Deborah Ramirez, Ph.D. is a clinical psychologist licensed in New York specializing in individual, couples and family therapy and psychological testing. Dr. Ramirez maintains private practice offices in Bayport and Roslyn, New York. She received a doctoral degree and masters degree from The Derner Institute for Advanced Psychological Studies at Adelphi University, a masters of social work degree from Adelphi University and an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She completed a trauma treatment training program through Adelphi's postgraduate program and a family therapy training program while working at The Children's Village in Dobbs Ferry. Currently, she is completing a 4 year psychoanalytic degree through Adelphi's Derner Institute. She is currently a private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. Among her areas of expertise are relationship issues, depression, anxiety, trauma, couples counseling, family therapy, infertility and third party reproduction, college counseling, grief counseling, mourning and eating disorders.
In addition to being an accomplished psychotherapist, Dr. Ramirez spent ten years as the Director of the Student Counseling Center at Adelphi University, a center she founded in 1999. While at Adelphi, Dr. Ramirez supervised the day to day coordination of services for university students in the student counseling center, peer counseling center, psychiatry department, rape crisis counseling program, disability support services department and the drug and alcohol department. In addition to creating policy and procedure for the counseling department, Dr Ramirez created an at-risk student policy and procedure manual for use by university administrators. She founded the Peer Counseling Center at Adelphi, a drop-in center and nightly hotline that offered students peer counseling, education and support. The center offered undergraduate students intensive training in counseling techniques and theory. Dr. Ramirez created entertaining and creative educational psychoeducational programs for university students, wrote and directed a skit on sexual assault performed yearly by students during freshman orientation, consulted and trained faculty and staff in crisis intervention and college mental health, supervised undergraduate, masters and doctoral level graduate student interns, professional counselors and department coordinators. Dr. Ramirez taught undergraduate and doctoral courses at Adelphi and took part in research studies on anxiety, parenting styles, drug and alcohol use in college students, and eating disorders at Adelphi. Dr. Ramirez has presented at several national conferences and to general audiences about college counseling, peer counseling, eating disorders, cutting and self-injury, sexual abuse and incest, drug and alcohol abuse and stress and relaxation.
Prior to her work at Adelphi University, Dr. Ramirez held positions in social work and psychology at Schneider's Children's Hospital, The Children's Village, Berkshire Farm Center, HIP Mental Health Centers, New Hope Guild and Educational Records Bureau. She completed externships and internships at Stony Brook University, The Melillo Center for Mental Health, Planned Parenthood, South Oaks Hospital and Samaritan Village. She maintains professional affiliations with the American Psychological Association (APA), APA's Division of Psychoanalysis, New York State Psychological Association (NYSPA), Suffolk County Psychological Association (SCPA), and the Nassau County Psychological Association (NCPA).
Dr. Ramirez offers a supportive and exploratory, interactive approach to psychotherapy. Her therapeutic approach is to provide support and practical feedback to help patients effectively address personal life challenges. She integrates complementary methodologies and techniques to offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each client. With compassion and understanding, Dr. Ramirez works with each individual to help them build on their strengths and attain the personal growth they are committed to accomplishing.