information@family-options.com

Because the process of therapy involves a collaboration between client and therapist, it is important to choose a therapist who best meets your needs. It is important to do the following:

Ensure that the therapist is licensed to practice in his/her discipline. You can check this through visiting the Florida Department of Health and entering the therapist's name. At Florida Family Options, all of our therapists are licensed in their respective fields.

Ask whether the therapist has experience with your specific issue or concern. At Florida Family Options, we strive to offer services by therapists with diverse specialties, to ensure that we can match you with a clinician who has experience with the challenge you are facing.

Decide whether you feel comfortable with the therapist. Sometimes you may meet a clinician with whom you just don't "click." If this happens, don't hesitate to discuss it, or to ask for someone different to work with you.

The therapists at Florida Family Options, Inc. are experienced, proven professionals with strong clinical backgrounds and skills. We strive to ensure that our therapists have diverse clinical backgrounds, to allow us to match each client to the therapist that will best meet his or her needs.

Tracy Mallett is the Clinical Director of Florida Family Options, Inc. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, a Florida State Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, and a certified instructor in Safe Crisis Management. She is a Clinical Member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and a member of the Florida Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. She has been working with children and families for over 10 years. Dr. Tracy holds a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology from Spalding University's  APA-accredited School of Professional Psychology, in Louisville, KY. Additionally, she holds a Master of Arts in Psychology from Spalding University. She also holds a Master of Arts in Journalism, with an emphasis in Public Relations, from Marshall University, in Huntington, W.V.

 As a certified domestic violence treatment group facilitator, and assessor, she provides group therapy to men and women struggling with domestic violence issues.

Dr. Tracy began her career in mental health by working with children and families who had been separated due to abuse and neglect issues. She worked with children placed out of their homes of origin in several locations, including Golden Girl Group Home in Ceredo, W.V.; Maryhurst, Inc. in Louisville, Kentucky; and Bellewood Presbyterian Home for Children in Louisville, Kentucky. At Bellewood, Tracy also served as residential staff trainer in Safe Crisis Management.

At R.E.A.C.H. (Resources for Education, Adaptation, Change, and Health) of Louisville, Tracy provided in-home therapy to children struggling with behavioral and developmental problems, and offered strengths-based family support and therapeutic intervention to their foster families. She also conducted intake evaluations and conducted preplacement homestudies.

Dr. Tracy's research and clinical interests include families and children involved in therapeutic foster care; oppositional defiant disorder in children; and attachment process and disorders. Although she uses an eclectic orientation to best meet the needs of a broad client base, she prefers to work from a strengths-based perspective, assisting clients in harnessing their own abilities to establish and pursue their goals.

You may email Dr. Tracy at tmallett@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

Monica Joseph is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Nationally Certified Counselor who has worked for the last 12 years in a variety of hospital and community-based settings.  Monica has both traditional psychiatric and substance abuse training, as well as experience working in the holistic and complementary medicine fields.
 
 Prior to moving to South Florida from Chicago, she worked in an emergency room setting as a crisis counselor and was a clinical supervisor for an outpatient substance abuse and mental health treatment program.  She also managed a hospital-based holistic health/complementary medicine clinic.

 Monica has experience working with a variety of counseling issues including depression, anxiety, psychosis, sexual assault, domestic violence, grief and loss and stress management.  Another area of clinical focus for Monica includes couple’s counseling, as she has extensive training in Imago Therapy techniques.

Her therapeutic style encompasses a variety of theories, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Transactional Analysis, Self Psychology and Family Systems theories.  In addition to her formal counseling training, Monica has an in-depth understanding and respect for metaphysics and eastern spiritual philosophies.

You may email Monica at mjoseph@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

Brian Berger is a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern with the state of Florida who has worked for the past four years in a New Jersey psychiatric hospital providing therapy to adults suffering from acute mental illness and their families. He attended Rutgers University where he graduated with his bachelor's degree in Psychology. He subsequently earned his Master of Arts degree in Clinical Counseling from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, N.J., specializing in Child Psychology and Family Therapy. He has worked extensively with children of all ages and abilities, including individuals with developmental disabilities, in both academic and recreational settings.

