Meet An Online Therapist

Want to know more about your therapist? At Breakthrough.com Blog, we are in the process of interviewing our therapists and telling you about their personal story here. Enjoy!

Anthony Ragusea

Dr. Anthony Ragusea runs a private practice in beautiful Key West, Florida. As a Penn State undergrad, Dr. Tony majored in Film and English and only minored in Psychology. However, after his film career did not work out, he went on to grad school to get a Ph.D in psychology like his father.

During graduate school, Dr. Tony researched the ethical implications of telehealth and has become an expert in the field.  Read more about Dr. Tony’s views on telehealth ethics on the Breakthrough.com blog.

As a relatively young therapist, Dr. Tony sees a lot of young adults and teenagers. However, he is a generalist by training and works with a variety of clients with different backgrounds and problems.

Dr. Tony stresses the importance of having an open-minded attitude during therapy and in your life. Oftentimes, we are overconfident in our beliefs: we are far too sure of things (our partner is trying to undermine us, life is meaningless, our friend is a jerk, etc…) and that creates misery in our life. “Psychotherapy is the instillation of doubt,” according to Dr. Tony, so be prepared to have your belief’s challenged when you meet with him.  You can schedule an appointment with Dr. Tony through his Breakthrough.com page.

Arlene Unger

Dr. Arlene Unger has a busy private clinical practice located at The Center for Empowerment, Dana Point, CA, USA and has been active in online therapy for several years and the mental health profession for almost three decades, having held licenses/certifications as a Speech Pathologist (SP), Marriage, Family and Child Counselor (MFCC), Dance Therapist (ADTR), and currently Clinical Psychologist (PSYCH licensure). Dr. Ungar also holds certification as an Employee Assistance Professional, Chemical Dependency Counselor, Substance Abuse Professional, Domestic Violence Counselor, Neuropsychological Evaluator, Wellness, Health and Executive Coach, and Nutritionist.

Dr. Unger uses both Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive-Behavior Therapy (CBT) approaches to treating children/adolescents, individual adults, couples and families. She provides both children and adults with solution focused psychological counseling for a wide spectrum of clinical disorders and/or behavioral concerns. She has extensive experience in conducting Fitness for Duty, Employee Assistance Manager Referrals, Return-To-Work, Substance Abuse evaluations, Adoption and Custody, and Gastric Bypass evaluations.

Dr. Unger enjoys blending her clinical expertise with her vast intuition and imagination. Her client feedback readily suggests improvement in physical energy, mental flexibility, emotional mobility, and serenity.

Dr. Unger, and her husband Stefan Unger, PhD, started www.realpsychsolutions.com in February 2009 to provide practical Self-Help materials based on professional mental health counseling and wellness/lifestyle/executive coaching and to explain the appropriate roles for Self-Help, coaching and counseling.  You can find her many articles and book “Presence of Mind: Mindful Affirmations” on her site. If you are interested in learning how providing self-help materials will actually improve your practice, you can find out here. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with Dr. Ungar, you can do so here.

Belky Schwartz

Belky Schwartz started her counseling career in 2004 providing individual and group therapy to prison inmates, including sex offenders and domestic violence perpetrators. For those currently working with sex offenders, Ms. Schwartz stresses the importance of setting clear boundaries with the clients and being mindful of their “charm”, as sex offenders are master manipulators. Ms. Schwartz left the prison system in 2008 after a prison lockdown involving a possible gun smuggling and snipers on the roof made her question the feasibility of working in the prison system while starting a family.

Currently, Ms. Schwartz is teaching psychology classes and running her own practice. Ms. Schwartz specializes in working with clients who are facing chronic medical illness (i.e. HIV/AIDS, & cancer), traumatic loss of loved ones, and GLBT issues. Ms. Schwartz, herself, is a cancer survivor, and understands the importance of having somebody to talk to during a traumatic time in your life. Personally, it helped Ms. Schwartz to play World of Warcraft with her family during her illness. However, she recommends having a strong social network and other outlets during those tough times.

Ms. Schwartz is located in Coral Gables, Florida and sees individuals, couples, and families, in person and online. She is very interested in the possibilities of online counseling and especially avatar therapy. To read more about what it takes to become an online therapists, click here. If you are interested in scheduling an appointment with Ms. Schwartz, you can do so here.