After graduating from Ithaca she worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan, New York. Her experience there, working with patients with various types of cancer, led her to the decision to pursue a graduate degree in counseling. Joanne went on to earn her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from Pace University in Pleasantville, New York.
While in graduate school she worked with children with developmental disabilities at Putnam Associated Resource Center (PARC) in Brewster, NY. During her time there, she worked with clients in their homes to help them to achieve their personalized goals which included increasing communication skills, working on boundary issues, integrating into the community, learning about mental illness, family communication and interaction skills and independence. She promoted and enhanced opportunities for these individuals to become active members of their communities. Further, this allowed Joanne the invaluable opportunity to work with individuals to increase their self worth as well as their self efficacy.
During her graduate school training, Joanne also worked in the behavioral rehabilitation unit at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, NY. She worked closely as part of a treatment team with adult individuals with both a mental illness and a chemical addition. She worked with clients in both group and individual counseling sessions encouraging them to learn about themselves, their triggers, fears, strengths and weaknesses while in treatment to reduce the chance of relapse on their road to recovery. Joanne found that providing these individuals with the chance to talk to someone who is not judging them or their past and genuinely cares about what they have gone through and where they are going is a unique, positive and freeing experience which for many of them is the beginning of the process of recovery in metal health.
After earning her Masters degree, Joanne began counseling children, adolescents and families working for a school based substance abuse prevention program. In this role, she provided individual and group counseling sessions for high risk children in age ranges between Kindergarten and High School. She ran small groups (8-10 members) using Mutual Aid Model with topics including: Substance Abuse, Stress Management, Anger Management, Bereavement, Transitions, Conflict Resolution, Assertiveness Skills, Safe Relationships and Children of Alcoholics. She also developed and lead faculty and parental workshops on topics including: How to Talk to Your Kids and/or Students about Drugs and Alcohol, Teen Depression, Drug Trends, Eating Disorders, Parenting Under Stress, and Internet Safety. As well, she provided crisis intervention services for parents, faculty and students as needed in response to school wide traumatic events. She found a true passion and sense of satisfaction helping those children, adolescents and families through their difficult times.
After seven years working in this role, Joanne moved to Massachusetts. There, she worked with adolescents in a school environment struggling with a language based learning disability (ie. dyslexia). She also worked and continues to work at a local mental health counseling agency as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Her clients continue to be a mix of children, teens and adults.
Joanne is a professional member of the American Counseling Association and the Massachusetts Mental Health Counselors Association. Joanne is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and National Board Certified Counselor as well as a Certified Clinical Mental Health Counselor. Her private practice is in Beverly, Massachusetts.
