ABOUT ALDEA COUNSELING

The weight of the world can get heavy.
We can help you shoulder it.

Whether you come to us in crisis or curiosity, you belong here.

Do you feel isolated or alone?

Are grief, depression, or anxiety clouding your ability to live with joy and purpose?

Do you experience a world that asks too much and offers too little?

Blurry photo of three people with hats in motion, walking in a room with plain walls and light-colored floor.

Therapy at Aldea offers relief and invites you into a deeper, more connected way of living.

Live authentically.

Heal in community.

Experience joy.

Connect to your purpose.

Live authentically. Heal in community. Experience joy. Connect to your purpose.

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(he/him/el)
LCSW-R, Rev
Founder and Clinical Director

Raymond Rodriguez

A global specialist in the treatment of trauma (PTSD, Complex Trauma, and Dissociation). With empathy at the center, Raymond brings a trauma-informed approach to his roles as an educator, business leader, and clinician. Inspired by Raymond's leadership, Aldea therapists integrate somatic therapy and mindfulness principles into their clinical practice to help you find your way to the place inside you that feels like home.

  • Raymond’s clinical interests include immigration, diversity, LGBTQ empowerment, spirituality, and supporting marginalized communities. He is a trauma specialist with deep experience in treating complex trauma and PTSD. Raymond has worked in academic settings, serving as counselor faculty at Hostos Community College and currently teaching at Columbia University, Smith College, and various trauma-focused institutes.

  • Raymond integrates family systems therapy, psychodynamic approaches, and somatic trauma treatments such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and EMDR. His work is grounded in social justice, cultural responsiveness, and deep relational care.

  • Raymond supports individuals and families dealing with immigration-related trauma, identity-based challenges, PTSD, and systemic marginalization. His therapeutic lens is rooted in empowerment, healing, and intergenerational resilience.

  • GRADUATE SCHOOL COURSES:

    Columbia University Schools of Social work.
    Adjunct Lecturer 2014-2016

    • Social Work Direct Practice 

    • Direct Practice with Individuals Families and Groups 

    Smith School of Social Work
    Adjunct Lecturer 

    • Social Work Direct Practice

    • Social Work Practice with Couples

    • Social Work Practice with Groups 

    Hostos Community College, City University of New York, Spring 2012

    • Substance Use and Abuse 

    INSTITUTES

    Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute.
    2019-2025

    • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for the treatment of Trauma 

    • Sensorimotor Psychotherapy for the the treatment of Developmental and Relational Injury 


    Trauma Studies Center of the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy.
    2012-2018, 2024.

    • Diversity, Immigration, and Trauma 

    • EMDR, the Body and Trauma 

    Integrative Trauma Program of the National Institute for the Psychotherapies.
    2016-2023

    • Cultural Competency, anti-racism, and implicit bias in Trauma Therapy 

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JONATHON MOON (he/him)
BFA, PCC, SEP
Operations Director and Senior Life Coach

A certified life and career coach with over fifteen years of private practice experience. He trained at The Academy for Coaching Excellence under psychologist Dr. Maria Nemeth in California and is certified in Somatic Experiencing.

  • Through coaching, Jonathon has supported clients in quitting smoking, building healthier relationships, navigating parenthood and adoption, becoming financially independent, and pursuing artistic success. He believes in helping others create lives aligned with their values and aspirations. He also served on staff at Omega Institute for Holistic Studies for three years.

  • Jonathon uses a strengths-based, somatically-informed coaching approach rooted in Somatic Experiencing and the principles of personal empowerment. He supports clients through life transitions with a compassionate, goal-oriented lens.

    • Supporting clients to partner with their bodies and be physically fit and healthy.

    • Parent coaching.

    • Post adoption issues.

    • Becoming financially independent.

    • Pursuing artistic expression and success.

    • Jonathon believes in helping others create lives aligned with their values and aspirations.

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LIA AVELLINO (she/her)
LCSW
Strategist

A licensed feminist clinical social worker based in Brooklyn, NY, where she lives with her husband and three children. She graduated with distinction from Columbia University and has received awards for both innovative research and excellence in therapeutic care for underserved populations.

  • Lia specializes in supporting individuals who want to break out of molds that no longer serve them. She is the CEO of Spoke Circles, an organization focused on group support, and serves as an Advisor to Head & Heart at THE WELL.

    She is also a regular columnist on relationships and motherhood for mindbodygreen. Her experience spans clinical work, leadership, research, and writing, with her work featured in GLAMOUR, Cosmopolitan, Oprah Daily, and more.

    Early in her career, she managed a national component of President Obama’s initiative to reduce teen pregnancy across the country.

