Adriana Lara

Adriana Lara is a licensed mental health counselor based in New York with 12 years of clinical experience supporting individuals across the lifespan. She holds counselor licensure in both New York and Massachusetts and earned a Master of Science from the University of Vermont in 2014, where she worked with teens and young adults facing substance use and mental health challenges.

Her graduate training emphasized practical therapeutic skills and an awareness of diversity in many forms - including race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation - as well as the unique life experiences each person brings. This perspective informs her holistic approach to understanding how a person’s history and circumstances affect their functioning across different areas of life.

Over the past 11 years she has worked with children, teens, families, and adults in both rural and urban communities. She has helped people experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, and stress, and has provided care for those navigating substance use and other behavioral health concerns.

Her counseling style is eclectic, with an emphasis on first building strong rapport and trust so clients can feel comfortable being vulnerable. She most often draws on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to help clients examine how thought patterns influence feelings and behaviors. By identifying unhelpful thoughts and learning to replace them with more realistic, adaptive perspectives, clients can shift how they respond to difficult situations and make meaningful changes.

Guiding others toward relief and healing is a long-standing passion for Adriana. She believes everyone deserves to be heard and takes the time needed to establish a supportive therapeutic relationship. She looks forward to collaborating with clients to find the relief and growth they are seeking.