Elizabeth Rubino

As a psychotherapist, my specialties include trauma, PTSD, and post-traumatic growth, marriage (couples) and family therapy, chronic illness, anxiety, grief work, and LGBTQI populations. I have also worked as a mental health counselor for The SoHo Center for Mental Health Counseling in NYC, and as a trauma clinician for the PTSD Center in New Haven, CT. My research interests include Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) within the LGBTQI population and among adult children of a BPD parent, marriage and family systems, attachment theory, and the therapeutic arts.

As a drama therapist, I worked for many years with Creative Alternatives of New York, leading group therapy for LGBTQI homeless teens, adults on the autism spectrum, domestic violence survivors, sexually trafficked teen girls, children with behavioral challenges, inpatient psychiatry, and international refugees. I also worked with the Hetrick-Martin Institute and Harvey Milk High School in NYC. Through my own national therapeutic arts studio, I have presented and led groups on a variety of topics within the realm of creative arts therapies and worked with Althzeimer’s and dementia groups, underprivileged youth groups in various communities, and high school and community theatre groups. My research interests included post-traumatic growth, drama therapy with prison populations, and autobiographical theatre. My master’s thesis and performance was an autobiographical cabaret titled And So…I Sing: A Journey Towards Post-Traumatic Growth.

As a consultant, I have worked for places such as Horizons at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut, running groups with teacher assistants and co-presenting programs on working with trauma in schools and on therapeutic skills and exercises to strengthen adult-to-child relationships in the classroom. Additionally, I have consulted for corporations (such as Kraftmaid Cabinetry), start-ups, magnet schools, community centers, and for diversity and inclusion programs on relationship building, soft skills, healthy workplace dynamics, peer-to-peer problem solving, and team development.