New York Mental Health Counselors Association

New York Mental Health Counselors Association What is NYMHCA's role? To protect and enhance the rights of counselors to practice our profession.

NYMHCA is the only statewide professional membership association dedicated solely to representing LMHCs, limited permit holders, counselor education students, and counselor educators in New York State. History of NYMHCA
American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) was founded in 1976. AMHCA was founded because thousands of mental health counselors working in non-school settings had no org

anizational home. AMHCA has capitalized on the uniqueness of mental health counseling by touting the counseling skills, developmental approach, and preventative strategies employed by its members and demanding recognition of their contributions in health care. The New York State chapter of AMHCA (NYMHCA) was founded in 1979. The Profession of Mental Health Counseling:

Mental Health Counseling is a distinct profession with national standards for education, training, and clinical practice. The New York Mental Health Counselors Association (NYMHCA) is the professional membership organization that represents the mental health counseling profession in New York State.

Proactive Regulation: DBT Emotion Regulation & Interpersonal Effectiveness ⚖️When clients face frequent emotional dysreg...
08/21/2026

Proactive Regulation: DBT Emotion Regulation & Interpersonal Effectiveness ⚖️

When clients face frequent emotional dysregulation or struggle to assert themselves in relationships, reactive coping strategies often aren't enough. Grounded in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), taking a proactive approach allows clients to build core skills for preventing dysregulation and navigating interpersonal dynamics with self-respect.

Led by Mary Powell, PhD, LCSW-R, NCPsyA, this 2-hour training dives into two essential DBT modules: Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Clinicians will learn how to teach clients proactive problem-solving to stop emotional spirals before they start, alongside concrete strategies for setting boundaries, getting needs met, and maintaining self-respect in social and personal relationships.

Core Insights:
Emotion Regulation Fundamentals: Define the core tenets of the Emotion Regulation module as a proactive, preventative tool.
Interpersonal Effectiveness Concepts: Master the framework for helping clients set boundaries, assert desires, and preserve self-respect.
Proactive Problem Solving: Apply emotion regulation strategies in clinical practice to reduce emotional dysregulation.
Boundary & Impact Interventions: Teach clients actionable interpersonal skills to cultivate healthier, balanced relationships.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills
Presenter: Mary Powell, PhD, LCSW-R, NCPsyA
Date: Sunday, 11-1-26, IN PERSON
Time: 10:00 AM
Duration: 2 hours
CEUs: 2.0 CE hours

Ready to help your clients build proactive regulation and boundary skills? Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/293469

Practical Dialectics: Diving into DBT ⚖️When clients struggle with extreme emotional dysregulation or impulsive behavior...
08/21/2026

Practical Dialectics: Diving into DBT ⚖️

When clients struggle with extreme emotional dysregulation or impulsive behaviors, standard talk therapy can leave both therapist and client feeling stuck. Grounded in Marsha Linehan's evidence-based framework, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) provides a structured, skills-based approach to foster real transformation.

Led by Mary Powell, PhD, LCSW, NCPsyA, this 2-hour interactive workshop trains clinicians across all four core modules of DBT. You’ll learn how to teach clients to gain control over their minds, navigate difficult moments without escalating distress, prevent emotional dysregulation, and set firm interpersonal boundaries while preserving self-respect and connection.

Core Insights:
Foundational Tenets: Define the core principles, philosophy, and dialectical framework of DBT.
Clinical Application: Apply DBT principles directly to clinical practice and case conceptualization.
Module Mastery: Gain practical strategies to teach and implement Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness skills.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Diving into Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Presenter: Mary Powell, PhD, LCSW, NCPsyA
Date: Sunday, 10-4-26, IN PERSON
Time: 10:00 AM
Duration: 2 hours
CEUs: 2.0 CE hours

Ready to enhance your practice with foundational DBT skills? Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/277563

Young Adulthood Interrupted: Navigating Parental Loss While grief is widely studied across life stages, losing a parent ...
08/20/2026

Young Adulthood Interrupted: Navigating Parental Loss

While grief is widely studied across life stages, losing a parent between the ages of 18 and 35 presents a distinct, often-misunderstood convergence of developmental and identity-based challenges.

This training introduces an integrated psychoeducational framework specifically tailored to the young adult population. Clinicians will explore how parental loss during these formative years disrupts attachment security, identity formation, and major milestone trajectories, while navigating the compounding weight of social invalidation and secondary losses. Participants will leave with trauma-informed, holistic interventions—including ecotherapy and meaning-making exercises—designed to foster emotional regulation and post-traumatic growth.

