TEAM

At Forward Therapy Group, our expert therapists are passionate about supporting your journey toward growth and self-awareness. With diverse strengths and training, we’ll help you find the right clinician for your needs. To get started, schedule an introductory consultation by email or phone

  • Founder & CEO

    Marissa Kaufman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor with more than a decade of experience in the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.

    Marissa takes an individualized approach in her practice, integrating psychodynamic modalities to create a therapeutic environment centered on each client’s needs.

    Prior to opening her private practice nearly a decade ago, Marissa worked at the New York Center for Living, where she facilitated an intensive outpatient program for adolescents, young adults, and families. She previously trained and worked at Bridge Back to Life, where her passion for working with young adults first developed.

    Marissa strives to meet clients where they are and support them in moving toward where they want to be. Her areas of specialization include substance use, anxiety, depression, codependency, adult children of alcoholics, trauma, fertility-related concerns, and clinical supervision. She has extensive training in psychodrama and has also completed Level 1 certification in Internal Family Systems (IFS), a trauma-informed therapeutic model.

  • Clinical Director

    Francesca is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, She earned her Master’s degree from Fordham University and has worked in residential, outpatient, and private practice settings throughout her career. 

    Francesca has extensive clinical experience working with individuals struggling with substance use and mental health concerns. She also specializes in supporting loved ones affected by addiction, as well as individuals navigating life transitions, relationship challenges, and interpersonal stressors. In addition to individual therapy, Francesca works with couples and has received training in the Gottman Method to support healthier communication, connection, and conflict resolution within relationships. She is also trained in CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Training), an evidence-based approach that helps families and loved ones effectively support individuals struggling with substance use.

    Francesca utilizes a collaborative therapeutic style, incorporating solution-focused and motivational enhancement approaches tailored to each client’s unique needs. She approaches every therapeutic relationship from a nonjudgmental, compassionate, and supportive place, encouraging clients to take ownership of their stories and build meaningful change. Her holistic approach to therapy helps clients gain insight into their behaviors and patterns while taking empowered steps toward healing and growth.

  • Clinical Supervisor

    Natalie is a Marriage and Family Therapist, licensed in New York, California, New Jersey, and Connecticut. She helps clients tap into their inherent wisdom, utilizing the nervous system for insight and as medium for change and healing. Natalie works with clients to address the lingering pains that bind them to the past, empowering them to embrace a life that feels genuine and aligned with their true selves. 

    Natalie earned her Masters from Pepperdine University and post-graduate training at the Ackerman Institute for the Family and The Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia. She is a Parnell Institute Attachment-Focused EMDR Level 1-3 Therapist, enhancing her expertise in trauma-focused therapy.

    With an extensive background in Substance Abuse and Eating Disorder treatment, Natalie brings diverse experience from intensive outpatient programs, program development for transitional living programs in Manhattan, and almost a decade of private practice. Grounded in attachment research, a relational approach, and a deep respect for the body's intuition, her style is integrative and flexible. She acknowledges that the practice of holding space can take many forms and looks forward to meeting each client with curiosity and compassion.

  • Senior Clinician

    AJ Rodgers is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Certified Crisis Counselor. She received her Master’s Degree in Social Work from New York University and her BFA in Dance Performance from The Boston Conservatory.

    AJ began her career in addiction treatment, working in Sober Living residences throughout New York City, providing recovery support to the residents. Prior to joining Forward Therapy Group, she worked at the New York Center for Living, an addiction and co-occurring mental health treatment center for adolescents, young adults, and families where she offered individual and group therapy. She has also worked with survivors of interpersonal violence at the Crime Victims Treatment Center, providing individual and group, trauma-focused counseling.

    She is trained in Somatic Experiencing, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and has experience providing Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP). AJ aims to create safety, openness, collaboration, and a secure base. She uses Psychodynamic and Relational approaches to her work while integrating the principles of Trauma-informed care. In her work with clients, she brings awareness and curiosity toward the impacts of childhood experiences; encourages the cultivation of genuine self-compassion and self-expression; and draws attention to the mind-body connection. Additionally, AJ specializes in working with artists, supporting clients while they navigate the challenges that come along with having a career in creative arts. She approaches her practice from an anti-oppressive perspective, with mindfulness of the ways oppression and privilege impact each individual client.

  • Clinician

    Alex is a Licensed Master Social Worker who works with individuals and families navigating substance use, mental health challenges, identity concerns, and major life transitions. His therapeutic approach is grounded in authenticity, compassion, and collaboration, creating a space where clients feel understood, supported, and empowered to engage in meaningful change.

    Rooted in a person-centered, narrative framework and informed by advanced Internal Family Systems (IFS) training, Alex helps clients explore their experiences, better understand long standing patterns, and gain insight into the different parts of themselves that shape how they move through the world. He integrates this perspective into his work to support greater self-awareness, self-compassion, and emotional clarity.

