Eastside DBT NYC

Dena Agapion attended The University of Massachusetts, Boston, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Program of Study in Substance Abuse in 1993. She then attended Boston College for graduate school and was awarded her MSW and LCSW in 1995.
 
Her first experience working with personality disorders was in outpatient Psychiatric Services at Massachusetts General Hospital. She continued her education at the Boston Graduate School of Modern Psychoanalysis from 1996-1998. Her DBT training began while she treated clients as an outpatient clinician at Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston, MA.
 
In 1998, she was intensively trained by Behavioral Tech, Dr. Marsha Linehan’s trainers. She applied her skills by serving as an ACT team leader for high-risk young adults and a clinician for mobile crisis teams/first responders.
 
She continued to provide DBT while employed by New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell/Payne Whitney Outpatient Clinic in Manhattan, NY (NYPH). Her private practice opened in 2002 while also on staff at NYPH, offering DBT/CBT to adults suffering from complex and multiple diagnoses.
 
After more than two decades as a psychotherapist, she is categorized as an expert in treating complex and various diagnoses, including BPD but not limited to BPD. Dena has also completed intensive training in prolonged exposure, DBT-PE, for those who have PTSD. She specializes in treating young adults, although all adults are welcome.  

Susan Cappi received her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Long Island University.  After a brief career as an RN, she earned her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Columbia University to pursue her interest in psychiatry. 

From 1983 – 2003, Ms. Cappi worked as a clinical social worker at New York Presbyterian Hospital Payne Whitney in both inpatient and outpatient settings.  She treated patients suffering from complex diagnoses including severe eating disorders, affective/mood disorders and Borderline Personality Disorder. 

In 1996. Ms. Cappi completed the foundational training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) with Marsha Linehan.  She participated in a three-year clinical research study in which she provided DBT therapy to people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). 

Ms. Cappi has been in private practice since 2001, offering treatment to adults, couples and families.  Her approach is rooted in her knowledge and extensive clinical experience that lasting change can only come from consistent skills learning and application in the context of a secure therapeutic relationship. 

Emily Stowell earned her Master’s degree from Columbia University School of Social Work in 2011. While a student there she enrolled in the DBT track with Professor Andre Ivanoff which introduced her to the transformative power of
DBT’s approach. After graduating she worked in a community based clinic and in a middle school, where she led DBT-informed groups with adolescents.

Emily went on to work with incarcerated adults in an intensive treatment program. It was there that she began to specialize in working with individuals with personality disorders and
problems with destructive, compulsive behaviors. She went on to work in a psychiatric hospital and in a pilot program in the New York City detention system, where she served as a clinical supervisor and as a field supervisor to social work Master’s students. In each of these settings she witnessed the power of Dialectical Behavior Therapy to help individuals move out of behavioral dyscontrol and develop lives worth living.
 

Emily began working in a private practice setting in 2017, seeing individuals and facilitating skills groups. Shortly thereafter she completed her DBT Intensive Training with Dr. Charles Swenson.

Emily has extensive experience treating adults facing a variety of challenges. She has particular expertise in helping individuals with personality disorders and behavioral problems navigate and improve their interpersonal relationships. Emily also has significant experience assisting individuals to overcome problems with addiction and compulsivity. Her approach is empathic, person-centered and helps people to develop and maintain a rich and rewarding life.

Melissa Peaslee earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology at Siena College, and her Master of Clinical Psychology degree at Augusta University. Melissa began her training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) while working for the Mental Health Association in Massachusetts with adults who were coping with serious and persistent mental health diagnoses with co-occurring addictions. It was there that Melissa attended her first intensive DBT course with Charlie Swenson and subsequently initiated her agency’s first DBT Skills Group for adults with co-occurring disorders.

Melissa furthered her DBT practice in Connecticut, where she worked with adults coping with a wide range of complex mental health issues including trauma, mood, psychotic, anxiety and substance use related diagnoses. While in Connecticut, Melissa developed and provided agency training on using a holistic approach involving dialectical practices in the treatment of co-occurring disorders.

Melissa then moved to NYC where she has worked for the Office of Mental Health since 2001. In her outpatient clinic, Melissa became a Certified Juvenile Sex Offender Counselor (CJSOC) and provided assessment and treatment to adolescents with problematic sexual behavior during her first 10 years with her agency. She developed a victim-centered and dialectically driven treatment program. Melissa also became a faculty member at SUNY Downstate and taught specialized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to the psychiatry fellows she supervised in an outpatient therapy setting.

Melissa then moved into the general practice outpatient clinic at her OMH agency, where she was able to deepen her specialization in DBT with adolescents and adults and implemented DBT Skills Groups in that clinic. In this setting, Melissa was able to build on her already extensive DBT training and practice to receive over 6 years of specialized consultation and study with experts from www.TICLLC.org. It was here that Melissa began delivering individual DBT therapy in addition to DBT Skills Groups for adolescents and young adults. Melissa became an agency trainer of DBT and founding member of the DBT Sustainability Team. Melissa provided DBT skills training to students at the Columbia University Dialectical Behavior Training Program in the School of Social Work.

After years of observing the effectiveness of DBT in assisting clients with reaching their goals,  Melissa completed specialized DBT-C training, a treatment developed to use the principles of DBT to treat children and their families. Melissa now serves children, adults and adolescents with a wide range of needs who seek DBT and CBT treatment. Melissa has been particularly inspired by the addition of mindfulness and dialectical thinking to CBT and other treatment practices and has studied and practiced in her personal life. Melissa brings a deep level of compassion, empathy, equanimity and commitment to inclusivity to her practice.

Talia Saxe is a graduate of Duke University where she received a B.A. in philosophy and was a Benjamin N. Duke scholar. Prior to attending social work school, Talia completed an M.F.A. in nonfiction creative writing.

Early in her career, Talia worked at New Alternatives for Children, an agency supporting children who have been in foster care. There she recognized a love for working on a team with therapists. After this work experience, Talia went back to school to pursue a Master's Degree in Social Work. She graduated from NYU School of Social Work where she was a member of the Phi Alpha Honor Society. She interned at Sanctuary for Families where she provided counseling to children who had witnessed domestic violence. She also interned at Greenwich House, a city clinic that serves the West Village.  

Talia loves DBT for the empathetic philosophy at its core, the practical strategies, and the supportive team approach. Talia also has training in RO-DBT, a treatment used for rigid thinking and perfectionism.