Mark Sisti, PhD is the founder and director of Suffolk Cognitive-Behavioral, PLLC. He is a graduate of Hofstra University, a licensed psychologist and an adjunct professor at Yeshiva— Ferkauf University, Department of Clinical Psychology. Dr. Sisti and several of our staff, are certified cognitive therapists within The Academy of Cognitive Therapy, the only official certifying agency for cognitive therapists in the United States. He is also a Diplomate & Founding Fellow within the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and a member of it's Trauma Task Force. His advanced training in cognitive therapy was under the tutelage of a CBT master clinician, Robert Leahy, Ph.D., at The American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, where Dr. Sisti was formerly the associate director. He obtained still further clinical experience as a former co-director of the LI Center for Cognitive Therapy.
Dr. Sisti has extensive experience with anxiety disorders through his work at Freedom From Fear, a nationally recognized anxiety and mood disorder advocacy organization. Dr. Sisti was formerly the director of cognitive therapy at Freedom From Fear; he is currently Vice President of Freedom From Fear’s board of directors and is on the board’s research committee. He has participated as a certified cognitive therapist in research trials
for N.Y.S. Psychiatric Institute & Columbia Presbyterian. He also supervises doctoral interns from both Yeshiva-Ferkauf and Hofstra Universities and is an adjunct clinical supervisor for Yeshiva University Graduate School of Psychology. He trains various mental health experts and professionals in CBT, has presented CBT symposiums at the American Psychiatric Association and to the American Psychological Association and has also given seminars on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Dr. Sisti is also a published author on cognitive therapy.
In an ongoing effort to keep up with state of the art CBT and its newest developments, he is also committed to ongoing training in, "third generation" CBT's. He has extensive training and experience with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with Dr. Steven Hayes & Kelly Wilson. Additional ACT experience comes through being a president of the NYC chapter of ACBS (Association of Contextual Behavioral Science) ACBS-NYC, and ongoing member of an ACT-NYCE, a ACT supervision and training peer study group. He has trained repeatedly with master third generation clinicians such as; Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) with Dr. Marsha Linehan. He has trained and given trainings in "interpersonal" CBT's such as Functional Analytic Psychotherapy with Dr.'s Mavis Tsai & Bob Kohlenberg. He is also founder & president of The "Long Island-CBT Network (www.LICBT.org)", a LI based professional CBT/EBP networking & dissemination organization.
Maria Steblai, Psy.D.
Maria Steblai, PsyD., is a senior founding member of Suffolk Cognitive Behavioral beginning in 2004. Dr. Steblai's long tenure at our center has made many patients and their families consider her a life long mental health resource. She obtained her doctorate from Hofstra University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Dr. Steblai obtained her initial clinical training in cognitive-behavioral therapy at Hofstra University.
Her clinical experience at North Shore University Hospital has given her invaluable expertise working with the most intense of crises in peoples lives and the opportunityto work as a team with medical/psychiatric professionals. Additionally her ongoing experience working as a certified school psychologist within several Long Island School districts, gives her broad experience with both children, adolescents, adults and families. We are very fortunate to have a professional with this much experience with childhood and adolescent disorders on staff. Her specialties include, cognitive-behavioral Therapy, ADHD, eating & body image disorders, and children-adolescent disorders. She has presented her research at psychological conventions on; attention & hyperactivity disorders (ADD & ADHD), eating disorders and body image disorders. She regularly conducts groups, workshops and seminars on ADHD, eating disorders and adolescent trauma.
Aimee Caramico , Psy.D.
Aimee Caramico, Psy.D., is a post-doctoral fellow at Suffolk Cognitive Behavioral. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Loyola University in Maryland and completed her doctoral degree (Psy.D.) from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology During her doctoral training at the Chicago School and throughout her externships
and internship, Dr. Caramico received extensive training in traditional Cognitive-Behavioral Therapywhile also being trained in the most contemporary developments in third generation CBT, e.g., Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
Suffolk Cognitive Behavioral fulfills its mission to provide state of the art contemporary CBT through therapists such as Dr. Carmico who are trained specifically in just such state of the art variants of CBT. Dr. Caramico has worked with a large variety of disorders, ranging in severity from inpatient units to outpatient mental health clinics, from day programs for those with chronic mental illness, to outpatients dealing with a variety of more moderate to severe mood and anxiety disorders. She also brings her knowledge and experience of CBT, ACT & DBT to working with both adolescents and adults. While experienced in the treatment of a wide range of psychological syndromes, Dr. Caramico specializes in anxiety disorders (Panic, social phobia, agoraphobia, OCD, GAD), traumatic reactions and syndromes (Acute Stress Disorder, PTSD), as well as mood and personality disorders.
