Anthony Abruzzo, LMSW

When I was in my twenties, I worked on political campaigns because I wanted to do something meaningful with my life. The cause was good, but the impact felt minimal. One day, I stopped at a Starbucks and ended up chatting with another customer. Out of nowhere, they said “Forget politics. You should be a therapist.”

When I lost someone close to me unexpectedly, I stopped asking what I wanted to do with my career and started asking how I could make sure other people didn’t have to sit with that kind of pain alone. I volunteered at the Response Crisis Center in Suffolk County, and eventually started working there. It never felt like work to me because every conversation felt like it counted. Now when I see the signs at the train stations with that hotline number I feel proud and they serve to reinforce why I do this work.

I hold dual master’s degrees, one in Social Work from Long Island University and one in International Law and Diplomacy from St. John’s. But the education that runs deepest came from living through things that forced me to find meaning in pain. Viktor Frankl wrote, “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

That belief is the backbone of how I practice. I think there’s an important difference between empowerment and encouragement. Encouragement can sometimes feel like empty promises, and young people especially can smell a patronizing tone from a mile away. Empowerment is helping someone recognize what their struggle has given them and then using that insight to build something real.

I work with children ages 10 and up, adolescents, adults, and couples.

A lot of my work with young people centers on helping them see themselves as more than a diagnosis or a label. Kids absorb the language we use around them, and over time the words we attach to them can become the way they define themselves. I’d rather help a young person discover what makes them capable and strong, even in the areas where they’ve been told they’re struggling. Every person who has ever done anything remarkable in this world was a little different from everyone around them. I want to help you figure out how the parts of you that have been misunderstood can become the very qualities that you value about yourself.

I’m not an overly agreeable therapist.

I’ll listen to you carefully, but if there’s a discrepancy between what you’re saying and what you’re doing, I’ll bring it up and we’ll explore it together. Clients tell me I’m down-to-earth, humble, and relatable, and that they appreciate being challenged rather than just told what they want to hear. I get so absorbed in sessions that I have to set an alarm to keep track of time, which I think tells you how I show up for you in sessions.

Outside of work, I’m a self-admitted nerd. I love Apple products, philosophy, and tennis, and if you put a Wikipedia page in front of me I will disappear into it for hours.

If you’re hesitant about starting therapy, book a time to come in and let’s just talk. Sometimes the most important step is just showing up.