Team
ANDREW TATARSKY, PhD | Founder and Director
Dr. Andrew Tatarsky is a psychologist who developed Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy (IHRP) for treating the spectrum of risky and addictive behavior. IHRP brings psychoanalysis, CBT and mindfulness together in a harm reduction frame. The therapy has been described in his book, Harm Reduction Psychotherapy: A New Treatment for Drug and Alcohol Problems, and a series of papers. The book has been translated into Polish and Spanish. He holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from the City University of New York and is a graduate of New York University’s Postdoctoral Program in Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. He is Founder and Director of the Center for Optimal Living in NYC, a treatment and training center; founding member and Past-President, Division on Addiction of New York State Psychological Association, and Member of the Medical and Clinical Advisory Boards of the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. Dr. Tatarsky trains nationally and internationally.
Email Andrew: atatarsky@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x101
JENIFER TALLEY, PhD | Assistant Director
Dr. Jenifer Talley is a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of trauma and co-occurring substance misuse. Working from an integrative harm reduction framework, Dr. Talley's approach is interactive and focuses on the development of practical skills to manage intense emotions, reduce self-judgment, and promote self-compassion. Mindfulness skills are integrated into an active exploration of the interrelationship between thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, and behaviors, along with their contribution to substance misuse and relationship issues. Dr. Talley is also interested in how yoga can be used to enhance the connection with the body and support the development of emotion management skills. Together with Dr. Tatarsky, she created the Harm Reduction Psychotherapy Certificate Program and participates in the training and supervision of clinicians and graduate students. She was previously the Assistant Director of the Concentration in Mental Health and Substance Abuse Counseling at the New School for Social Research.
Specialties: Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy; Emotion management skills; Trauma and PTSD; Mood and anxiety disorders
Email Jenifer: jtalley@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x106
CLINICAL TEAM
KEVIN BRAGA, LCSW | Harm Reduction Therapist
Kevin Braga is a harm reduction psychotherapist and clinical social worker with extensive knowledge and background in working with substance misuse and co-occurring mental health disorders. He works collaboratively with his clients and has a compassionate and self-empowering approach. Kevin integrates motivational, dynamic, cognitive-behavioral, and dialectical therapeutic approaches to meet his clients’ needs and goals. Kevin has a special interest in working with the LGBTQ population. He received his Master’s Degree in Social Work from Columbia University and has additional post-graduate training in psychodynamic individual and group therapy work from the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Society. In addition, Kevin was one of the first persons trained in Integrative Harm Reduction Psychotherapy by Dr. Andrew Tatarsky and Dr. Jenifer Talley. Before coming to The Center for Optimal Living, he worked for over 10 years at The Addiction Institute of Mount Sinai where he facilitated multiple groups in different programs including the Intensive Outpatient Program and “The Crystal Clear Project.”
Specialties: Group therapy, DBT, LGBTQ populations, Crystal Methamphetamine misuse, young adult/college population and relationship and identity concerns.
Email Kevin: kbraga@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x 118
EDDIE EINBINDER, LMSW | Licensed Social Worker
Eddie Einbinder, LMSW, is an internationally recognized educator of harm reduction within drug use. His work in this field is presented through lectures, literature, and film, and is targeted towards youth and young adults. He started his formal research in drug use and associated risky behaviors while obtaining his B.A. in Psychology at Lehigh University. He later obtained his Master's Degree in Social Work at New York University, with a focus on clinical work with substance users and their families. He has worked as a Harm Reduction Psychotherapist in group, individual and outside the office settings with young adults who use drugs, many with co-occurring psychiatric disorders and criminal records. He also works with individual adults of all ages with problematic relationships with drugs. Acceptance and understanding of the meaning and purpose behind one's drug use, and working with patients to identify and succeed with realistic strategies towards achieving their goals, is integral to his work at The Center For Optimal Living.
