Family therapy and counseling in Yonkers, NY

I’m Dr. Joseph Yanni, a licensed psychologist who works with teenagers, college students, young adults, adults, parents, and families navigating anxiety, ADHD, emotional regulation, school and college stress, relationship challenges, and life transitions. I earned my Psy.D. in School Psychology from Fairleigh Dickinson University and continue to work as a school psychologist, supporting students with emotional disabilities in a specialized educational setting. This experience has given me a practical understanding of how emotional, academic, social, family, and developmental concerns often overlap.

I use a collaborative, practical, and integrative approach that draws from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, humanistic and person-centered therapy, behavioral strategies, and lifestyle-based interventions. I believe therapy should be individualized rather than following a one-size-fits-all model. Together, we work to better understand what is contributing to the concern, build practical coping skills, strengthen relationships, and develop realistic strategies that create meaningful change.

I work especially well with teenagers, college students, young adults, and parents navigating the transition from adolescence into adulthood, while also supporting adults and families facing anxiety, relationship concerns, and other important life challenges. I provide in-person therapy in Scarsdale and Pleasantville, along with virtual therapy throughout New York State.

I love counseling – both giving and receiving. For over 40 years, I have helped adoptive families utilizing my law and counseling degrees.

The counseling aspect spans a wide range of populations, including tweens, seniors, singles, couples, and multiple family members.

I met my wife at graduate school while working on my Master’s in Social Work, and we have since adopted three children.

What I want clients to know about me is that I am not the kind of therapist who will just sit back, nod, and ask, “How does that make you feel?” I am warm, honest, direct, and very involved in the work we do together.

My strongest area of work is relationship and family dynamics. I help individuals, couples, and families understand the patterns that create conflict, distance, resentment, poor communication, and emotional disconnection. Many of my clients come to me feeling unheard, disrespected, emotionally exhausted, or unsure of how to move forward in an important relationship.

I also work with people who grew up in difficult or dysfunctional family environments and are now recognizing how those experiences may still be affecting their boundaries, relationships, parenting, self-worth, and emotional responses. I help clients understand not only what is happening, but how the pattern developed and what they can begin doing differently.

I believe insight is important, but insight alone is not enough. I want therapy to help you connect the dots and develop practical ways to communicate, set boundaries, manage conflict, and respond differently. I will support you, but I will also challenge you when I believe you are minimizing your needs, repeating unhealthy patterns, or avoiding something important.

I am not here to judge you, label the people in your life, or tell you what decisions to make. My role is to help you see things more clearly, understand what is within your control, and feel more confident in how you choose to move forward.

In addition to relationship and family concerns, I also work with anxiety, ADHD, emotional overwhelm, life transitions, and the impact these challenges can have on everyday functioning and relationships.