Aleksandra Goncharova, PhD
Clinical Psychologist · Clinical Supervisor, NY / NJ
ADHD
Neurodivergence
Couples
Trauma
Immigrant Experience
SEES PATIENTS: In person · Online
English
Russian
Aleks is a clinical psychologist working with adults and couples in private practice. She views therapy as a unique opportunity to pause and reflect on what is happening within and around us, alongside a supportive, curious professional.
It is in this safe space that we learn more not only about what overwhelms us or isn't working, but crucially about what feels right, what enlivens us, and what can help guide us through life's challenges.
Specialties and Areas of Focus
PopulationsCollege students · Emerging adults · Adults · CouplesClinical AreasAnxiety · Depression · Neurodivergence · Relationship & interpersonal issues · Identity & belonging · Burnout · Complex trauma · Life transitionsSpecial InterestsIntersection of neurodivergence and mental health · Immigrant experience · First-generation guilt and trauma · Parentification · Late-diagnosis ADHD · ADHD in women
Therapeutic Approach and Modalities
Aleks works collaboratively with patients to address the concerns that bring them in, relieve symptoms, and support healing from painful experiences. Her aim is that beyond these outcomes, a patient's time in therapy will result in a sense of resilience, direction, and authentic confidence.
Unique to her work: Aleks's approach is largely influenced by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a model that departs from traditional, pathology-centered views of mental health. ACT recognizes pain as a normal, unavoidable part of being human, and sees our efforts to escape or control it as a common source of added suffering. Aleks is moved by how easing the struggle with our inner experience can help us reconnect with ourselves and rediscover our drive to play, connect, and create.
Aleks also incorporates an integrative, mind-body approach, attending to somatic experience and physical health. She supports patients in exploring and accessing relevant complementary therapies.
Psychodynamic-relational
EFT (Emotionally Focused Therapy)
Systemic
Neurodiversity-affirming
CBT
ACT
DBT
Mindfulness-based
Training and Credentials
Degrees & InstitutionsPhD, Clinical Psychology — Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University
MA, Mental Health Counseling — Gordon F. Derner School of Psychology, Adelphi University
BA, Psychology — Ramapo College of New JerseyCertifications & Specialized TrainingEmotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT) — NYCEFT · Certified Integrative Mental Health Professional (CIMHP) · CBT, DBT, and ACT skills trainingRelevant Past Experience & PublicationsOver 15 years of clinical experience spanning community agencies, hospital inpatient units, college counseling centers, and private practice.
Personal Note
For as long as I can remember, I've found myself to be hyper-attuned to the suffering of people around me and to the private, unseen pain that people carry. In recent years, I've come to understand my neurodivergence and the role it has played in this sensitivity. This realization has deepened how I listen and how I support patients in the way they relate to their own minds.
As a parent of a neurodivergent child, I've lived the challenges families like mine can face in schools and social systems. I've seen how one can thrive in neurodiversity-affirming spaces and relationships that invite authenticity and lessen the necessity to mask. Yet another aspect of my story that's shaped my work is my background as an immigrant, with a bicultural identity and first-generation family dynamic.
Together, these personal experiences inform my work with patients towards resilience, self-advocacy, and meaningful growth within their relationships and communities.
Work with Aleks. Free 20-minute call