Core Insights:
Distinct Psychosocial Factors: Identify at least three unique developmental elements that separate young adult parental loss from other life stages.
Attachment & Identity: Analyze the profound ripple effects of bereavement on a young adult's attachment security and relational functioning.
Complicated Grief Variables: Understand how secondary losses, such as sudden financial instability or loss of home, intersect with social invalidation.
Holistic Interventions: Apply concrete, trauma-informed tools like ecotherapy, mindfulness, and normalization techniques to promote emotional regulation and reconnection.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Young Adulthood Interrupted: Clinical Approaches to Parental Loss in Young Adults
Presenter: Valerie Smith, LCSW
CEUs: 3 hours
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. Eastern

Ready to deeply support your young adult clients through profound grief? Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/194942

Playful Healing: Building Resilience through Family Play Therapy 🧸When children face psychological distress, traditional...
08/19/2026

Playful Healing: Building Resilience through Family Play Therapy 🧸

When children face psychological distress, traditional talk therapy can hit a wall—simply because play is a child's natural language. For the practical clinician, merging family therapy with play-based interventions offers a developmentally responsive way to untangle complex emotions and strengthen the caregiver-child bond.

Led by Alexza Gutierrez, LCSW, RPT-S, this interactive workshop explores Family Play Therapy as a structured, collaborative tool. You’ll learn how to leverage a family's existing strengths, navigate caregiver hesitation, and implement hands-on, play-based interventions that foster communication, adaptive coping, and systemic resilience in an uncertain world.

Core Insights:
The Language of Play: Understand the core principles of family play therapy and why it succeeds where verbal processing stalls.
Systemic Resilience: Identify the clinical benefits of cultivating resilience directly within the family ecosystem.
Engaging Caregivers: Master practical strategies to address and overcome caregiver hesitation or skepticism about joining in play.
Interventions in Action: Learn how to implement two concrete, family-play-based techniques designed to boost problem-solving and connection.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Building Resilience in Children through Family Play Therapy
Presenter: Alexza Gutierrez, LCSW, RPT-S
CEUs: [Insert CEU Amount]
Date: Sunday August 30, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. Eastern

Ready to bring the power of play into your systemic practice? Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/184187

Bridging the Gap: Culturally Responsive Care 🤟Are we providing truly accessible and identity-affirming care for Deaf and...
08/19/2026

Bridging the Gap: Culturally Responsive Care 🤟

Are we providing truly accessible and identity-affirming care for Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) clients? Without specialized training in cultural and linguistic nuances, even well-intentioned clinicians risk misunderstandings or the unintentional perpetuation of audism.

This workshop offers a practical framework for delivering ethically sound services, moving beyond basic accommodation to deep cultural humility. We’ll explore the profound impact of early language access on development and learn strategies for maintaining the therapeutic alliance when working with interpreters.

Core Insights:
Developmental Foundations: Understand how communication modality shapes emotional and cognitive growth.
Interrupting Audism: Learn to recognize and repair the impact of audist manifestations in clinical work.
Ethical Complexity: Navigate confidentiality and "small world" interconnectedness within the D/HH community.
Effective Collaboration: Master best practices for working with certified interpreters.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Providing Ethical and Culturally-Responsive Care to Deaf and Hard of Hearing Clients
Facilitator: Dr. Jaimee Arnoff (pictured)
CEUs: 3 hours
Date: Sunday, August 23, 2026
Time: 10:00 a.m. Eastern

Ready to create more inclusive, emotionally safe spaces? Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/139781

Beyond the Circle: The Wellness Shift 🌿How do we deepen the "working phase" of group therapy? For the curious counselor,...
08/08/2026

Beyond the Circle: The Wellness Shift 🌿

How do we deepen the "working phase" of group therapy? For the curious counselor, the answer lies in ethically bridging clinical models with experiential wellness. While evidence-based models provide the roadmap, wellness-supported methods provide the engine for real breakthrough in in-person settings.
Using a DSM-5-TR substance use disorder case study, this workshop demonstrates how integrating wellness-oriented experiential tools can strengthen therapeutic alliance, boost client engagement, and accelerate goal attainment.

Core Insights:
The Clinical "Why": Identify key reasons to utilize experiential approaches during the working phase.
Strategic Integration: Learn to merge wellness methods with theoretically grounded, evidence-based practice.
Practical Application: Facilitate progress and goal attainment through an immersive substance use case scenario.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Wellness-Supported Therapeutic Advances: An Experiential Method for In-Person Group Counseling
Facilitator: Dr. Margaret O’Hara
CEUs: 2 hours
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. Eastern
Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/141945

Wise Mind: Equipping Adolescents with DBT MindfulnessIn an era of unprecedented psychological distress, today’s adolesce...
08/08/2026

Wise Mind: Equipping Adolescents with DBT Mindfulness

In an era of unprecedented psychological distress, today’s adolescents often find themselves without the tools to navigate intense emotional storms. For the clinician, bridging this "skills gap" requires more than just talk—it requires a practical, evidence-based framework that teenagers can actually use in their daily lives.
Grounded in Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), this highly practical workshop focuses on the Wise Mind framework. You’ll learn how to help teens move from "Emotion Mind" to a state of balance, using core mindfulness techniques that prioritize both acceptance and change. This session is designed for immediate implementation, ensuring you leave with the language and tools to empower your clients starting in your very next session.