    Alex believes healing is not about self-punishment or correction, but about developing a deeper relationship with yourself and creating a life that feels more grounded, connected, and aligned. He meets clients where they are while gently challenging patterns that no longer serve them, supporting growth that is both meaningful and sustainable.

  • Clinician

    Mackenzie Fauser is a licensed master of social work in advanced clinical training at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy. She earned her MSW from Columbia School of Social Work. With over a decade of personal experience in recovery, she brings warmth, authenticity, and deep understanding to her work.

    Mackenzie specializes in substance use disorders, understanding addictive patterns not as failures of willpower but as attempts to cope with pain, regulate emotion, and fill gaps in connection and sense of self. She has worked across the full continuum of care including inpatient, PHP, IOP, and sober living. Her clinical experience spans not only addiction but also eating disorders, process addictions, and mood and anxiety disorders.

    Her approach is collaborative and curious, relational and grounded in the present moment, drawing on Gestalt therapy, CBT, DBT, and ACT. She attends to what is happening somatically and experientially, and helps clients identify the patterns that keep them from living in alignment with their values.

    Mackenzie is especially passionate about working with people whose struggles with substances have interrupted the process of knowing who they are, and supporting them in building a meaningful and self-directed life.

  • Senior Clinician

    A lifelong search for meaning, connection, and understanding has guided Rob throughout his academic and professional journey, which includes a bachelor’s degree in Theology from Georgetown University and a master’s degree in Social Work from Fordham University. In addition to years of clinical experience, Rob has completed advanced training in psychodynamic therapy at the William Alanson White Institute, as well as extensive training in somatic therapy through the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute.

    Rob views each therapeutic relationship as a unique and collaborative process and prioritizes allowing the work to unfold without preconceived expectations. He places strong emphasis on the therapeutic relationship as the foundation of meaningful change, and approaches his work from a deeply engaged, relational stance. His practice is client-centered, guided by a commitment to understanding each individual and letting that understanding shape the course of treatment rather than relying on a rigid set of techniques.

    Rob primarily works with clients struggling with alcohol use and addiction, including those involved in AA who are seeking additional support. He also specializes in concerns related to parenting, blended families, and long-term relationships, including marriage.

  • Beatrice is a Marriage and Family Therapist licensed in New York and Connecticut. She works from a systemic lens, always considering the relationships, environments, and experiences that shape her client’s lives.

    Originally from Westchester County, she graduated from college in Washington D.C. with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology, followed by three years teaching English in Spain, six+ years working in public relations and more than five years teaching yoga. Her broad professional experience enriched her understanding of people and inspired her return to the mental health field with a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fairfield University. Beatrice’s evolution informs her empathetic, practical approach to therapy, helping clients navigate transitions with confidence and care.

    As the daughter of a Cuban immigrant, she understands how culture, identity, and belonging shape a person’s experience. Beatrice’s journey of learning to work with her own ADHD diagnosis, and not against it, has been incredibly useful to her work with other neurodivergent clients. These perspectives inform her work and help her connect thoughtfully with clients navigating life transitions, family dynamics, and questions of identity and purpose.

    Beatrice has gained invaluable clinical experience at private practices and non-profit mental health organizations where she has worked with families, couples, parents and individuals ranging from 17 to 75+ years old across diverse gender identities. Beatrice has expertise in working with parents and families with adolescent and young adult children, especially around launching, boundaries, accountability and breaking long-ingrained relational patterns that are no longer working. 

    Beatrice has been trained as a structural family therapist, meaning she sees problems as systemic and relational, not as personal flaws to be eradicated. She understands the value, and sometimes the frustration, that comes from the relationships in our lives. Beatrice loves working with people to find balance between autonomy and connection and encourages clients to harness their strengths and build on what is already working for them.

  • Clinician

    Josh Herman is a licensed master social worker with a Master of Social Work degree from Fordham University. Prior to entering the behavioral health field, Josh built a career in both private and public accounting, earning a Master of Accounting from Pennsylvania State University. This professional journey informs his deep appreciation for the courage it takes to change direction and reimagine one's path.

    Since transitioning into behavioral health in 2021, Josh has developed a focused clinical practice centered on the treatment of substance use disorders. He is certified in Motivational Interviewing and draws on Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Supportive Expressive Therapy to meet clients where they are and support meaningful, lasting change.

    Josh brings a genuine understanding of life transitions, including the disorientation, the possibility, and the work of finding one's place in the world, to every therapeutic relationship. His approach is grounded in kindness, empathy, and a belief that each person's story deserves to be met with care and without judgment. He is especially passionate about supporting individuals navigating questions of identity and purpose alongside their recovery, helping them build lives that feel authentically their own.