Laura Varriale

Dr. Laura Varriale received both her Masters and Doctorate at New York University. Her interests in mental health, trauma, race issues and modalities of treatment led to her capstone projects “The Impact of Historical Trauma on African American Mental Health: A Critical Race Theory Perspective on Treatment Service Usage” and “Parental Socialization of Emotion, Critical Consciousness, and Parental Accountability in Adolescent Therapy.”

Currently, Dr. Varriale works in private practice utilizing various forms of treatment, including CBT, DBT, psychodynamic and strength-based therapy. Dr. Varriale is certified in Gestalt therapy, an emotion-based modality of treatment using open chair work. Dr. Varriale has been in the field of social work for over 25 years and worked as an administrator, instructor, and therapist for the majority of those years. Her experience encompasses addictions, maladaptive disorders, loss, grief, relationship issues, anxiety disorders, depression, and identity/sexual issues. She  enjoys working with all individuals: children, teens, adults, families and couples of all diversities. She has worked with marginalized populations also, including people who are homeless, incarcerated, addicted, chronic mentally ill, military veterans, and incapacitated adults of all ages.

Dr. Varriale’s passion for working, teaching and contributing to this field has been driven by her belief that it is a “calling” for most therapists and social workers. She aims to support people in living their best lives to the fullest extent. While running her private practice in both New Jersey and New York, Dr. Varriale began teaching graduate students at Nyack College and Rutgers University over the last few years. She continues to explore new treatment modalities and social policies in order to help inspire the next generation of clinicians and social workers.