Licensed to practice in New York and accepts 22 insurances. Specializes in Anxiety, Couples Counseling, Self Esteem and 8 more.
(she/her)
New to Grow
I’m Gerina Davis, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the Clinical and Creative Director of Healing Minds and Hearts. My work centers on creating thoughtful spaces where people can take the time to be their whole selves, tell the truth about what they are carrying, and begin reconnecting with themselves and others in healthier ways. I support individuals, couples, families, and communities navigating identity, relationships, faith, life transitions, and the impact of trauma and navigating systems that can produce anxiety, depression, emotional overwhelm, and relational conflict. Many of the people I work with are trying to make sense of who they are, what they need, how they relate, and how past experiences continue to shape their present. My approach holds warmth, reflection, collaboration, humor, and honesty. I utilize mainly Internal Family Systems, with my individual clients and Emotionally Focused Therapy for the couples. I do integrate CBT, Solution-Focused Therapy, creativity, and faith-informed techniques and interventions when needed and helpful. I believe therapy can be both practical and deeply transformative. It can help you name patterns, understand your emotions, strengthen relationships, heal wounds, and move toward a more grounded and authentic life. Healing Minds and Hearts exists to support healing that is emotional, relational, spiritual, and creative. Whether we are exploring communication and attachment styles, boundaries, intimacy, identity, purpose, or family history, my hope is to offer a space where you feel seen, respected, and supported as you grow.
Our first session is a time for me to begin understanding you and your context. You do not have to have everything figured out before you arrive. We will talk about what brings you to therapy, what you have been carrying, what feels difficult right now, and what you hope will begin to shift. The first session may look different depending on why you are coming in and the level of urgency around your needs. Usually, it is a time of information gathering, but that may unfold differently for individuals and couples. For individual clients, the first session focuses on understanding who you are, what brings you to therapy, what systems and relationships you are a part of, and how your environment, upbringing, identity, and lived experiences may be impacting your present life. More than anything, it is a time for me to better understand your context. If we already had a 15-minute consultation, we may build from what was shared there and explore more deeply. For couples, the first session often begins with the story of the relationship. I may ask how you met, when you met, what drew you to one another, and what important milestones, challenges, hiccups, transitions, or ruptures have shaped your time together. We will usually create a relational timeline, starting with the month and year you met and walking through your relationship up to the present moment. This helps me understand the context of the relationship and what brings you to therapy now. My goal is for you to experience feeling safe, seen, and heard. The first session is also a chance for you to ask questions, get a feel for my style, and decide whether working together feels like a good fit. You can expect honesty, compassion, reflection, and a pace that honors your readiness.
One of the strengths I bring to sessions is my ability to hold complexity with compassion, honesty, and curiosity. I do not believe people are one-dimensional, and I do not approach therapy as if there is only one “right” way to heal. Unless the "right way" was being your true self during the process or unveiling who ones true self is. I listen for the layers: the emotions, protective patterns, family history, faith questions, cultural context, relational wounds, and the parts of a person that are trying to survive, grow, or be understood. My approach stands out because I believe therapy is a co-created space. I do not see myself as the expert over your life, but as someone walking alongside you with clinical insight, reflection, and care. Some clients come in knowing they need to be challenged, even when they do not always like it. Others need a space where they are not pushed too quickly, where they can practice using their voice, naming their needs, and advocating for the pace that feels safe and supportive. I invite clients to help shape the space so therapy does not become another place where they feel powerless or misunderstood. With individual clients, I primarily use Internal Family Systems, while also incorporating techniques from CBT, creativity, humor, and faith-informed reflection when desired. Humor is often a meaningful part of the work because healing can be heavy, but it does not always have to feel harsh. Sometimes laughter helps us breathe, notice ourselves with more compassion, and tell the truth without shame. My life experiences have shaped how I show up in the room. I understand what it means to navigate identity, faith, family, culture, grief, transition, trauma, and the tension between who you have been expected to be and who you are becoming. Those experiences help me create a space that is thoughtful, grounded, emotionally honest, and deeply human. I am both gentle and direct. I can sit quietly, hold space, and honor the parts of a person that need tenderness. I can also lovingly challenge clients when avoidance, fear, shame, or old patterns are keeping them stuck. My goal is not to push people before they are ready, but to offer a balance of compassion, accountability, humor, and truth that supports deeper healing.