Prior to working in residential psychiatry, Brian directed a summer camp program for children and adults with developmental disabilities, assisted individuals who were victims of traumatic injury re-learn life skills, and worked with displaced adolescents experiencing academic, criminal, and emotional issues. 

Brian is an active member of the American Counseling Association, American Camping Association, and a certified Handle with Care behavior management instructor.  His research interests and experiences include social psychology, human sexuality, multicultural family counseling, and evolutionary psychology. 

In addition to his traditional clinical training and fundamental schools of counseling, Brian enjoys incorporating various creative arts therapies and non-traditional modalities into his treatment approaches and therapy sessions.

You may email Brian at bberger@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

Isaac Farin is a Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Intern with the state of Florida. He received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Central Florida and earned a dual Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy from Barry University. Isaac is currently enrolled in Nova University’s doctoral program in Marriage and Family Therapy. Isaac’s multi-cultural background and upbringing allows persons from all walks of life to feel at ease with him in treatment. While his clinical approach is somewhat eclectic, he has a persuasion toward Narrative and Solution-Focused therapeutic approaches. He also considers himself to be a spiritual-minded therapist, so therapy may be conducted through a spiritual lens. Isaac is continuously studying metaphysics and Eastern spiritual philosophies.  He has experience in working with dually diagnosed patients in an outpatient hospital setting, as well as experience working with individuals, couples, families, and children. Isaac specializes in anxiety management, stress management, depression, and psychosis. For the last four years, Isaac has been self-employed as an educational learning coach, tutoring and mentoring middle school and high school students.

You may email Isaac at ifarin@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

Jerry Miller is a Registered Marriage and Family Therapy Intern with the State of Florida. At age 65, Jerry moved from the Great Boston area - where he worked for more than 30 years as an award-winning freelance writer and television producer - to South Florida, where he enrolled in the Marriage and Family Therapy masters degree program at Nova Southeastern University. The winner of a national EMMY for “Best Documentary,” Jerry has ghost written numerous books on a host of subjects, including celebrity biographies. He has also written extensively for magazines, newspapers and corporate executives. In addition to his MFT degree, Jerry holds graduate degrees in broadcast journalism from Boston University and business/governmental administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Finance and Commerce.

This father of two, who recently became a grandpa for the first time, brings a wealth of life experience to the therapy rooms, including more than 25 years spent working with men’s awareness groups. He has also worked extensively with Twelve Step recovery programs, including Alcoholics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous and Al-Anon.  Jerry is certified by the State of Florida to offer Batterer’s Intervention groups to individuals involved in domestic/intimate partner violence.  As a therapist, he works from a strengths-based perspective, using an integrative approach. This includes the use of the Solution-Focused and Narrative models. However, more than following models, Jerry says, “I’ll go anywhere the client needs to go in order to be of assistance. I have lived many of the issues my clients face.”

Having worked extensively with alcoholics and drug addicts in Twelve-Step settings, Jerry applies the Twelve-Step approach to assisting persons with eating, drug and alcohol disorders. His primary interests include offering therapy to couples, families and individuals, as well senior citizens experiencing such life transitions as retirement, divorce, sexuality after 50, and the death of a long time mate/companion. Assisting with a variety of grief and loss situations is another interest. In addition to working with couples, families and individuals, Jerry has facilitated psycho-educational groups for persons experiencing drug and alcohol problems, as well as anger management and impulse control/theft issues. He has also co-facilitated groups for sexual offenders and has served as a Guardian Ad Litem, representing the interests of children in court settings.

