Cristina Spataro, LMHC

Cristina Spataro is a New York State licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) with 18 years of experience helping people who are under a lot of stress. She meets people who feel overwhelmed by anxiety, depression, relationship strain, grief, addiction, or big life changes. She also supports those dealing with parenting strain, caregiving stress, and questions about life purpose and identity.

She practices in a direct, conversational way. Sessions focus on what is happening now and on practical steps a person can try between meetings. Cristina uses Client-Centered Therapy to listen closely and build trust, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help change thoughts and behaviors that make life harder.

Many clients come with relationship or family concerns, communication problems, anger, or intimacy issues. Cristina also works with people facing adoption and foster care questions, abandonment wounds, compassion fatigue, and workplace or career stress. She helps people explore options and make clearer decisions when life feels confusing.

Her approach is collaborative. She treats each person as the expert on their life and helps them test new ways of coping. Sessions include talking through problems, practicing small changes, and checking what does or does not work.

To begin, Cristina asks people to reflect on what they want to change and to try things between sessions. Her work aims to restore steadiness and help people move forward when problems feel stuck.

How Cristina’s approaches translate to online care

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on listening and understanding your perspective. It helps when someone needs a supportive space to sort through emotions, relationship worries, or role stress. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the link between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches simple skills to shift unhelpful patterns; it can help with anxiety, low mood, and coping with life changes.

Choosing an approach is a collaborative process. Cristina will work with each person to decide which methods to try, based on goals and what feels most useful. That decision can change over time as new issues come up or different strategies are tested.

The biography does not specify which session formats are offered, so confirm current options before booking. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, and reduce travel time. It also makes regular work on skills and coping strategies more convenient, since exercises and worksheets can be done between meetings to reinforce change.