Specialities: Harm Reduction and Drug Education-based Group Work. Engaging with Young Adults with Substance Use Disorders. Family dynamics of people with Substance Use Disorders. Mental illness and Criminal behavior. Motivational Interviewing. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Email Eddie: eddieeinbinder@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x108
ADAM FRANKEL, PhD, CGP | Psychologist
Dr. Adam Frankel is a psychologist who specializes in the treatment of substance misuse and co-occurring anxiety and mood challenges. He employs an integrated therapeutic framework to help those he works with gain a greater sense of agency in their lives through the development of active coping skills and self-understanding. Adam integrates insight-oriented, mindfulness, motivational, and cognitive and behavioral therapeutic approaches. He has a particular interest in group psychotherapy and its relationship to the improved capacity for managing difficult emotional states, interpersonal intimacy, and personal creativity. Dr. Frankel is a Certified Group Psychotherapist from the American Group Psychotherapy Association and is a graduate of the Eastern Group Psychotherapy Training Society. He received his Ph.D. in psychology from Long Island University, Brooklyn Campus. He completed his internship at Mt Sinai Medical Center and his post-doctoral fellowship at the Addiction Institute of New York at Mt. Sinai-Roosevelt Hospital. Adam presents nationally and internationally on integrated therapeutic treatment modalities and is a clinical supervisor and teacher to advanced Ph.D. students in psychology, and psychiatric residents throughout the New York Metropolitan Area.
Specialties: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy(ACT), Group Psychotherapy, Transformational Chairwork
Email Adam: afrankel@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x103
ELISA LEIMSIDER | LCSW | Harm Reduction Therapist
Elisa is a harm reduction psychotherapist and licensed clinical social worker with many years of experience treating adults with substance misuse and co-occurring mental health disorders.
Elisa works collaboratively with her clients through a compassionate and personalized approach with a focus on harnessing clients' strengths and inner resources as the pathway to change. Elisa integrates cognitive-behavioral, motivational, and mindfulness therapeutic approaches to support clients on their individualized treatment journeys. She has training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention, Clinical Hypnotherapy, and Spiritually-Informed Psychotherapy.
Specialties: Substance misuse, Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), Motivational Interviewing, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mood disorders.
Email Elisa: eleimsider@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x122
WENDY E. MILLER, Ph.D. | Psychologist
Dr. Miller received her doctorate from George Washington University and completed her training in sex therapy at Downstate Medical Center. She is also a graduate of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. Dr. Miller is trained in Sue Johnson's Emotionally Focused Couples therapy and has been a psychologist in private practice in New York City for twenty-seven years. Currently, Dr. Miller is on the teaching faculty of the Women's Therapy Centre Institute where she supervises and teaches a therapeutic approach to work with eating problems. Dr. Miller has a passionate interest in working with couples that stem from her appreciation of the difficulty of emotional and sexual connection for many individuals. She works from a deep belief in the healing potential of relationships.
Specialties: Sexuality and couples; Emotionally Focused Couples therapy; Eating Problems
Email Wendy: wmillerphd@aol.com
Phone: 212-475-3151
ALLISON MITCHELL, PhD | Psychologist
Dr. Allison Mitchell is a psychologist who is dedicated to working uniquely with each person by creating individualized treatment plans and setting goals collaboratively. She has particular interests in helping patients navigate intrapsychic conflicts and manage difficult relationships. Dr. Mitchell received her doctorate in psychology from the New School for Social Research. She completed her internship at Mount Sinai Medical Center/Elmhurst Hospital. Currently Dr. Mitchell runs a women’s process group and works with adults individually and as couples.
Specialties: Trauma; Substance Use Treatment
Email Allison: amitchell@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x102
KAITLYN MURPHY, LMHC | Harm Reduction Therapist
Kaitlyn Murphy is a harm reduction psychotherapist and licensed mental health counselor with years of experience treating adults, couples, and families with substance misuse, co-occurring mental health, mood, and emotional disorders, as well as other behavioral challenges and addictions related issues.Kaitlyn strives to build therapeutic relationships that are open, honest, and lead to greater feelings of self-efficacy, understanding, development, and growth for clients. Through the use of psychodynamic, dialectical, motivational, and/or cognitive-behavioral therapeutic approaches, she aims to create a compassionate, individualized, and collaborative treatment experience. She has extensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Transformational Chairwork therapies, utilizing this knowledge to create a framework for both individual and group psychotherapy.
Kaitlyn has worked with the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai (West) for more than six years and was the first female clinician to co-lead the Crystal Clear Project, the only program of its kind in New York City which treats and addresses the specific issues related to gay men struggling with crystal methamphetamine use.
Specialities: Mood Regulation, Relationship, and Family Issues, Grief/ Loss, Past and/or Present Trauma, Self-Harm and Substance misuse, Eating Disorders and/or Body Image, and the LGBTQ population.
Email Kaitlyn: Kmurphy@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x120
TAMARA OYOLA-SANTIAGO, MA, MPH, MCHES | Public Health Educator
Tamara Oyola-Santiago is a harm reductionist. Areas of life work include harm reduction grounded in critical pedagogy, social justice and equity in Puerto Rico and New York City, HIV/AIDS decriminalization, restorative practices, and prison abolition. Tamara graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with graduate degrees in Latin American Studies and public health. After graduate school, Tamara joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Presidential Management Fellow; at The New School, she completed CFOL's Harm Reduction Psychotherapy Certificate Program.
