Clinical Services

At Breakthrough Mental Health Counseling (BMHC), we understand the importance of finding a safe, welcoming, and culturally sensitive space to address your mental health needs. Shafeena, our licensed mental health counselor and founder, is committed to providing just that.
A Caring Approach
Shafeena, of Indo-Caribbean heritage, has a unique perspective that allows her to offer culturally sensitive treatment to individuals from Indo-Caribbean, West Indian, and Caribbean cultures. Her warm and empathetic approach ensures that everyone, regardless of their background, feels heard and understood.
Who We Serve
Shafeena specializes in working with adolescents, teens, and adults dealing with the challenges of everyday stressors. She has a particular focus on the impact of daily technology use on our mental well-being. In today's digital age, understanding how technology affects our lives is crucial, and Shafeena is here to help you navigate it.
Support for Trauma Survivors
Moving forward from traumatic experiences and events can be daunting, but it's possible with the right support. Shafeena is experienced in working with individuals struggling with trauma, helping them heal and regain control over their lives.
Training the Next Generation of Counselors
At Breakthrough, Shafeena serves as the supervising clinician for mental health counselors in training, right on-site. This commitment to mentorship and professional growth ensures that our team is always delivering the highest quality care.
Our Therapeutic Approach
Shafeena utilizes interventions from various therapeutic schools, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Person-Centered Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy. This diverse toolkit allows her to tailor her approach to meet the unique needs of each client, ensuring effective and personalized treatment.
Your mental health is essential, and Shafeena and the BMHC team are here to support you on your journey toward greater well-being and personal growth.


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  • Certification in Trauma Treatment
  • Certification in Tech Addiction and Digital Health
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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.
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  • Certification in Child & Adolescent Trauma
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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
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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. 


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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!
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Natalie Sarra

Natalie collaborates with her clients to manage their stressors and life challenges one day at a time, using techniques from mindfulness-based therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and solution-focused therapy. With empathy and a non-judgmental approach, Natalie has worked with a variety of ages including children, adolescents, and young adults. She is particularly interested in working with those who struggle with Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Depression. Natalie welcomes clients to process their experiences and thoughts in a safe space that promotes positive changes, growth, and acceptance.
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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. 
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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.
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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. 

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  • Home
  • Meet Our Team
  • Services
    • Adolescents
    • Teenagers
    • Adults
    • Teletherapy
    • Groups
  • Fees
  • Resources
    • Worksheets
  • Professional Development
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Blog