Teresa deBoer, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Teresa has worked for years helping Adult Children, parents & siblings that are or have lived with someone's alcohol and drug abuse & feels like the addiction has made their lives unmanageable.It is important to talk honestly with family members about what is happening in the family and to help them express their concerns and feelings.Families with alcohol and drug problems usually have high levels of stress and confusion.These family members need to have their experiences validated and learn that they did not cause it they cannot control the addiction, and they cannot cure the addiction. She is well-versed and comfortable in individual, group and family counseling sessions and utilizes creative approaches to encouraging sharing and support. Teresa's experience covers a broad range of care including family of all ages, teenagers, elementary-age children and children on the Autism spectrum disorders.Teresa works from a systemic approach bringing the entire family into sessions. Through the integration of cognitive, behavioral and spiritual awareness, clients learn that they hold the answers to create harmony in their lives. In recognizing and meeting her clients need for spirituality, Teresa employs an eclectic approach, ensuring that treatment is tailored to individual needs, using experimental methods with cognitive behavioral techniques to facilitate an individual's and family's insight and personal growth. She believes in her client's ability to create balance and sees them healed.

Teresa Giammella-deBoer, LMFT, LMHC, founder of TGD Counseling and Healing Through Creativity, completed a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Psychology and a Masters of Special Education from the College of Staten Island. Teresa started her career as a Special Education teacher in Brooklyn, New York. She moved to Miami Beach, Florida, to work with Special Education students and earn a dual Masters Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and Mental Health Counseling while completing a separate degree in Guidance and Counseling from Barry University in Miami Shores, Florida. She received a license for all three degrees from New York State, where she is a Guidance Counselor for high school students through the Department of Education in Staten Island, New York. Her private practice is in Family Therapy and Mental Health. Utilizing a series of Healing Through Creativity books, the author runs a 12-week workshop which incorporates different modalities to facilitate workshop participants in living more productive and harmonious lives. Testinmonials: The best way I can explain Teresa’s approach to therapy is holistic. It has been life changing for me. Working with Teresa on individual ACOA therapy has helped to unveil my codependent behaviors and the reasons I developed them as a child for survival. I am FINALLY beginning to heal from my childhood. As a result of the individual therapy with Teresa, I recognized that I have been accepting unacceptable behaviors in my marriage for far too long. The beauty of working with Teresa is that I’m not alone with dealing with it. She works with my husband and I to discuss the issues and gives us a treasure box of tools to use to create a more balanced relationship where both of our needs are being met. Teresa also holds group sessions as an enhancement to individual and marriage counseling. Now let me say, I am the last person who ever thought I would be comfortable talking about personal experiences in a group setting, but I am so grateful I gave it a try, it has been a true game changer. Identifying with someone else’s experience, realizing you are not alone, that you shouldn’t be ashamed, seeing that they came out the other side of it, it’s all priceless. Even greater, is giving that experience to others that come after you. All the while, having Teresa to guide us through these discussions and bring it all together for us, it’s extremely validating and freeing. I wish everyone could have a Teresa in their life." Dee Gia Counseling is by far one of the best counseling services I have come across. As a certified counselor my self, I can say that the care and support given by Teresa and her staff have given me the additional tools I needed for myself personally as well as for those that I work with. Gia counseling is a uniquely personalized, professional, caring and uplifting counseling agency that we are lucky to have right here on Staten Island. For years I have recommended this agency to families that I've worked with, as well as referred own personal friends and family with complete confidence." Lorraine P. "Working with Teresa as a same-sex couple has allowed us to take our relationship from a place of uncertainty to a place of strength. She provided us with the tools we needed to bring our relationship to a healthier place again. In the process, we have been able to work on ourselves individually, which helped our journey as a couple grow stronger. Teresa worked to guide us to where we wanted to go. We all have our answers within us and she helps to bring them out." A & S