Our Team
About The Reeds Center
Through their strength, flexibility and resilience, reeds serve as a powerful metaphor for how we work with our clients. These qualities allow them to weather storms, create protective habitats and contribute to the vitality and beauty of their surroundings.
Rooted in science and compassion, our clinicians guide clients through a collaborative process of learning, discovery and practice that allows them to reduce suffering and create lives full of meaning and vitality
Who We Are
At The Reeds Center, we aim to understand your challenges and provide you with the most effective solutions available based on current research and expert practices. We use only evidence-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapies (CBT) that have been tested to ensure they are effective, and we tailor them to your needs and goals.
We have developed our treatment programs drawing from our collective knowledge and experience in clinical research and practice at Columbia University and the New York State Psychiatric Institute, where our work focused on ways to improve response to cognitive-behavioral therapies.
Directors
James Bender, Psy.D. is a Director and Co-founder of The Reeds Center. He specializes in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CBT) for anxiety, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and OCD related disorders, chronic worry, and panic. He also has expertise in impulse control disorders (Trichotillomania and skin picking) and anxiety disorders that co-exist with depression and insomnia.
Michael Maher, Ph.D. is a Director and Co-founder of The Reeds Center. He specializes in cognitive-behavioral treatments of anxiety, OCD and related disorders including health anxiety. He has expertise in treatment resistant anxiety and OCD as well as in impulse control disorders (Trichotillomania, skin picking and tic disorders).
Sarah Parker, Ph.D. is a Director and Co-founder of The Reeds Center. She has extensive training and experience using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies (CBT) to treat anxiety disorders and eating disorders in a variety of formats and intensities. She works with adolescents and adults, and has particular expertise in the overlap between OCD and eating disorders.
Staff Members
Kristina Aganova, Psy.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at The Reeds Center who specializes in working with adults, children, adolescents, and young adults, including those on the autism spectrum. She has extensive experience using evidence-based treatments to help individuals with anxiety and mood disorders, OCD, and trauma; these treatments include CBT, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and other mindfulness-based interventions.
Sam Birkenholz, Psy.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at The Reeds Center specializing in the treatment of OCD and anxiety-related disorders in children, adolescents, and young adults. She has extensive experience utilizing evidence-based interventions, including exposure and response prevention (ERP) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT). She has received specialized training in the treatment of feeding and eating disorders using CBT-E, family-based treatment (FBT), and perceptual retraining (mirror exposure).
Maia Buschmann, M.S., Psy.D. is a postdoctoral fellow at The Reeds Center. She has extensive experience treating anxiety and mood disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD, insomnia, substance use, and personality disorders. Having trained in a variety of settings, Maia utilizes a culturally informed, identity-affirming approach in evidence-based treatments, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT).
Daisy Daeschler, LMSW, MS, is an advanced masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. Daisy has experience in delivering cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals with OCD, anxiety, depression and trauma. She also has experience providing client-centered supportive counseling and recovery-oriented cognitive therapy to adults with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance-use disorder, depression, trauma, and personality disorders.
Erik Erkkila, LMSW is a master-level clinician at The Reeds Center. He earned a Master of Social Work from NYU and has experience delivering cognitive based therapy and evidence based practices to treat anxiety, depression, panic disorders, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, OCD, and trauma. He has worked as a clinician in a variety of settings, including high schools and adult outpatient programs.
Lorraine Figueroa, LMSW is an senior masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. She received her master’s degree in social work from Columbia University, with a specialization in clinical practice and a concentration in contemporary social issues. Lorraine has extensive experience in delivering cognitive behavioral therapy for individuals with OCD, anxiety, depression and trauma.
Maanasa Gade, LMSW is an advanced masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. Maanasa has extensive experience using cognitive-behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing to support individuals experiencing OCD, anxiety, depression, and major life transitions.
Luke Goodwin, LCSW, M.S.Ed is a licensed senior masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. He received his Master of Social Work degree from New York University, with a specialization in mental health treatment for emerging adults. Luke also has a Master of Science in Education from Fordham University and a Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University.
Parham Horn, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist at The Reeds Center. She received her doctorate in counseling psychology from New York University. She has extensive experience in treating disruptive behavior, trauma, OCD, mood, and anxiety disorders using evidence-based treatments, including behavioral strategies, cognitive behavioral therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy in children, teens, and adults.
Hope Kassen, LMSW is an senior masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. She has received her MSW degree from Columbia University and her BA in political science from Oberlin College. Hope has experience providing evidence-based treatments of OCD, body dysmorphia, depression, anxiety, trichotillomania, phobias, and panic. Hope has worked with adults, children, and adolescents as well as survivors of trauma, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ identifying clients.
Olivia Marion, LMSW is a masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. She obtained her Master of Social Work degree in Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice with a focus on Health, Mental Health and Disabilities from Columbia University. Olivia has experience in delivering cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing for individuals with OCD, anxiety, depression, and trauma.
Franzi Ross, LMSW is a masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. Franzi has experience treating eating disorders, OCD, anxiety, and depression using acceptance and commitment therapy and motivational interviewing in community-based clinics as well as intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs. Her approach is weight inclusive and Health at Every Size® aligned.
Joshua M. Sanchez, LMSW is an senior masters-level clinician at The Reeds Center. He achieved his M.S. in Advanced Clinical Social Work Practice focusing on Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities from Columbia University and a B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College.
Yaritza Waddell, Psy.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist at The Reeds Center. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology from Roosevelt University and completed her predoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Kennedy Krieger Institute.
Carrie Webb-Bearak, Ph.D. is a licensed clinical psychologist at The Reeds Center. She has extensive experience treating obsessive-compulsive spectrum, anxiety, and mood disorders using evidence-based approaches including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), cognitive behavioral therapy, and exposure and response prevention.
Diversity Mission Statement
We at The Reeds Center are committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion within our practice and larger field of mental health treatment. Through evidence-based practice, we strive to empower all individuals and to foster the mind’s capacity for well-being through psychological flexibility, understanding that psychological rigidity can be both the cause and effect of bias, stigma, and oppression.
We seek to recruit and train highly skilled clinicians from a wide variety of backgrounds in an effort to build a field where all individuals can expect to feel connected and understood by treatment providers who practice according to the strongest evidence-based practices.
Promoting Equality & Inclusion
Our Commitment as Therapists
To conduct ongoing trainings on multicultural competence and anti-racism for current staff and new hires.
To promote reflections, growth, and development to deconstruct racism within ourselves as individuals and within our professional community.
To educate ourselves through shared readings and discussions on the effects of racism, homophobia, and related traumas on BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals.
Our Commitment as a Practice
To offer opportunities to graduate students & therapists from diverse background.
To welcome applicants from BIPOC therapists with interests or experience in evidence-based treatments.
To train BIPOC graduate students from psychology, social work & mental health counseling backgrounds in evidence-based therapies.
To provide low to no-cost treatment to BIPOC & LGBTQ+ communities through partnering with community mental health organizations.