Janine Belcastro, LCSW is the owner and clinician at Olive and Oak Counseling. Janine has been providing clinical services for over 20 years, in a variety of settings, mental health outpatient treatment, school, and private practice. She graduated from StonyBrook University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and attended graduate school at Hunter College where she earned an MSW. Janine utilizes a strengths-based approach. Her style is down to earth, direct and empathetic. Janine incorporates elements from various treatment modalities to explore thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, with the goal of improving mental health and overall well-being. Some modalities utilized emphasize the importance of rational thinking and self-control in managing emotions and increasing resilience (i.e. Stoic philosophy and CBT). Psychotherapy involves exploring past experiences and unresolved issues to gain insight into how they influence current thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Janine also utilizes experiential therapies, focusing on healing through direct experience. Janine is trained in EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), which combines elements of psychodynamic and experiential therapy by addressing unresolved trauma through guided eye movements (or another form of bilateral stimulation), helping clients to process distressing memories and emotions on both a cognitive and somatic level.