  • Rooted in feminist clinical social work, Lia’s approach is centered on helping people reconnect to their own inner wisdom, personal history, and community. She believes in creating space for people to reimagine what healing and connection can look like—on their own terms.

  • Lia supports people navigating:

    • Relationship challenges

    • Motherhood and parenting transitions

    • Identity and role shifts

    • Breaking away from inherited narratives or societal expectations

    • Healing through community connection

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AMIRA SHOUMAN (she/her)
LMSW
Therapist

  • A licensed social worker from the Midwest with Palestinian roots. She completed her graduate training at the New York University School of Social Work and the Steinhardt School of Education.

  • Amira’s career has centered on identity development, programming, and advocacy in higher education and organizations serving marginalized communities. She has worked clinically with individuals at City Year and The New School Counseling Services.

  • Amira incorporates a collaborative, supportive approach grounded in psychodynamic psychotherapy and evidence-based practices, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

  • Amira supports clients navigating relationship challenges, anxiety, depression, cross-cultural identity, grief and loss, domestic violence, displacement, and coming-of-age experiences.

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VANESSA TRICOCHE (she/her)
LMSW
Therapist

  • A bilingual (Spanish) Afro-Indigenous Puerto Rican licensed master social worker with a graduate degree from Fordham University’s School of Social Service. She brings both professional expertise and lived cultural perspective to her work, grounded in her heritage and community.

  • Vanessa currently works as a community mental health clinician. Her expertise includes working with individuals experiencing:

    • Depression and anxiety

    • Trauma and PTSD

    • Attachment wounds

    • ADHD and OCD

    • Grief and bereavement

    Her practice is especially informed by cultural identity, spirituality, and community-rooted healing.

  • Vanessa uses a culture-centered, holistic framework that integrates:

    • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

    • Spiritual emergence practices

    • Indigenous wisdom and grounding techniques

    She describes herself as a reflective listener with a direct yet compassionate style, and is committed to helping clients reconnect with their inner strength, authentic voice, and sense of peace.

  • Vanessa supports clients who are:

    • Navigating complex emotional or mental health challenges

    • Seeking culturally grounded care

    • Healing from trauma or identity-based wounds

    • Exploring spirituality in the context of mental health

    • Working through life transitions and grief

Our Ethos:

You deserve quality care that meets you where you are. At Aldea, we offer holistic and culturally-sensitive support, where therapeutic excellence is accessible to all, regardless of your background, identity, or socioeconomic status. We currently offer all of our counseling and life coaching sessions online, making it easier to access our services in a way that fits your life.

Our Clients:

We welcome individuals and families across all stages of life– from adolescents to adults. Our practice supports couples, families, and groups, as well as those exploring identity, navigating life transitions, or healing from complex experiences. We work with LGBTQIA+ clients, immigrants, and anyone feeling the weight of cultural, relational, or systemic stress.

FAQ

  • Therapy can help you in shifting problematic patterns that are inhibiting you from leading the full life you desire. It can help you lead a more purposeful, harmonious and balanced life and set you free from negative internalized thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and self-damaging patterns. In therapy you will gain insights and awareness about yourself, your relationships, your feelings, and your body and the way you interact with the world around you. Therapy supports you in understanding and building upon your strengths and developing tools and skills for changing problematic behaviors, compulsions, and negative thinking patterns.

  • Treatment length depends on the complexity of your presenting problems. Though it depends on each case, most anxiety and depression treatments tend to last between 6 and 12 months. More complex presentations such as PTSD and Complex Trauma can last longer. In some instances, clients come in with a very specific issue that they want to work on and/or limits to how long they can participate in the therapy. In such cases, we craft a treatment that addresses your specific need in the limited amount of time you are able to participate in the therapy.

  • Simply stated…when the therapy is working, you feel better. Early on in your healing journey and your therapist will delineate your goals for treatment and the specific tasks that will support you in your healing journey. Throughout treatment these goals will frequently be reassessed to guarantee that the treatment is moving towards achieving your goals.

  • We have an equity pricing model for our services based on what you can afford. Click here for more information.

  • Sessions are 50 minutes long. The typical session begins with a check in on how you are doing and any new information pertinent to treatment. We then determine what we will work on today be it a particular theme or topic that is part of your goals for therapy or any current issue that has arisen recently where you need support. As we explore the theme or issue for the session, we pay attention to your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and how this lives in your body. In processing we aim to find resources, new learnings, unburdening the past, and new ways of coping with how these issues impact your life.

Inhale. Exhale.
Begin your path to healing with Aldea Counseling.