Mindy E. Levin-Lee, LCSW
Mindy Levin-Lee is a licensed Certified Social Worker.
She received her master’s degree in clinical social work, in 1990, from New York University. She returned to NYU from 1993-1995 to receive a degree in advanced clinical social work which further enhanced her clinical knowledge.
The bulk of Mrs. Lee’s experience has been in working with adults who have a myriad
of medical and emotional disorders. She began this work with an initial internship at a Senior Center in New York City. She followed up by working in the Department of Social Work at the New York Hospital / Cornell Medical Center. She specializes in working with individuals, couples, and families who are coping with anxiety, depression, grief, and loss. Mrs. Lee brings her past experience of working with a variety of diagnosis with a wide range of patients, e.g., children, couples, adults and groups. Mrs. Lee’s many years in the field have provided her with a wide range of clinical training in both long term (traditional psychodynamic) and short-term (cognitive-behavioral) therapies.
Suffolk Cognitive Behavioral, is fortunate to have her wealth of invaluable experience working with individuals and their families, within multi-disciplinary settings, coping with multiple physical, medical and emotional difficulties. She regularly works with various MD’s, nurses, and physical therapists in helping patients to cope with various emotional challenges associated with complex problems and multiple professionals. Additionally she brings unique expertise in working with cognitively disabled adults and their families. She has extensive experience working with the psychological difficulties (anxiety, depression, etc.,) associated with various medical disorders such as; cardiovascular illness, stroke, diabetes, cancer, traumatic injuries, and crisis intervention.
Ilana Dworin, PsyD
Brooklyn Cognitive Behavioral Director
As one of our senior staff members, Dr. Dworin is the director of our satalite Brooklyn office, Brooklyn Cognitive Behavioral. She earned her doctoral degree in clinical psychology at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University with concentrations in both Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Relational Psychodynamic Therapy.Her doctoral training was obtained
through Yeshiva University’s CBT Program for Anxiety & Depressive Disorders (directed by a distinguished CBT clinician, Academy of Cognitive Therapy Fellow Lata K. McGinn, PhD, ACT). Having her fundamentaldoctoral clinical training in a CBT specialization insures extensive CBT experience and expertise. From there, she gained more advanced expertise in CBT as an extern at The American Institute of Cognitive Therapy under the direction of Master CBT clinician Robert Leahy, PhD. There, she also deepened her experience treating individuals experiencing a wide range of difficulties including general anxiety, social anxiety, panic, depression, OCD, stress management and various phobias. Dr. Dworin continued her training at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital’s Psychiatric Recovery Center where she gained experience working with adults with severe & chronic mental illness and providing group therapy. Her experience at St. Lukes also gave her training in third generation CBT, i.e., DialecticalBehavior Therapy. Most recently, Dr. Dworin completed her pre-doctoral internship at Maimonides Medical Center. Dr. Dworin has previously held research positions at Northwestern University, studying the development of Schizophrenia, and her current research interests focus on peer influences on the development of anxiety during adolescence. Dr. Dworin works with individuals across the age span, ranging from children through elders.
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ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Laura Bilick - Office & Insurance Manager
Laura is the executive assistant and office manager at Suffolk Cognitive-Behavioral, PLLC. She is responsible for managing the administrative responsibilities of SCB. For patients with questions regarding insurance, billing, balances, etc., which your therapist cannot answer, please contact Laura by phone at the main office (631-696-2896). We are grateful that Laura brings decades of administrative skills from various businesses to our practice. Her multi-disciplinary expertise ranges from a history in; retail management, to multiple executive assistantships in business, to university and hospital settings. She is also currently on staff at Stony Brook University.
Shelli Trager - Intake Coordinator
Ms. Trager is the intake coordinator at Suffolk Cognitive-Behavioral, she is often the first person to meet and greet patients who call the center for information. With a call to the center, she will be more than happy to answer any general questions about the center. Ms. Trager has worked for mental health professionals and their patients for decades and has in that way gathered a wealth of invaluable experience in helping patients to make difficult decisions around starting therapy and answering general mental health FAQ's (frequently asked questions). Ms. Trager also manages the calendars and appointments of our staff, and will patiently guide patients through the complex process of initial screening and referral.
In addition, to her work at SCB, Ms. Trager is an entrepreneur, with a BS in Education, from The University of Connecticut. She manages her own multi-faceted medical business by helping other mental health professionals with all aspects of office management, information Technology, etc.
