Professional Background
Arelie Estevez has over 10 years of experience working with children, adolescents and families struggling with developmental, emotional and behavioral diagnosis such as ADHD, Autism, Anxiety and Trauma. She began her career working as a Direct Support Professional at Eden II School for Individuals with Autism in Staten Island NY. Arelie quickly obtained certification as a Registered Behavior Technician supervised under a Board Certified Behavior Analyst to provide ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) Interventions in a home based setting to individuals with an OPWDD diagnosis. Working with these families prompted her to obtain a Masters in Mental Health in hopes to also assist family members of individuals struggling with severe mental health, developmental, and/or behavioral diagnosis.
On her journey to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Arelie had the privilege to intern at the Day Treatment High School Program with Staten Island Mental Health Society (SIMHS) a division of Richmond University Medical Center. She provided students enrolled in the program with family, individual and group therapy while working alongside the Department of Education to address academic concerns such as school avoidance/ refusal, poor functioning and delayed education prevalent among students diagnosed with ADHD, ODD, Conduct Disorder, Depression, Anxiety and Trauma.
Upon completing the Master’s program Arelie was immediately hired by the SIMHS for a full time position in the outpatient clinic where she worked with children, adolescents and families struggling with several issues including immigration, poverty, family of origin difficulties, personal identity, self esteem, trauma, anxiety, depression, navigating public assistance systems and programs and high risk behaviors (suicidal ideation and self harm) in both English and Spanish.
Currently Arelie is back in the day treatment program and has been working in the elementary and middle school program for 3 years. Similar to the high school program in which she completed her internship working with children, adolescents and family using a more psychoeducational approach as this population is new to services provided by the program. She also works part time for Therapy Connection, a virtual based private practice which allows her to serve adults and couples struggling with a milieu of mental health issues including poor self worth and self esteem, depression, anxiety, adjustment to multiple roles in personal/ professional and romantic life, immigration status and assimilation to host culture, racism, discrimination, trauma, stress, time management and relationship issues.
