Staff
All staff members have extensive professional experience working with young adults in an academic setting. Please refer to the short biographies listed below for more detailed information about each counselor, as well as their direct contact information.
Maria Deutscher, Ph.D.
Director, Student Counseling Services
440 Lenox Road, Apt. 1M
Brooklyn, NY 11203
(718) 270-1408
maria.deutscher@downstate.edu
Dr. Maria Deutscher earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Long Island University. She has been in private practice for over 20 years. Her clients include young adults facing life challenges and often struggling with anxiety, depression and relationships. She incorporates many modalities, including talk therapy, CBT and mindfulness. Her career started at Jacobi Hospital, developing an understanding of the range of mental illnesses, the use of medication, dual diagnoses and the destructive impact of poverty and inquity on the mental health of her patients. She taught and supervised psychology interns and medical students. Dr. Deutscher is a lifelong New Yorker with strong community ties. She has been very involved in the public schools her son has attended, her neighborhood association and synagogue, serving on all their boards. When not working, she enjoys spending time and cooking for gatherings of friends and family, and being outdoors.
Evelyn Campos, LMSW, SIFI
Counselor, Student Counseling Services
440 Lenox Road, Apt. 1M
Brooklyn, NY 11203
718-270-1408
Evelyn.Campos@downstate.edu
Evelyn has over a decade of experience supporting people of diverse identities including BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ adults in early to mid-adulthood who are navigating life’s many transitions. Her therapeutic approach is collaborative and eclectic, integrating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Informed Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and somatic-based practices. Evelyn has a particular passion for somatic work, recognizing the profound ways the body holds and communicates experiences, and the healing that can emerge when individuals are gently guided to reconnect with this internal wisdom.
Evelyn received her Master of Social Work (MSW) from Fordham University and brings a grounded, trauma-informed perspective to her work. She is deeply committed to creating a secure, anti-oppressive, and affirming space where clients can explore patterns, process trauma, and cultivate lasting resilience and self-trust.
Outside her clinical work, Evelyn enjoys reading. She unapologetically embraces her love for Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream. Balance, joy, and small pleasures are essential to well-being.
Carla Liberatore, MD
Assistant Dean of Wellness and Wellbeing
440 Lenox Road, Apt. 1M
Brooklyn, NY 11203
(718) 270-1408
carla.liberatore@downstate.edu
Dr. Carla Liberatore, a native New Yorker, brings over 25 years of experience as an
Obstetrician and Gynecologist, devoted to patient care and the education of medical
students, residents, and colleagues. Her heart is full, grounded in gratitude, compassion,
and a deep sense of purpose. Throughout her career, Dr. Liberatore has embraced wellness
as a personal value and as a professional responsibility. She believes that supporting
the well-being of patients begins with the well-being of those who provide that care.
From the exam room to the classroom, she has made it her mission to cultivate a culture
of empathy, connection, and balance in medicine. This guiding belief shapes her commitment
to wellness leadership and inspires her efforts to create a culture of support, harmony,
and joy across all areas of medicine.
As Assistant Dean of Wellness and Wellbeing. Dr. Liberatore works closely with the Student Counseling Center, Graduate Medical Education, and residency programs to develop wellness lectures, workshops. She offers individual and group wellness sessions, integrating yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and stress-reduction techniques. With over 500 hours of yoga and meditation teacher training, including Ashtanga and Hatha training in India and Nepal, and Yin yoga training on Gozo in Malta, she is certified in multiple modalities, including prenatal yoga, children’s, and power yoga, and recently completed sound healing training on Koh Yao Noi in Thailand. Dr. Liberatore volunteers at student events and community gatherings, sharing her joy, energy, and deep commitment to healing the whole body, mind, and spirit.
She serves Downstate Health Sciences University as Assistant Dean of Wellness and Wellbeing, Associate Professor, Vice Chair, Director of Gynecology, and Associate Residency Program Director. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in Anatomy and Physiology at Cornell University. At the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, she was shaped by unforgettable mentors, her gross anatomy teaching assistant role, and the enduring lessons of her patients. Her Hospice volunteer work fostered deep compassion and listening, and national and global electives, in Tokyo, Japan, Edinburgh, Scotland, Yucatan, Mexico, and with the Lakota and Tlingit indigenous communities in South Dakota and Alaska, gave her new perspectives on shared humanity and cultural connection. Dr. Liberatore completed her residency at Albany Medical Center. For over two decades, she served at Upstate Medical University and Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, New York. She spearheaded quality initiatives and collaborated with the Wellness committee to develop programs supporting the health and happiness of the medical community.
Occasional Temporary Coverage
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