She is co-founder of Bronx Móvil, a fully bilingual (Spanish-English) mobile harm reduction and syringe services program that strives for the human rights of people who use drugs. Tamara is also part of the What Would an HIV Doula Do collective, a community of people joined in response to the ongoing AIDS Crisis.
ALYSSA WALSH, LMHC | Clinical Coordinator
Alyssa Walsh is the clinical coordinator for the Center for Optimal Living. She earned her master’s degree in mental health counseling at Manhattan College and leverages this training to connect prospective clients with the most appropriate clinician. As the first point of contact, Alyssa aims to promote the development of strong therapeutic relationships between clients and clinicians that will ultimately help clients attain their desired treatment goals. Alyssa is also responsible for tracking client outcomes and makes use of her experience as the research director of an eating disorder treatment center to find ways to continually improve the practice for clients and clinicians alike.
Email Alyssa: intake@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x104
ADMINISTRATIVE TEAM
SHANTA LANGFORD | Office Manager
With over twenty years of administrative and office services experience, Shanta Langford has built a solid reputation as an efficient organizer and creative problem solver. Working at Thomson Reuters as a c-level executive assistant and as a night manager at a local non-profit, Neighborhood Preservation Center, allowed her to hone her office operations and administrative support skills. In her spare time, she serves as a Stephen Minister at Marble Collegiate Church and is the co-host of a monthly podcast, A Table Four 1 Media. Shanta feels grateful to be of administrative service to a truly caring and life-changing organization.
Email Shanta: slangford@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x105
SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Juliana Mulligan | Psychedelic Program Coordinator
Juliana Mulligan has been an active member of the Ibogaine community for eight years and holds a B.A. in Psychology. She has worked in three Ibogaine clinics, completed Andrew Tatarsky's IHRP training, and has presented at multiple Psychedelic and Harm Reduction conferences. Under her current business Inner Vision Ibogaine, she works therapeutically with people supporting them in preparation for, and in integration after, treatment. Previously Juliana was an opioid dependent person and in 2011, with the help of Ibogaine treatment, she left opioids behind and set off on a path to transform the way drug users and their treatment is approached. Her work centers around guiding individuals to their own inner power and supporting them in reframing their life experiences into sources of knowledge and inspiration. She has developed a guide for finding safe Ibogaine treatment and is also currently working to create new systems of accountability and responsibility among Ibogaine practitioners and in the greater psychedelic therapy community. Juliana hopes to orient the Psychedelic Program to focus on the social intersections of the psychedelic community and how to create support for those who use psychedelics. She has been featured in Double Blind magazine, Woman's Day magazine, and Psymposia.
Email Juliana: psychedelics@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905 x119
JAMES POWERS, DACM, L.AC. | Doctor of Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine
Dr. James Powers is a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine; he is a NY State licensed acupuncturist and was nationally board certified in oriental medicine which he began studying in 2001. Dr. Powers has had success in treating addictive disorders, emotional trauma, musculoskeletal pain, menstrual issues, headaches, insomnia, anxiety, depression and other common disorders. He utilizes the extremely effective NADA (National Acupuncture Detoxification Association) Protocol, which is promoted by various organizations such as the UN and Yale Medical School, for addictions and substance misuse. Dr. Powers is also a teacher of yoga and meditation; his yoga certification was received at the Vivekananda Ashram outside of Bangalore, India. He piloted the yoga program at Estee Lauder’s headquarters in Manhattan and taught yoga to the Estee employees for 13 years. Furthermore he has studied energy healing in the Philippines, acupressure in Thailand, and spiritual psychology in Japan at the center of world renown scientist/yogi/ psychologist/Shinto priest Hiroshi Motoyama. As a meditator for 30 years, Dr. Powers studied as a resident student at the Dai Bosatsu Zen Monastery studying with the monks for a total of 3 years. Dr. Powers is passionate about helping people to heal compassionately and naturally with a particular interest in the roots of addiction, the nature of consciousness and the potential benefits of psychedelics in the healing process; he is also enthusiastic about supporting the multifaceted, holistic goals of Integrated Harm Reduction Psychotherapy as advanced by Dr. Andrew Tatarsky and the Center for Optimal Living.
Email James: jpowers@cfol.org
Phone: 212-213-8905x110