Roey Ficaro LCSW-R CHT, RYT NY State Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Also certified in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, Reiki, Hypnotherapy & Aromatherapy,
with extensive training in Trauma Based Somatic Experience.
Holistic healing takes the whole person into account, their history as well as their physical, mental, emotional & spiritual state of being. All these variables determine my treatment approach which I carefully individualize for each client. My own personal journey began by studying psychology. I became more & more aware of my own unconscious issues & negative behavior patterns that created difficuty in my life. Over time I came to realize in order to walk clients through their healing journey I needed to explore & walk through my own as well. This began my quest to understand & heal my own wounded parts from my past. I began years of psychotherapy both individual & group as I continued my education obtaining a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work from Columbia University and a Post-Masters Certification in child, adolescent and family psychotherapy from Fordham University. I am grateful to my many mentors & teachers along the way who encouraged me to continue on this path of healing & learning. Eventually I dove into a very intense 2 year program of learning & healing uncovering past traumas & wounds that I had buried. This was done with experiential learning, hypnotherapy, shamanic healing, rebirthing, holotropic breath-work & past life regression, much of which I now use in my treatment with clients. For the past 5 years I have been practicing & studying a very effective technique for PTSD called SE, or Somatic Experience. This is the powerful cutting edge trauma based somatic work of Peter Levine, a renowned Trauma Therapist.
My private practice experience has included working with adults, adolescents, children & couples for the past 30 years. In addition I served as middle & high school clinical social worker in Westchester County for 15 years specializing in stress reduction, substance abuse, trauma, anxiety, bipolar & depression. My career eventually moved on to work at SUNY Purchase College counseling center, in addition to my part-time private practice. As the Substance Abuse Counselor at SUNY, I was instrumental in creating a Wellness Center for students to receive counseling & substance abuse prevention. Many programs were created such as Wellness Days, & classes in yoga and meditation called, "Yoga for a Natural High," which became extremely popular & benificial with students.
As a student of yoga since the 1980's I was drawn to a healing technique called Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy & became a practitioner & mentor. It was a combination of Thai Yoga Body Work & Classical Psychology with dialogue to encourage unconscious issues to surface from deep within the body. I loved how this system continued to inform my own healing & learning. It validated the power of somatic healing & mind body spirit connection. This experience led me to continue my yoga path to become a certified yoga /meditation instructor to deepen my knowledge & practice of yoga. Over the past 20 years, I have had over 1000 hours of extensive yoga training based on Iyengar & Anusara systems of alignment, as well as becoming certified in Iyengar inspired Restorative Yoga. Stress reduction & nervous system de-activation is a vital element of this yoga modality. So much research is available now on how deactivating the nervous system through this type of yoga & meditation can help with PTSD & other issues.
Since moving to the East End of Long Island 10 years ago, I still continue to see clients in Mt. Kisco, NY on Wednesdays only. I now live in the sweet hamlet of Springs in East Hampton, NY surrounded by nature where I have created a Healing Sanctuary. It is a private office/yoga studio where I work with clients utilizing all the techniques in my tool box.
During my free time you can find me communing with nature as I paddle-board around Gardiners Bay.
To schedule a psychotherapy evaluation/session or private/semi-private yoga session or information about fees, public classes, please contact me. Insurance is reimbursable for psychotherapy clients depending if insurance provider allows out of network mental health coverage. I am a NY State Licensed Clinical Social Worker. LCSW-R