Meet The Staff

(she/her) - Counselor

Ruchi is a trilingual (English, Spanish, Gujarati) clinical social worker who focuses on culture, gender, and the body. She is experienced in working with international students, having lived in several countries herself, and appreciates the opportunity to connect and work with New School students from around the world. Ruchi works to connect the body and the mind using intersectionality in an effort to help students find balance and have a good learning experience. 

(she/her) - Office Manager

Akema Benn joined The New School in July 2022 as Student Health Services’ office manager. With more than seven years of experience in healthcare in both the private and the public sectors, Akema enjoys the challenges and rewards that come from running the daily operations of the Student Health Services. She is adept at wearing many hats - from overseeing the senior office assistants and Student Health Insurance Program to managing student traffic. Akema has a genuine passion for helping others and has made The New School her home.

(she/her) - Counselor

Gail Bragg is a licensed clinical social worker who has enjoyed working with New School students for more than 15 years. She is trained as a psychoanalyst and has taught courses and supervised interns at several New York clinical training institutes and universities, including NYU, Columbia, The New School, and Adelphi. Gail is committed to social justice and has worked as a mental health consultant to NYC agencies serving refugees and asylum seekers.

(he/him) - Senior Office Assistant

Emerson is a senior office assistant with 20 years of experience providing administrative support to students, faculty, and staff.

(she/her) - Counselor

Heather Despres Burack, LCSW, has more than 25 years of experience in the fields of mental health, post-secondary programming, and youth development. Heather serves as a counselor and clinical supervisor at The New School’s Counseling Center. She completed a three-year postgraduate training program in gestalt therapy at the Gestalt Center for Psychotherapy and Training. Heather also has expertise in social group work and teaches the subject in the Youth Studies program at CUNY’s School of Professional Studies. She has a BA from Swarthmore College, an MA in Media Studies from the New School, and an MSW from Hunter College School of Social Work. She loves hiking and has recently discovered a passion for pottery. 

(she/they) - Director of Counseling Services

Liz Clark, PsyD, joined The New School as director of Counseling in 2022, building on a decade-long career in college mental health. A clinical psychologist by training, Liz is passionate about culturally sensitive and social justice–oriented therapy, training, and supervision. They specialize in adolescent and emerging adult mental health, LGBTQ+ populations and issues, and the integration of mindfulness and acceptance-based and psychodynamic psychotherapy. In addition to directing the Counseling department at Student Health Services, Liz maintains a small private psychotherapy and supervision practice. She enjoys crafting, singing, swimming, hiking, and spending time with her spouse, one-year-old twins, and their many friends and chosen family. 

(he/him) - Supervising Physician

William DeWitt, MD, AAHIVS, is board certified in family medicine. He completed his residency at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx in 2014. Since then, he has been providing primary and urgent care for LGBTQ+ patients, including HIV and gender-affirming hormone therapy care, at the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, a federally qualified safety-net clinic in Chelsea.  William has enjoyed providing care for New School students part-time since 2018.

(she/her) - Senior Office Assistant

Gretchen is a senior office assistant, here to support students, providers, and staff at Student Health Services.

(she/her) - Physician Assistant

Donna is a patient-centered, culturally sensitive physician assistant with 22 years of experience in public and private health settings. She believes in empowering patients to be active participants in their health and wellness through access to accurate medical information and advice. She is also an impassioned advocate of education and access to the best standards of medical care for everyone.

(he/him) - Counselor

Bill is a licensed clinical social worker who has offered psychotherapy to students and provided clinical supervision to interns for the past 18 years. He specializes in trauma, anxiety and depression. His professional interests include psychotherapy and spirituality, Buddhism, dream work, Kundalini yoga, Jungian sand play, and psychedelic integration therapy. Bill received psychoanalytic training from the National Institute for the Psychotherapies, where he also completed training in psychotherapy and spirituality. He has served as an adjunct faculty member at Rutgers School of Social Work and CUNY’s Silberman School of Social Work. In addition, he has a private practice specializing in young adults. Bill has a strong commitment to social justice and has worked for many community-based organizations serving people experiencing homelessness and survivors of domestic violence.

