Bios

Ara McGlamery - Your Guide for All Sessions
Barbara “Ara” McGlamery, MA, LCAT, is a psychotherapist and EMDR certified practitioner in private practice in Greenpoint Brooklyn, NY.  Barbara is a drama therapist, actor, director, and painter, who works with adults who feel blocked or stuck in their lives and are ready to move forward.  Barbara utilizes drama and theater, as well as art, movement, and music, to help her clients express their experiences in creative ways.  Ara is a self-taught painter and is keenly aware of what it’s like to want to be creative, but not know how to get into self expression through the arts.  Certified in EMDR, Ara employs drama and art in the EMDR process as a way to process but also prepare and ground oneself before beginning treatment.  Ara has trained with Mark Grant for trance and hypnotherapy for chronic pain.  RESTORATIVE PERFORMANCE is Ara’s way to find ways to nurture oneself while strengthening the bonds in the community.  Ara hopes you find RESTORATIVE PERFORMANCE as restorative as it feels to run the sessions! You can find out more on Ara’s About page>>

Maya Sakellaridis
Maya Sakellaridis is a native New Yorker and a dedicated art therapist with over 9 years experience supporting individuals across the city. Her work has brought her into communities throughout Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens – from nursing homes to residential OASAS centers and, most recently, an outpatient mental health clinic. Formally trained as an artist and personally inspired by performance, Maya brings creativity, compassion, and cultural awareness to every space she enters. She believes deeply in the power of community connection and creative expression, especially now, when they are more vital than ever.

Ann Akers
Ann Akers, LP, a psychotherapist with 40+ years of clinical practice, possesses a passion for the healing arts at the intersection of psychology and spirituality. Trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS), a pathway to trauma recovery and living in wholeness and interpersonal authenticity, she applies and teaches the “natural multiplicity” principle of IFS among many types of professionals towards deepening self-understanding, empowerment in manifesting gifts through work, and a true sense of well-being and resilience. More about Ann here>>

Alex Kavaungh
Alex Kavanaugh, MA, LCAT, is a Creative Arts Therapist and Psychodramatist working in Private Practice in Union Square.  Born and Bred in Manhattan, Alex fell in love with Broadway, theater, and directing from a young age, and this passion became the throughline of her career.  Alex has worked as a NYC Public School Teacher and Teaching Artist, as well as founded recreational creative arts therapy programming at Substance Use Rehabilitation centers throughout New York City, before starting in private practice in 2021. Alex has always loved guiding others to express and share their stories in creative ways, whether through working with students to devise their own plays, group psychodrama, or even through individual therapeutic interventions.  More about Alex here>>