About - Bleuler Psychotherapy Center

Our Mission

Bleuler Psychotherapy Center's (BPC) mission is to provide high quality, low cost psychotherapeutic services to children, adolescents, adults, couples and families

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High Quality Mental Health & Addiction Services

For over 70 years, it’s been our mission at Bleuler Psychotherapy Center (BPC) to provide high-quality, low-cost mental health services to children, adolescents, adults, couples and families in Queens and the greater NYC area. Due to community needs, we extended our services to include alcohol and substance abuse addiction treatments through the formation of Bleuler Chemical Dependency Recovery Services (BCD). Our BPC and BCD programs are fully licensed respectively by the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) and the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS). Our commitment to and investment in expanding our service offerings allows flexibility to meet the varying needs of our clients – giving them the best mental health and substance abuse treatments possible.

Our Values

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Accessible, Collaborative, Results Oriented

To achieve our mission, we are driven by values that work to assure that our services have the most successful impact on overall health and wellness.

We provide our services because we care about the health of each member of our community and assuring that we can improve the quality of life in terms of how our clients feel both emotionally and physically, as well as how they function at work, in school, at home or in other housing, with family, and with others.

At BPC, we are dedicated to engaging those in need as soon as possible and continually working together collaboratively for as long as needed on issues important to our clients. We offer walk-in hours and encourage same day access.

Our approach is to engage quickly and sensitively, to focus on solutions, to develop collaborative treatment plans, and to treat the whole person. As part of the continuum of health care, BPC will coordinate care with physical health providers as needed and with consent.

At BPC, results and outcomes are important. We want our clients to feel positive about themselves, the struggles they may have, and the improvements they make.

While we provide over 65,000 sessions per year to members of our community, customer satisfaction is a renewed area of focus for us as we realize that coming for help is not always easy. Although technically a community-based clinic, we strive to provide a private, confidential, and warm setting and experience.

BPC will always strive to be an accommodating and flexible provider that our community trusts to deliver premier behavioral health services.

Our History

Since 1949, our center has always focused on providing high-quality, low cost mental health services to those who need it most

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Quality Mental Health Services, Over 65 Years & Counting

BPC is the oldest freestanding not-for-profit outpatient facility in Queens and Long Island. Located in Forest Hills, Queens, the organization serves patients from many areas of New York City and prides ourselves on employing a multi-lingual staff reflective of the diverse communities that we serve.

BPC was founded in 1949 by Dr. Gerard Chrzanowski, with the intention of lowering the cost of psychotherapy and increasing its reach to a broader consumer base. Dr. Chrzanowski was both a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He was a student of Carl Jung and Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Eugene Bleuler (pronounced bloy-ler).

Dr. Bleuler was particularly interested in applying psychotherapy techniques to new populations in new ways. He introduced the terms “schizophrenia”, “ambivalence” and “autism” to psychiatry, and he was one of the first to adopt the belief that seriously mentally ill individuals could attain more normalized lives. The central goal of his treatments was to guide patients towards more productive, gratifying and fulfilling futures, and to make daily life more enjoyable.

Under the guidance of our volunteer Board of Trustees, BPC continues to achieve Dr. Bleuler’s goals today by offering a pleasant, safe and supportive environment within which quality individual and group therapy, psychiatric, and support services are provided.

Over the last several years, BPC has experienced remarkable growth in terms of our number of patients, the number and type of services provided, and the diversity of our clinical staff. We attribute the success to the organization’s combination of modern efficiency and commitment to personal relationships and working collaboratively with our patients. As we move forward, we will continue to focus on enhancements to customer service and the utilization of technology to improve the patient experience.

Leadership Team

Our leadership directs a staff of four prescribers and over 40 clinicians including psychologists, social workers and other mental health professionals

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Rudolf J. Karvay, J.D.

Executive Director / CEO

With an impressive three decades under his belt in the legal world, coupled with his extensive leadership experience in non-profit organizations, Rudolf brings a wealth of expertise and a deep dedication to his community as he steps into the role of Executive Director and CEO at Bleuler Psychotherapy Center. Despite his background in law, Rudolf’s career has spanned various roles that showcase his unyielding passion for advocacy, education, and humanitarian efforts.
After honing his expertise for over 30 years as a lawyer, Rudolf mastered the art of mediation, strategic planning, and ethical leadership. When he took on the role of President of the Board of Trustees for Bleuler, he seamlessly leveraged these skills with remarkable success. His tenure was characterized by his ability to spearhead initiatives that boosted community involvement, fostered organizational growth, and provided unsurpassed support for those in need.
Rudolf is not just a highly experienced lawyer, but his contributions to Bleuler are also enriched by a multitude of diverse experiences. From his volunteer work with the New York Aquarium, he has cultivated a profound appreciation for the wonders of the natural world. Similarly, his involvement in educating Long Islanders about marine biology has broadened his outlook. As a volunteer firefighter and Emergency Medical Technician, he has provided crucial assistance, and as an Art Appraiser, he has honed his expertise in evaluating fine art. Each of these roles has played a pivotal role in shaping Rudolf’s comprehensive understanding of the importance of community and human connections.
Throughout his diverse and dynamic career, Rudolf has continuously showcased a steadfast commitment to volunteering and promoting social responsibility. Leveraging his considerable breadth of knowledge and skills, he is currently channeling all his efforts towards propelling the Bleuler Psychotherapy Center to the forefront of the mental health advocacy landscape. His aim is to pave the way for a future where mental health services are not only readily available, but also characterized by empathy, innovation, and adaptability in meeting the evolving needs of society.
A seasoned lawyer and skilled leader on the non-profit board, Rudolf has taken the helm at Bleuler Psychotherapy Center. With a long-standing dedication to service, he is leading the charge in the center’s evolution towards a new era of mental health care. Utilizing his strategic vision and unwavering commitment, Rudolf is paving the way for a future marked by compassion, excellence, and an all-inclusive approach for individuals from diverse backgrounds.

