Grounded Team
Alex Tomback and Hillary Perlman founded Grounded Therapy as a way to provide accessible support for those in need. We believe the most effective therapy is client-centered and evidence-based and specialize in individual, couples, and group therapy.
Therapists
Hillary Perlman • Co-founder and Clinical Supervisor
Hillary (she/her), an LCSW and originally from Texas, received her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University in 2012. She has a warm, grounded, and authentic style, using curiosity, humor and compassion to encourage healing. Hillary works with individuals and couples to confront and explore trauma, anxiety, depression, complicated grief, sexuality and gender issues, major life changes, and chronic health issues, including HIV/AIDS. She has specific training in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), two evidenced-based treatments for healing from traumatic experiences.
Alex Tomback• Co-founder and Therapist
Alex (she/her) is an LMSW and graduate from Columbia University School of Social Work. Alex has been trained in a mixture of methodologies, including Sex Therapy, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Informed CBT, Family Systems Therapy and Person-Centered Therapy. Her approach is relational, attachment-driven, warm, and collaborative. Moreover, her process with individual, couple’s, and group therapy involves the combination of these different techniques to create a space where collective change and healing can begin.
Alice Roberts• Therapist
Alice Roberts (she/her/hers), an LMSW originally from New York City, received her Masters in Social Work from New York University in 2007. Alice’s therapeutic stance is deeply grounded in Attachment Theory. She has advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT), Accelerated Experiential-Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Family Constellations and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT). She is currently completing the Sex Therapy Program at The Institute of Contemporary Psychotherapies and Somatic Experiencing Certification Training SEP. Certified by the Ackerman Institute for the Family, Alice is passionate about supporting individuals, couples and families to create strong, meaningful and creative relationships.
Alina Augustin• Therapist
Alina Augustin is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) offering compassionate, eclectic, and evidence-based psychotherapy. They attained a Masters from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. Alina practices through an anti-racist, LGBTQIA+ affirming, trauma, and neurodivergent-informed approach. They aim to create a comfortable space for people to feel safe, seen, and challenged in a world that can feel isolating. They specialize in working with individuals who are struggling to find a sense of belonging and want to break the cycle of living in a loop between depression, anxiety, fear, and more. In sessions, Alina draws from various modalities such as psychodynamic theory, trauma-informed CBT and motivational interviewing, which they tailor to suit each client’s needs.
Alyssa Romano • Therapist
Alyssa Romano (she/her/hers) is a Licensed Master Social Worker, LMSW, originally from New Jersey. She is a graduate of Columbia University School of Social Work. Her style is engaging yet casual, creating a comfortable space to collaboratively explore thoughts, feelings, and experiences, and engage in curious internal reflection. In sessions, Alyssa strives to ensure individuals feel at ease to be their authentic selves and provides a refreshingly relatable experience in the therapeutic process. Alyssa draws from Mindfulness Interventions, Solutions-Focused Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Person-Centered Therapy to best meet the unique needs and identified goals of each individual. Alyssa specializes in working with young adults and adults who experience anxiety, challenging life transitions, trauma, and relationship/family conflict. Alyssa believes that each individual’s experience is a unique one and seeks to facilitate an open and collaborative dialogue to empower, process stressors and navigate each individual’s unique set of experiences.
Ashley Retta • Therapist
Ashley (she/her/hers) is an LCSW who has worked extensively with survivors of trauma in family/criminal court, child welfare, abuse (emotional/physical) and sexual assault. Ashley specializes in trauma, life transitions and relationship conflict. She received her MSW from Fordham University, and is a NY Native. Ashley takes a warm person centered, strengths based approach when working with clients. Ashley is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Informed CBT, Person-Centered Therapy, Family Systems Theory, and Healing Centered Engagement. Ashley uses a combination of these techniques to support and empower healing and growth in the clients she works with.
Heather Spurrell • Therapist
Heather Spurrell (she/her) is a Licensed Master Social Worker and received her Masters in Social Work from New York University. Heather’s approach is eclectic. She is trained in psychodynamic approaches, CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing, mindfulness based interventions, and exposure and response prevention.
Heather is compassionate, relational, solution-driven and collaborative. Heather specializes in working with both young adults, adults, and couples who are experiencing anxiety, depression, life transitions, trauma, and relationship and family challenges.
Julian Goldhagen • Therapist
Julian Goldhagen (they/them), is a licensed social worker originally from Jacksonville, Florida. They received their Masters in Social Work from Hunter College in 2018. Julian’s practice experience as a community organizer, theater artist, and sex educator deeply inform their therapeutic approach. They work collaboratively to help individuals and groups tell their stories and develop agency in shifting unhelpful narratives and negative beliefs. Julian offers therapy to individuals and couples around topics including sex, intimacy, relationships, gender & sexuality issues, identity, anxiety, depression and major life transitions. They practice utilizes a range of approaches including narrative therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and cognitive behavioral therapy. Julian’s therapeutic practice is grounded in the contexts of social justice and equity and has worked extensively as a sex educator and therapist, and specialize in offering sex therapy to individuals and couples.
Justin Vahala • Therapist
Justin Vahala (he/him/él), is a licensed psychotherapist (LMFT-LP) originally from Texas. He received his Masters in Counseling Psychology from California Institute of Integral Studies. He is trained in psychodynamic, relational, and transpersonal approaches to therapy as well as hypnotherapy. He also specializes in work with artists and performers. As a therapist, Justin is warm, direct, and creative in his approach. He works with individuals, couples, and families to process anxiety, depression, trauma, life transitions, and questions of purpose. Justin practices a liberation based psychology from a multicultural perspective and is bilingual in English and Spanish and proficient in French and Portuguese.
