Counseling

It’s common for children to worry about everyday things. However, anxiety goes beyond typical concerns. Kids with anxiety experience excessive, unmanageable worry that affects their daily life.  At By Design Social Skills, we specialize in helping children overcome anxiety and build resilience.

We can also help children who have difficulty managing their emotions. Emotional dysregulation can manifest in several ways, such as feeling overwhelmed by seemingly minor things, struggling to control impulsive behaviors, or having unpredictable outbursts. These displays of extreme emotion can affect relationships, school, and daily life.  Our counselors provide:

  • Evidence-Based Treatment: We tailor evidence-based therapies to each child’s unique needs.
  • Therapeutic Techniques: Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Applied Positive Psychology, as well as other techniques best suited to remediate the child's struggles.
  • Parent Involvement: We empower parents with strategies to support their child at home.

No matter what the difficulty, our compassionate team of experts is dedicated to providing personalized care for young minds!

Amy L. Young

Amy L. Young, LPC, M.S. Ed., NCC, NYCAPP

Amy L. Young is a Licensed Professional Counselor providing a safe and nurturing environment for her clients. She understands how stressors and difficulties in one domain can relate to problematic behaviors elsewhere, and guides clients to find the best within themselves.

Amy utilizes a variety of skills and techniques in her child and adult therapies including Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Solution-Focused Therapy, Applied Positive Psychology, and mindfulness, and draws on her experience as both an elementary and high school guidance counselor.

In young children who are learning to understand and express their emotions, Amy has found great success with a play-based therapy approach. She is able to provide an individualized plan that supports your child in building coping skills and self-esteem, learning how to make friends, and improving relationships at school and at home. She is also available for review, consulting, and modification of your child's IEP/504, and provides parent training so that support can be continued outside of counseling sessions.

Amy understands that anxiety can arise from many sources, and successfully treats children and teens with both social and school-based phobias. If social skills therapy is needed, Amy will implement an individualized social skills program to address conversation skills, social etiquette, understanding social cues, building friendships, and much more. Social skills programs are available for both children and adults. As the lead counselor for our teen and vocational programs, Amy’s extensive experience working as a high school guidance and vocational counselor is evidenced in the quality of programming she provides. Whether your child is navigating the complex social environment of high school or college, Amy can help with socialization, friendship, and life skills through a variety of individually-tailored programs.

Amy is also available for adult, family and couples counseling. She can assist those seeking help with parenting, stress, grief, divorce, aging, and life transitions. For those families of special needs children facing unique challenges, Amy provides couples counseling to strengthen marriages. She can also assist siblings who may need help coping with a family dynamic that is affected by the demands of special needs.


Jacqueline C. Duca, LPC, LCADC

With a focus on the mind-body connection, Jacqueline provides professional counseling specialized to the needs of her clients. She provides therapy in a warm, caring, and empathetic manner that allows for growth and positive change. Jacqueline employs a range of modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy, positive psychology, mindfulness, and somatic tracking, and holds certificates in Applied Positive Psychology, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, Health Counseling, and Yoga Instruction. She is skilled in treating those suffering from anxiety, depression, chronic pain, mindbody symptoms, and other emotional difficulties. Jacqueline’s strength-based counseling approaches focus on restoring mind, body, and nervous system health.

As a licensed counselor for over fifteen years and a high school Student Assistance Coordinator for seventeen years, Jacqueline has developed numerous social-emotional learning programs to improve resilience skills. With her expertise as a school anti-bullying specialist and teen group counselor, Jacqueline brings a wealth of experience and strategies to assist her teen and young adult clients. She is especially adept at helping teens make the important transition from middle to high school.

Jacqueline's integrative therapy approach lends itself well to teens and adults who are seeking growth, healing, and an emotionally healthy self.

Bethany Mucci

Bethany Mucci, LCSW

Bethany Mucci is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a Master of Social Work with a concentration in clinical practice with families and children. She has provided mental and behavioral health services in educational, residential, and outpatient settings, with experience in crisis and de-escalation management, advocacy, communication, & clinical skills, and working to build social skills and self-esteem.

Bethany draws from several skill sets and modalities to individualize her approach for the specific needs of each client.

She is currently available for individual, group, and family therapy, and is available to work with children seeking counseling and/or social skills therapy.

Contact us today to schedule a free fifteen-minute phone consultation

** We offer In-Person sessions for all ages and Teletherapy for adults **