Welcome to the Cognitive Therapy Center of Long Island

This website contains information about cognitive-behavioral therapy. We hope it will help you decide whether this kind of therapy is right for you.

For the past twenty years, Dr. Janet Klosko and Dr. William Sanderson have been co-directors of the center. The therapy we do is positive and compassionate. We focus on helping you to learn new skills and to build on your strengths. For example, you might come to see us because you are too anxious or depressed to find a healthy love relationship or to reach your potential at work. We might ask you to observe your physical sensations, thoughts, and behavior whenever you become anxious or depressed. We help you learn skills to control your physical symptoms, challenge your negative thoughts and think more realistically, and behave in more constructive ways.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been shown to help many types of problems. It is appropriate for both adults and children. Scientific research has demonstrated that cognitive-behavioral therapy is an effective treatment for:

Depression
Anxiety problems such as panic attacks, chronic worry, post-traumatic stress, social anxiety, phobias
Eating disorders
Sexual problems
Physical problems related to stress, such as headaches, hypertension, or gastrointestinal problems
Insomnia
Self-control problems such as impulsivity, hyperactivity, poor work habits, or procrastination
Lack of social skills or assertiveness
Relationship problems in individuals, couples, and families

In cognitive-behavioral therapy, the therapist is active and directive. Patients learn to "self-monitor;" that is, they learn to observe their problematic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors as they occur in their day-to-day lives. They practice correcting irrational thoughts, containing their feelings, and changing self-defeating behaviors, often in "homework assignments" between sessions. Where relevant, they learn such skills as assertiveness, relaxation, anxiety and anger management, listening to others, communicating effectively, problem-solving, goal-setting, and structuring one’s time.

The overwhelming majority of patients who undergo cognitive-behavioral therapy find it helpful. Although it is difficult to predict the length of treatment since it depends upon many factors, symptom-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy typically takes between six months and a year of weekly sessions. Problems that are more general, such as lifelong difficulties in intimate relationships or at work, take longer to resolve.

When choosing a therapist, it is important to evaluate the therapist’s credentials and level of expertise. Our center is staffed by clinical psychologists with extensive training in state-of-the-art cognitive-behavioral therapy. The two directors, Dr. Sanderson and Dr. Klosko, have published widely in the field, including both self-help and academic books, and research articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Frequently, managed care and other types of insurance plans will not cover service for providers that are not part of their network. In our opinion, there are several important advantages to not relying on insurance companies that manage service. We found that managed care companies interfered with our goal of providing the best treatment. In addition, we felt that the highly personal patient information we had to report to these companies so that they could determine if treatment was "necessary" violated patients’ confidentiality. We believe that managed care companies are motivated to deny service to reduce costs, frequently at the patient’s expense. We think decisions about treatment should rest between the therapist and the patient, and not be controlled by an outsider who is an employee of an insurance company.

If you have any questions or wish to make an appointment for an evaluation at our center, please call us at (516) 466-8485. We look forward to hearing from you.