Justin is also a certified Reiki Master, yoga teacher (RYT 200 hour), performing artist, and tarologist and can bring his experience in these fields to clients seeking more transpersonal and holistic approaches to their healing journey.
Lara Ngu • Therapist
Lara (she/her/hers) is an MHC-LP who works with a variety of concerns and specializes in fertility, perinatal, and early parenthood issues, as well as toxic and abusive relationships, including narcissistic abuse. She believes in the power of building meaningful connections, whether with oneself or others, and uses both her life experience and Master’s level training from Northwestern University to support people in finding healing, contentment, and purpose.
Lara’s integrative and relational approach blends the wisdom of Psychodynamic Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), the Gottman Method, and Relational Life Therapy (RLT). Having completed Gottman Levels I and II, Lara is an approved Gottman Connect provider who utilizes the research-based Gottman Relationship Checkup with couples. In Lara's therapeutic space, clients will find a non-judgmental, empathetic, and warm environment where they can safely explore their emotions and experiences, allowing them to heal, grow, and thrive.
Supervisors
Ric Mathews • Clinical Supervisor (LMHC)
Ric (he, him, his) is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and brings over ten years of experience in health and wellness to his work in psychotherapy. He is part of the core faculty in the Sex Therapy Program at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy. He holds post-graduate clinical certificates in sex therapy (ICP), gender and sexuality studies (ICP), trauma-informed clinical care (NYU), and EMDR (Helping Hands). Ric also holds multiple certifications in yoga, meditation, and Thai Yoga massage. Ric is a published writer and is frequently quoted as a mental health expert in leading news publications. Ric’s style of therapy is integrative, holistic and eclectic, sourcing from psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, narrative and yoga and mindfulness therapy. His approach is culturally sensitive, open, sex positive, anti-oppression, anti-racist, anti-patriarchy, anti-heteronormative and feminist. Ric is a native New Yorker who is multicultural, multiethnic and multilingual.
Melissa Thoen • Clinical Supervisor (LCSW)
Melissa Thoen, (she/her), is a Clinical Social Worker based in New York City. She is a native New Yorker, who received her Masters in Social Work from Columbia University in 2004. She completed her postgraduate certificate training in Family and Couples therapy at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in 2019. Additionally, Melissa has extensive experience working with teens, adults, families, and couples, and attained her certification as a sex therapist from the American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists (ASSECT). In 2019, she completed sex therapy training at the University of Michigan’s Sexual Health Certificate Program.
Melissa works with individuals and couples struggling with issues related to sexuality and gender, life stage changes, race and ethnicity, mental health challenges, and trauma. Additionally, Melissa is a clinical supervisor.
She identifies as a multilingual Latina therapist and is a first-generation American. In her free time, Melissa enjoys spending time with her husband, child, and pets, as well as participating in endurance sports.
Interns
Alyssa Romo • Marketing Manager and Intern Coordinator
Alyssa graduated summa cum laude from Columbia University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, where she conducted research on stress reactivity in college students and co-rumination in romantic relationships at the Columbia Couples Lab. Being Mexican, Chinese, and Jewish, she prides herself on her ability to connect with people from all backgrounds and resonates deeply with the intricacies that individuals hold within themselves. She has a profound curiosity to learn deeply about the people around her and ensure they feel genuinely understood. She is especially interested the psychology of sex and relationships and hopes to become a couples therapist in the future.
Mikayla Wong• Marketing and Research Intern
Mikayla is a third year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Psychology with a minor in Disability Studies. She was born and raised in the Bay Area, where the diverse community has driven her curiosity for healthcare and social change. Some of her greatest interests lie in mental health advocacy and developmental research, with a focus in underserved populations. Her time in college has allowed her to aid in the construction in multiple mental health apps, start initiatives for online healthcare support systems, and engage in her own research on anxiety and ADHD. Pursuing a career in medicine, Mikayla hopes to work with neurodivergent children - promoting empathy and inclusion while reducing social and behavioral stigma. With her unwavering commitment to her medical aspirations, Mikayla hopes to make a meaningful impact in the future of care and compassion.
Manal Siddiqui • Marketing and Research Intern
Manal Siddiqui (she/her), recently earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley, and is passionate about pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. She was born and raised in California and is now living in Berkeley.
Manal has spent the majority of her college career living at an International dormitory, known for its diverse community, housing students from all around the world. Being part of a diverse community and learning from people with different backgrounds has not only strengthened Manal’s empathy skills but has broadened her understanding of mental health challenges and interventions on a global scale.
Manal is interested in becoming a Clinical Psychologist and is considering a career in cross-cultural psychology, due to her exposure to to various cultures, beliefs, and perspectives. She is interested in learning more about the psychology of romantic relationships and intimacy as well as the impact of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on women. Manal is fluent in both English and Urdu and is currently practicing Spanish.
Samantha Tasman • Social Work Intern
Samantha, born and raised in South Africa, is a graduate student in her final year of the Master of Social Work program at Columbia University. She has a deep passion for exploring the intersections of psychology, biology, and social justice, with a focus on unraveling the complexities that shape human behavior. With a trauma-informed framework, Samantha is committed to creating safe, supportive spaces for clients to heal and grow.
Dedicated to supporting her clients through a holistic and compassionate approach, she aims to help clients navigate life’s challenges by fostering self-awareness, coping skills, and emotional well-being. Samantha believes in meeting her clients where they are, offering a non-judgmental space to explore their experiences and empowering them to take steps toward healing. She strives to be a therapist who listens deeply and helps individuals connect with their inner strengths, tailoring her approach to the unique needs of each person..