Core Insights:
Mindfulness vs. Meditation: Master the crucial distinction needed to engage skeptical teens and clear up common misconceptions.
The Three States of Mind: Learn to teach the framework of Emotion Mind, Reasonable Mind, and Wise Mind as a roadmap for regulation.
The "What" and "How": Break down core DBT skills into actionable steps that help youth slow down and make better decisions under pressure.
Somatic Awareness: Help clients identify where distress lives in their bodies to catch dysregulation before it peaks.
Immediate Implementation: Gain concrete strategies—using tools like singing bowls and skill sheets—to build client confidence from day one.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Transform Your Practice: Equipping Adolescents with Mindfulness and Wise Mind Strategies
Facilitator: Dr. Dayana Jiménez
CEUs: 2 hours
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM

Ready to help your adolescent clients access their intrinsic wisdom? Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/197828

Wise Mind: Equipping Adolescents with DBT MindfulnessIn an era of unprecedented psychological distress, today’s adolesce...
08/03/2026

Wise Mind: Equipping Adolescents with DBT Mindfulness

In an era of unprecedented psychological distress, today’s adolescents often find themselves without the tools to navigate intense emotional storms. For the clinician, bridging this "skills gap" requires more than just talk—it requires a practical, evidence-based framework that teenagers can actually use in their daily lives.

Grounded in Marsha Linehan’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), this highly practical workshop focuses on the Wise Mind framework. You’ll learn how to help teens move from "Emotion Mind" to a state of balance, using core mindfulness techniques that prioritize both acceptance and change. This session is designed for immediate implementation, ensuring you leave with the language and tools to empower your clients starting in your very next session.

Core Insights:
Mindfulness vs. Meditation: Master the crucial distinction needed to engage skeptical teens and clear up common misconceptions.
The Three States of Mind: Learn to teach the framework of Emotion Mind, Reasonable Mind, and Wise Mind as a roadmap for regulation.
The "What" and "How": Break down core DBT skills into actionable steps that help youth slow down and make better decisions under pressure.
Somatic Awareness: Help clients identify where distress lives in their bodies to catch dysregulation before it peaks.
Immediate Implementation: Gain concrete strategies—using tools like singing bowls and skill sheets—to build client confidence from day one.

📅 Workshop Details
Title: Transform Your Practice: Equipping Adolescents with Mindfulness and Wise Mind Strategies
Facilitator: Dr. Dayana Jiménez
CEUs: 2 hours
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2026
Time: 11:00 AM

Ready to help your adolescent clients access their intrinsic wisdom? Register Here!

https://www.nymhcainstitute.org/courses/197828

We’re pleased to announce that Steven Perdek, MBA, LMHC-D has been appointed Chief of Staff of the New York Mental Healt...
07/28/2026

We’re pleased to announce that Steven Perdek, MBA, LMHC-D has been appointed Chief of Staff of the New York Mental Health Counselors Association (NYMHCA) - a newly created senior role supporting both NYMHCA and The NYMHCA Institute.

In this role, Steven will help advance our strategic priorities, support our legislative and advocacy agenda, lead technology and systems initiatives, and contribute to the continued growth of The NYMHCA Institute’s professional education programming.

The position itself says something about where we are as an association. As our programming, member services, and advocacy work have grown, this role adds dedicated senior capacity to sustain that momentum - and to support our members over the long term.

Steven previously served as board president of NYMHCA, a period during which we expanded our legislative and advocacy work, including efforts to broaden diagnostic privileges and recognition for licensed mental health counselors and to reduce barriers to practice and care. He holds a master’s degree in mental health counseling from SUNY Oswego and an MBA in healthcare leadership from Le Moyne College.

“Steven has brought extraordinary energy and expertise to his work with NYMHCA and The NYMHCA Institute, and we are so pleased he will take on this new role,” said Dr. Tom Murphy, LMHC-D, President.

Please join us in congratulating Steven. His appointment is effective immediately.

Read the full announcement at NYMHCA.org.

Preparing for the New York LMHC licensing exam shouldn’t feel overwhelming.This Sunday, August 2, The NYMHCA Institute i...
07/28/2026

Preparing for the New York LMHC licensing exam shouldn’t feel overwhelming.

This Sunday, August 2, The NYMHCA Institute is hosting our NCMHCE Prep Workshop — a full day, live online, built for the current format of the National Clinical Mental Health Counseling Examination (NCMHCE).

We walk through the exam the way the exam is built: introduction to its structure, intake interviewing and assessment, diagnosis, treatment goals and interventions, treatment outcomes, and ethics. You’ll leave understanding how the cases are constructed and how to work through them with confidence.

Who it’s for: New York LMHC license applicants, recent graduates, and anyone retaking the exam. Participants should have a physical or digital copy of the DSM-5; additional study material is sent after you register.

Sunday, August 2, 2026 · 10 a.m. ET · Live online

Register: nymhcainstitute.org/courses/231745

Know a colleague, supervisee, or recent grad testing this fall? Please pass this along.

Address

146 Barrett Street, Suite 2
Schenectady, NY
12305

Telephone

+18004696422

Website

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