(she/her) - Counselor

Shinhee Han, PhD, has been a psychotherapist at The New School since 2009. Her expertise lies in counseling Asian and other international students Asian American students, and LGBTQ+ students. She facilitates the International Student Support Group and DBT group at The New School. With David L. Eng, she is the author of Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans. Dr. Han previously worked in counseling and psychological services at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Barnard College, and Columbia University. Born in Seoul, she immigrated to the United States at the age of 13 and is fluent in Korean and English. 

(she/her) - Assistant Director of Medical Services

Ashley Heywodd-Cooper, RN is the Assistant Director of Medical Services and a registered Nurse. Ashley has experience in Emergency Medicine and has over 11 years experience in higher education administration.

(she/her) - Senior Office Assistant

Christine Jackman is a senior office assistant who provides administrative support to Student Health Services. She is usually the first person students meet when they visit Student Health Services, so she strives to make a positive and welcoming first impression. Her goal is to deliver a high-quality experience to students. 

(she/her) - Senior Director of Medical Services

Jayne spent more than a decade providing medical care to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth and families experiencing homelessness. She holds a law degree from Fordham University and a physician assistant degree from CUNY School of Medicine. Now in her 15th year of managing Medical Services at The New School, Jayne continues to ensure that our students receive high-quality patient-centered care. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jayne has also been the medical lead for the development and implementation of COVID-19 policies on campus that keep the community safe. 

(she/her) - Physician Assistant

Guadalupe Larez, PA-C, is a physician assistant with more than 30 years of experience providing primary care to patients. She has worked at The New School for 24 years after choosing student health as her specialty. Lupe places great importance on establishing trust and collaborating with her patients to optimize their health and support their academic success.

(she/her) - Associate Director for Student Health Services

Lisa has worked in healthcare administration for more than 17 years. She oversees the day-to-day operations of the student health insurance and immunization programs and works with the support staff to provide administrative assistance to students and staff. 

(she/her) - Nurse Midwife

Jacqueline is a certified nurse midwife and women's health nurse practitioner who has been working at The New School since 2016. Jacqueline is delighted to be offering gynecological services and reproductive wellness care to New School students. Her goal is to inspire health confidence by supporting individual choice and self-empowerment and building awareness. As a certified nurse midwife, Jacqueline offers an individualized plan of care achieved by blending traditional midwifery practices with evidence-based culturally competent medicine in a nurturing, respectful, and holistic way.

(she/her) - Counselor and Resource Coordinator

Kai Lin Fu, PsyD, is a clinical psychologist with a focus on complex intergenerational and racial trauma, acculturative stress, depression, anxiety, and body image concerns. Dr. Fu is particularly interested in intersectionality, QTPOC identity development in emerging adults, and mental illness in populations on the margins of white supremacist culture. Before joining The New School, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia Irving Medical Center’s Student Health on Haven focusing on embodiment and trauma in intersectional somatic therapy, the facilitation of healing spaces, and AAPI group therapy. Dr. Fu has worked with adolescents and adults in college counseling and community mental health settings, providing individual and group therapy, psychological and psychoeducational assessment, and crisis intervention. Dr. Fu incorporates a relational, collaborative psychodynamic approach based on social justice and feminist perspectives. She identifies as a queer cis female first-generation Asian American. Dr. Fu is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Shanghainese.

(she/her) - Counselor

Marisa Mabli, LCSW, has worked in college mental health since 2014 and specializes in body image and eating concerns, substance use, and sexuality and gender identity. She is a graduate of Simmons University School of Social Work and has a certificate in spirituality and social work from NYU. She has also completed the WTCI Post-Graduate Program in Feminist Relational Psychodynamic Psychotherapy and is a member of the Climate Psychology Alliance.

(she/her) - Counselor

Yuriko is a bilingual (Japanese, English) clinical social worker. She integrates a somatic and mindfulness approach into her practice and has years of experience working with international students, BIPOC, and individuals with learning difficulties in a variety of settings.

(she/her) - Assistant Director of Externship Training

Vanessa McGann, PhD, the assistant director of Externship Training, has been at The New School for more than ten years. She enjoys helping counselors develop clinical skills. Vanessa is a clinical psychologist and an artist who specializes in trauma, grief, and suicide. She uses empathy, creativity, and problem solving techniques to help people change the way they lead their lives and experience themselves.