Dr. Jordania Estrella, Psy. D

Chief Program Officer

Lora DeGuzman

Chief Administrative Officer

Ms. Shapiro joined BPC in July 2015 in the midst of remarkable changes and accelerated initiatives. She has served in an administrative capacity as Executive Assistant for the better part of her tenure at BPC. Ms. Shapiro is responsible for sensitive personnel, legal, financial, and contractual information, and has been a valued thought partner with much involvement in our behind the scenes strategy and decision making. Ms. Shapiro oversees our Human Resources, Front Office Staff, Health Information, and Safety / Maintenance divisions as well as all professional and vendor contracts. Ms. Shapiro champions the coordination of the above to improve the customer and staff experiences as well as assuring that the above services are the most efficient and risk reduced.

Sasha Soon, Ph.D.

Director of Community Integration / Compliance Officer

Dr. Sasha Soon holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a history of working in education and behavioral health for almost 20 years. Before attaining her doctorate, Dr. Soon completed a master’s degree in Forensic Psychology and worked with the mental health needs of the criminal justice population in Brooklyn and Queens. In her early career as a psychologist, Dr. Soon worked at Queensborough Community College as a counselor and an adjunct professor where she was introduced to formal psychotherapy that set the stage for her current position. Dr. Soon has been employed at the Bleuler Psychotherapy Center for 15 years beginning with a position as a clinician and for the last nine years in administrative roles including the Director of Intake and Community Relations and supervisor of the OMH grant funded program Community Mental Health Promotion & Support (COMHPS). Dr. Soon is focused on connecting Bleuler to other community-based organizations in an effort to bring vital services to the agency’s clients as well as promote the reputation of the center. Her team at Bleuler is responsible for promoting open access and rapid engagement to care as well as providing a warm handoff to clinical staff when treatment begins. Dr. Soon has also been successful at bringing mental health awareness to several schools in Queens and is an active member of the Queens County Re-Entry Task force that assists with the reintegration of citizens returning home from incarceration. Most recently, she took on the role of the agency’s Compliance Officer with the goal of ensuring that the organization is aligned with standards set forth by the Office of Mental Health, the Office of Addiction Services & Support and the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General.

Elena Chertina, MA

Director of Billing & Contracts

Ms. Elena Chertina is currently the Director of Billing & Contracts at Bleuler. Having been in the healthcare industry for 15 years, Ms. Chertina serves as a great asset to the agency, with her vast knowledge in billing, credentialing, contracting, insurance plans, and health care networks. During the past 3 years at Bleuler Psychotherapy center, Ms. Chertina has been managing the agency’s medical billing and accounts, assisting clients through the billing process, streamlining billing, collections, and the process of reimbursement for practices. Her department serves as a resource for billing related questions or concerns that clients may have. Furthermore, for more than 15 years she has held supervisory positions in the healthcare industry, to include: Phoenix House Foundation, Allen Healthcare and Visiting Services of NY. Ms. Chertina earned a Bachelors of Business Administration (B.B.A.) with a concentration in management from Kaplan University and a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) from the University of Phoenix.

Zahia Abuhamda

Director of Administrative Services

Nina Kim, PHR

Director of Human Resources

Zory Wentt, LCSW-R, MBA

Director of Clinic Operations

Saurabh Kaushik, MD

Medical Director

Our Partners

Great partnerships provide the foundation for building successful treatment models and effective advancements through collaboration

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Member, Federation of Mental Health Services Since 1962

Bleuler Psychotherapy Center is a proud member of the Federation of Mental Health Services (https://www.federationmhs.org/). Founded in 1962, the Federation of Mental Health Services is a trade association of outpatient Mental Health and Substance Abuse clinics that advocates for the continuation and preservation of the community-based behavioral health out-patient clinic treatment model.

Bleuler Psychotherapy Center is a member of the Queens Chamber of Commerce which fosters the connection of local businesses, develops and implements programs, and advocates for the community’s interests.