Counseling Services
The Graduate Medical Education (GME) Counseling Service provides free and confidential counseling services to residents and fellows (“trainees”) of SUNY Downstate, regardless of paysource. Two Licensed Clinical Social Workers are available to provide screenings, evaluations, short-term psychotherapy, and/or referrals to psychiatry and other behavioral health services.
The GME Counseling Service is not part of the administration of SUNY Downstate. Any involvement with the Counseling Service will be kept strictly confidential and records of visits will not be accessible to administrative staff, nor will they be released without written permission from the trainee, except when required by law. No counseling information is included in a trainee’s academic record.
Services Offered
GME Counselors are available to assist trainees with a variety of issues including, but not limited to:
- Academic stress/burnout
- Anxiety, panic, and worry
- Depression
- Relationships and family conflicts
- Identity and self-esteem issues
- Becoming and being a parent
- Cultural adaptation
- Compassion fatigue
- Secondary trauma
- Substance abuse and self-harming behaviors
- Requests for referrals for psychiatric evaluations, medication management, and/or longer-term psychotherapy
Our Staff
Zoe Nelson, LCSW
Behavioral Health Counselor
Zoe Nelson earned her Master of Social Work from New York University. She has nearly a decade of experience working in New York City teaching hospitals where she has provided behavioral health-related consultative services to trainees and attending physicians, as well as direct therapeutic services to adult patients. She has also worked in various outpatient mental health clinics and currently maintains a private practice where she sees adults for individual therapy. Zoe draws on various modalities in her therapeutic work, including psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive behavior therapy, and mindfulness. She strives to create a warm, non-judgmental, and interactive environment where meaningful work can occur through exploration and gentle challenging.
Email: zoe.nelson@downstate.edu
Debora Kane, LCSW
Behavioral Health Counselor
Debora Kane, LCSW is an experienced psychotherapist having worked with children and
families in private practice, community mental health clinics and schools. Debora
has a BA from Drew University, an MSW from Hunter College and post- master’s training
in Cognitive Based (CBT) and Gestalt Therapy, Bowen Family Systems and use of Genograms
(family relational trees). Past clinical assignments include substance abuse counseling
at Albert Einstein Medical Center and In-Patient Geriatric Psychiatry at Kingsbrook
Jewish Hospital. Prior to becoming a clinician, she worked at Goldman Sachs in IT
and End User Services.
Debora’s approach to therapy, whether it is short- or long-term, is to help clients
achieve positive outcomes. To that end, Debora uses her sense of humor and an intuitive
ability to engage people in open, productive relationships. A resident of Brooklyn
for more than 30 years, and a single mother, she raised two daughters (a molecular
immunologist and a middle school teacher). She volunteers at the Brooklyn Botanic
Garden and pursues positive outcomes of maintaining physical fitness at the gym and
pool, working in the garden and hosting get-togethers for neighbors, friends and family.
Email: debora.kane@downstate.edu