(she/her) - Psychiatrist

Yasmin Mohabbat, MD, is a child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist. She is an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and is double board certified. As The New School’s staff psychiatrist, Dr. Mohabbat is dedicated to supporting students through a holistic and developmentally attuned approach. She strives to understand each individual’s story in the context of community, family, and cultural identity. Dr. Mohabbat is fluent in Farsi/Dari, Pashto, German, and English.  

(she/her) - Director of Wellness and Health Promotion

Tamara Oyola-Santiago is the Director of Wellness and Health Promotion at Student Health Services. Tamara is a public health educator whose areas of life work include harm reduction services grounded in social justice, HIV/AIDS decriminalization, community upstander mobilization, restorative practices, and LGTBQIAGNC health.  

(they/she) - Associate Provost for Student Health Services

Tracy Robin (aka TR), LCSW, is the associate provost for Student Health Services. In that role, Tracy oversees medical and counseling services, the Student Health Insurance Plan, and immunization and COVID-19 compliance. Tracy joined the university in 2000 as a therapist at the counseling center and took on increasing responsibilities as an administrator in the following years. Tracy sees health and social justice as inextricably linked and, with their team, has created and supported programs and services integrating equity, inclusion, and social justice over the years. Before joining The New School, Tracy worked for more than ten years as a therapist and clinical supervisor in NYC hospital-based trauma programs serving survivors of childhood sexual abuse, sexual assault, and domestic violence. Tracy’s work draws on feminist, multicultural, trauma-informed, and psychodynamic perspectives. Tracy received their MSW from New York University and their BA in Sociology from Ithaca College. Tracy went on to earn certificates in gender conscious psychoanalytically oriented psychotherapy and in integrative harm reduction psychotherapy at the Women’s Therapy Center Institute. They have also received intensive training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and EMDR. Tracy is also trained as a Reiki practitioner and an acupuncture detoxification specialist. Tracy co-wrote an article published in the Journal of American College Health titled “Provision of Auricular Acupuncture and Acupressure in a University Setting,” which outlined the process for introducing this wellness practice on college campuses around the country.

(she/her) - Counselor

Jasmyne T. Robinson is a licensed mental health counselor with experience in treating substance abuse, anxiety and depression, and different forms of trauma. She has worked with a range of ages from minors, to young adults, to middle aged adults, as well as a diverse range of cultures. Jasmyne focuses on building trust with clients and fostering authentic connections as the very basis of helping to guide individuals through difficult life changes.

(she/her) - Counselor

Racquel Samuel, LMSW is a social worker who advocates for equity, diversity, and inclusion in education and mental health settings. Racquel is a New School alumna, having graduated from Eugene Lang College in 2014. She obtained her degree in social work from Fordham School of Social Service. Racquel has spent most of her professional career working as an administrator in colleges and college access organizations supporting BIPOC students, who have historically lacked academic and financial support in the New York City area.

In 2021, Racquel entered CUNY's Graduate Center to pursue a second master's degree, in cognitive neuroscience. Her interests include the way chronic psychosocial stressors experienced by minoritized communities cause long-term changes in the body's biological stress response systems. Her primary focus is working with diverse populations, including BIPOC, LGTBQ+, and first-generation college students who are challenged by depression and anxiety or are just moving through various life transitions. 

(she/her) - Assistant Director of Counseling Services

Shamsil Serabian, LCSW, is the assistant director at the Counseling Center. Before joining The New School in 2021, Shamsil worked in NYC hospitals, public schools, and nonprofit organizations. She draws on her creative, dynamic experience collaborating with interdisciplinary teams and her knowledge of treatment using evidence-based practice and psychodynamic theory in providing comprehensive mental healthcare and services for individuals, groups, and organizations. 

(she/her) - Physician Assistant

Jen Silverman, MPH, is a physician ssistant with 17 years of experience in LGBTQ+ healthcare, sexual health, and adolescent healthcare. She values offering health education and promoting personal agency in her patients.