NYCAO
Tel: 917-565-9940
Lara Rifkin, PhD
Founder/Director
Dr. Lara Rifkin is a licensed clinical psychologist and the founder and director of New York City Anxiety and OCD. Dr. Rifkin completed her clinical training at McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School where she trained at McLean’s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Institutes for adults and children (OCDI and OCDI Jr.), the McLean Anxiety Mastery Program (MAMP) and the Behavioral Health Partial Program (BHP). Dr. Rifkin earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Temple University where she was mentored by Dr. Philip Kendall who developed the most widely studied and disseminated treatment for child anxiety, Coping Cat. Dr. Rifkin has trained junior clinicians in this treatment and has served as a school consultant for child anxiety. Dr. Rifkin is passionate about providing evidence-based care and her research is focused on how to improve treatment outcomes with a specific interest in targeting intolerance of uncertainty.
Charlene Minaya, PhD
Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Charlene Minaya is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in evidence-based treatment for children, adolescents, and adults with OCD, anxiety, and other common co-occurring conditions (e.g., tics, skin picking, hair pulling, etc.). She obtained her PhD in clinical psychology at Fordham University and completed her postdoctoral training at the Pediatric OCD, Anxiety, and Tic Disorders Program at Weill Cornell Medicine. Dr. Minaya has extensive experience integrating evidence-based treatments including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) and parent-child interaction therapy (PCIT). Dr. Minaya is dedicated to delivering the highest quality evidence-based care with creativity, humor, and empathy.
Clare Beatty, PhD
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Clare Beatty is a postdoctoral fellow specializing in the evidence-based treatment of anxiety, obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (OCRDs), and co-occurring mood and emotion regulation difficulties across the lifespan. Dr. Beatty completed her postdoctoral clinical training at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York-Presbyterian, where she trained in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure and response prevention (ERP), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), and Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE). Dr. Beatty earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Stony Brook University, where she completed clinical placements at the Child Mind Institute and Stony Brook Hospital. Her research, supported by the National Science Foundation, focuses on identifying neurobiological risk factors for anxiety and developing scalable, digital interventions that expand access to treatment. Above all, Dr. Beatty is deeply committed to providing warm, compassionate, and individualized care. She feels privileged to support children, adolescents, adults, and families navigating OCD and anxiety, and to help her clients build the skills to face uncertainty, loosen the grip of anxiety, and live the lives they want.