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Clinical Mission

The primary purpose is to relieve distress that occurs when people have mental health or substance abuse problems.  Connections Counseling Psychotherapy LCSW PLLC is a group of therapists who are passionate about the practice. (See About Us). We’re currently focusing on Motivational Interviewing  (Tina), on supervision (Lynne),  on couples’ work,  addictions and trauma (Ruth), on developmentally-based psychotherapy and couples’ work (Richard), on trauma-informed mental health counseling and existential therapy (Andrew). We work with, and refer to, Afua Forson, MD, who specializes in  attachment-based therapy, marriage and family therapy, and trauma work. Our intern, Ahlena, will be seeing individuals in therapy who are beginning to work on trauma.  We’re working with clients in both NYC and New Paltz. For insurance information, see  About Insurance. Give us a call (845-255-5022) to schedule an appointment. Most clinicians  are doing only virtual work at this time.
We are accepting new clients, are beginning a group to acquaint those who want EMDR with information and procedures,.

Good Faith Estimate

If you are uninsured or are paying for healthcare services out-of-pocket, you have the right to request a Good Faith Estimate of the total expected cost. This is required under the federal No Surprises Act. 

• Who gets it: You can receive this estimate from a healthcare provider or facility for any non-emergency care.
• What it includes: The GFE must provide a written, itemized list of expected charges for items and services related to your care, such as:
  • Diagnosis codes – the diagnosis codes in counseling are based on the DSMV-TR diagnostic codes for mental health diagnoses
  • Service codes _ service codes are generally for an intake session (90791), a 50-60- minute counseling session (90837), a 45 minute session (90834), or a couples’ session (90847).
  • Expected charges – You always have the right to request a Good Faith Estimate from us at any time. The estimate is based on (1) the information you provide us and (2) our professional opinion on what is needed to assess or treat the mental health issue. The total estimated cost is the number of expected hours multiplied by the stated fees. Many times, we will not know ahead of time how many sessions it will take to resolve an issue. You can request a per session charge or give use an estimate of how many sessions you’d want to have before a re-evaluation for changes that you might want to make.
  • Provider names and location – all sessions at this time are via telehealth. We have offices in New York City (200 W. 57^th St. Ste 604) and in New Paltz (6 Duzine Road). Providers that work for Connections Counseling PLLC are: Melissa Waterman, LCSWR; Tina Iler, LCSWR; Richard Coleman, LMSW; Andrew Schaeffer, MHC; and Ruth Campbell, LCSWR.
• How it works: You must be provided with the estimate within three business days of scheduling a service at least 10 business days in advance. If your final bill is at least $400 more than the estimate, you can dispute the charge. 
• An insured client can request a good faith estimate, which would include copayment charges and deductible charges after they provide us with their insurance information.

Continuing Education Mission

We are making three free webinar courses available for clinicians in 2024-2025. Healing the Opioid Crisis with M.O.R.E. describes the mindfulness oriented method which has had proven success with opioid misuse, and is presented by its creator, Eric Garland, Ph.D., LCSW. Essential CBT for Substance Use Disorders describes and demonstrates the use of CBT with substances for which it has had proven success: alcohol, marijuana, and stimulants. It is presented by Ruth Campbell, LCSW, Ph.D. and Richard Coleman, LMSW. Ethics for the Counseling Professions describes a harms and benefits analysis of ethical dilemmas in three challenging areas: the use of technology, work with immigrants, and substance use disorders. It is presented by Tim Campbell, Ph.D., a bioethics researcher with the Institute for Futures Studies. The free courses are connected with research studies. Read more about the courses by clicking on the links.  The goal of the continuing education program of Connections Counseling Psychotherapy LCSW PLLC is to ensure that clinicians have access to affordable, high quality education in their field.  A secondary goal is to perform research that would result in knowledge about the effectiveness and sustainability of evidence based clinical practices. The latest publication that has come from Connections CEs research is available online at: Campbell, R., Dewan, S. (2023). Organizational facilitation of Latino substance use disorder treatment: Impact of COVID-19, Health Equity, 7-1, 722-730. DOI: 10.1089/heq.2022.0184.

Free Webinar Courses

Three free webinar courses are available for clinicians in 2024-2025. Healing the Opioid Crisis with M.O.R.E. describes the mindfulness oriented method which has had proven success with opioid misuse, and is presented by its creator, Eric Garland, Ph.D., LCSW. Essential CBT for Substance Use Disorders describes and demonstrates the use of CBT with substances for which it has had proven success: alcohol, marijuana, and stimulants. It is presented by Ruth Campbell, LCSW, Ph.D. and Richard Coleman, LMSW. Ethics for the Counseling Professions Seminar describes a harms and benefits analysis of ethical dilemmas in three challenging areas: the use of technology, work with immigrants, and substance use disorders. It is presented by Tim Campbell, Ph.D., a bioethics researcher with the Institute for Futures Studies. Essential CBT and Ethics for the Counseling Professions Seminar are connected with research studies. Read more about the courses by clicking on the links.  The goal of the continuing education program of Connections Counseling Psychotherapy LCSW PLLC is to ensure that clinicians have access to affordable, high quality education in their field.  A secondary goal is to perform research that would result in knowledge about the effectiveness and sustainability of evidence based clinical practices. The latest publication that has come from Connections CEs research is available online at:

Campbell, R., Dewan, S. (2023). Organizational facilitation of Latino substance use disorder treatment: Impact of COVID-19, Health Equity, 7-1, 722-730. DOI: 10.1089/heq.2022.0184.