You may email Jerry at  jmiller@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

Cerena Figueroa is a Mental Health Counseling Student Therapist. She is a master's degree candidate at Florida International University (FIU) with a graduation date of December 2009. She received her Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Law and Society from Florida State University (FSU). Growing up in a military family provided Cerena with an eclectic view of life and a variety of experiences that have enabled her to relate to most individuals. Using an integrative approach in her therapy sessions, she tailors each session to the individual. While she does express a fondness for Humanistic and Cognitive Behavioral modalities, her ultimate intention is to use a collaborative approach to ensure that the client's goals are met. Cerena has a variety of experience working with individuals who need assistance in trauma, anger management, career counseling, relaxation training, or individuals who are experiencing identity loss.  As a student, she completed a direct individual study at the Florida State Mental Hospital and has experience working as a Teacher Assistant in Forensic Psychology as well as working in a private legal facility. Prior to her internship, Cerena worked for a non-profit agency as a Corporate Coordinator, which consisted of a collaborative mentoring effort between Miami Dade County school system and several other corporations such as Carnival, Univision, Burger King, and the National Basketball Associations’ (NBA) Miami Heat.  Cerena Figueroa is currently a member of the American Counseling Association, the Psychology Honor Society, and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She works under the supervision of licensed psychologist Dr. Tracy Mallett.

You may email Cerena at cfigueroa@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

Jason Vinson is the Director of Florida Family Options, Inc. He is a technical writer, educator, resume writer and editor, and career coach. Jason holds a Master of Arts degree in English from Marshall University, in Huntington, WV, and is a doctoral candidate in literature and criticism at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He has been involved in teaching and training in various settings for over 10 years.

You may email Jason Vinson at jvinson@family-options.com, or call him at (954) 665-4115.

Dr. Palomino earned her bachelor of science degree in criminal justice at Florida International University, and her master of science degree in psychology and doctor of psychology degree in forensic psychology at Carlos Albizu University. Dr. Palomino has over 15 years' experience in serving a forensic and clinical population. Currently, she is in private practice as a licensed forensic psychologist, serving as a traveling psychologist from Miami to Orlando, administering and scoring psychological evaluations, competency, violence risk assessments, sentence mitigations, immigration evaluations, ex-parte evaluations, treatment recommendations, SWAT evaluations and trauma evaluations.  She is the Program Chair of the Forensic Psychology program at Argosy University/Sarasota, where she serves as assistant professor. She is also a consultant to numerous law enforcement agencies and serves as a forensic expert in South Florida.


Previously, she has served as community liaison with Alliance for Psychological Services in Miami, and as an independent contractor with S.H.A.R.E. Program in Tampa. She has presented at numerous national conferences and provided training for state agencies.


Dr. Palomino began her career at the Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole Services (DOC/P&P), Miami, Florida as a probation officer, and subsequently became the administrator supervising programs for the Department. She has worked in the field of violent and sexual crimes for the past 15 years.


You may email Dr. Palomino at bpalomino@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

Dr. Tracy Mallett is a Florida Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Doctor of Psychology degree in Clinical Psychology. Tracy has worked with adults, children and families in south Florida and in Kentucky over the last 13 years. She has worked extensively with families struggling with domestic violence, adolescents with school and behavioral problems, divorcing families, forensic clients, and children with developmental delays. She has broad experience in addressing Conduct and Oppositional Defiant Disorders, anger control issues, anxiety problems, and educational difficulties.


Dr. Tracy serves as the Clinical Director at Florida Family Options. (See above under "Our Therapists" for a more complete biographical profile). 

You may email Dr. Tracy at tmallett@family-options.com, or call (954) 665-4115.

We are pleased to be able to offer Animal-Assisted Therapy with Psyche, our female, long-haired miniature dachshund. Psyche is one year old, and is registered as a therapy dog with The Delta Society. She is also a certified by Goldstar Dog Training as a service dog (Certification #01940/P), and is recognized by the American Kennel Club as a Canine Good Citizen.  She assists her handler, Dr. Tracy, with Animal Assisted Therapy with select clients experiencing difficulties with depression, specific phobias, and other problems. She also participates in some group therapy programs and public education programs.

Psyche will also be assisting Family Options by providing puppies, some of which we plan to train as psychiatric service dogs. Other puppies will be sold as pets. Her first litter is planned, with puppies expected to arrive approximately October 2009. If you would like to be placed on the waiting list for a puppy, or if you know someone who could benefit from a psychiatric service dog, please contact Dr. Tracy at tmallett@family-options.com.