My ideal client is someone who is curious about themselves, even if they feel uncertain, overwhelmed, or unsure where to begin. They may be navigating anxiety, depression, identity questions, faith concerns, relational conflict, trauma, life transitions, emotional patterns, or a desire to understand themselves more deeply. I enjoy working with clients who are ready to be honest about what they are carrying and open to exploring how their past experiences, relationships, family of origin, culture, faith, and environments have shaped the way they show up in the present. They do not need to have everything figured out, but they are willing to reflect, notice patterns, and participate in their own healing. My ideal client values a therapeutic space that is collaborative, honest, and human. They may be searching for a place to bring multiple parts of themselves, inner parts, questions, emotions, and experiences without judgment or scorn. They may want support learning how to trust their voice, strengthen their boundaries, understand their emotions, reconnect with their true self, and engage their relationships and life systems in healthier, more authentic ways. For couples, my ideal clients are partners who are willing to move beyond blame and defensiveness toward curiosity, accountability, repair, and deeper understanding. They may feel stuck in unhealthy cycles, but they are open to learning how their individual patterns impact the relationship and how to choose connection over ego.
Cash - $120 per session
Aetna
Aetna - Allied Benefits
Aetna - ASR Health Benefits
Aetna - Lucent Health
Aetna - Luminare
Aetna - Moda
Aetna - WebTPA
Aetna – HealthEZ
Amerihealth Administrators
Anthem
Arlo
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Centivo
Cigna
Cigna - HealthEZ
EAP:Cigna
EAP:Evernorth
Evernorth
GTEB
Independence Administrators
Independence Blue Cross
Tufts Health/Cigna
I use Internal Family Systems as one of my primary modalities with individuals because I genuinely believe that when we begin to understand and work with the system inside of us, we can often decrease anxiety, depression, and relational conflict. When we are no longer in constant conflict with ourselves, it can change the way we show up in relationship with others. IFS helps us explore what is happening internally. Together, we identify the different parts of you, where those parts may have come from, what they want, how they move, and how they have learned to protect or support you. As we begin to understand each part and its function, we also make room to reconnect with the part of you that is most grounded, compassionate, wise, and present: your true Self. The goal is not to get rid of your parts, but to understand them, care for them, and help them work together under the leadership of your true Self. For example, if you have a manager part that is highly organized but can become cold or disconnected, your Self can still utilize that manager’s ability to create structure while bringing warmth and presence into the process. If you have a firefighter part that yells or goes off when you feel disrespected, your Self can recognize the advocacy underneath that reaction and use that energy to speak up in a respectful, firm, and grounded way. This is how I use IFS in therapy. Sometimes we talk through the parts, sometimes we draw them, create collages, use music, or explore them through other creative practices. The heart of the work is getting to know your parts, understanding how they have tried to help you survive, and strengthening your relationship with your true Self so you can live and respond from that place more fully.
I also draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, though I do not use it as my primary modality. Instead, I incorporate CBT techniques and skills when they are helpful for exploring thoughts, checking assumptions, and creating more balanced perspectives. In sessions, this may look like asking questions such as: What led you to think about the situation this way? Are there other times when this belief has been true, or not true? Are there other ways to understand what happened? When you responded that way, what thoughts were coming up for you? Were those thoughts based on facts, or were they shaped by what you felt was happening in the moment? I use CBT to support clients in noticing patterns in their thinking, reality-checking their interpretations, and moving away from all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralizing, oversimplifying, or over-assuming. It can help us better understand how the mind is working, why it may be working that way, and how to arrive at a more balanced way of perceiving or responding to a situation. I also use CBT-informed reframing to help clients consider new perspectives that feel more grounded, honest, and supportive without dismissing the emotions connected to their experience.
I also use Solution-Focused Brief Therapy for clients who may not need long-term therapeutic work, but are seeking support around a specific situation, decision, or challenge. This approach can be especially helpful for people who have been in therapy before, are fairly self-aware, or have already done some deeper personal work, but need someone to walk alongside them as they clarify next steps and move toward solutions. When I use Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, the goal is not for me to give the client all the answers. Instead, it is to help the client recognize that many of the answers, resources, and solutions are already within them. My role is to ask thoughtful questions, help them process what may be getting in the way, and support them in identifying practical, meaningful steps forward. This work is often short-term and focused. For some clients, this may look like four to six sessions over the course of a month or so. By that point, they may have gained clarity, worked through the immediate concern, and feel ready to move forward with more confidence and direction.
I often use Emotionally Focused Therapy with clients who are experiencing relational challenges and feel caught in a repeated cycle or pattern. Sometimes couples need support with communication skills, but other times the issue is deeper than communication. It may be connected to perception, and that perception may be shaped by an attachment wound, fear, or past hurt. In these moments, a simple conversation can quickly turn into a painful, exhausting, or even volatile cycle. One person may say or do something that activates the other, and before they know it, they are no longer responding to what is actually happening in the present moment. They are responding from the wound, the fear, or the story they are telling themselves about what is happening. When I use Emotionally Focused Therapy, the goal is to help clients understand the cycle they keep getting caught in. We explore attachment styles, emotional wounds, unmet needs, and the patterns of protection that may be showing up between them. Rather than focusing only on who is right or wrong, we slow things down and look at what is happening underneath the conflict. This work helps clients better understand themselves and one another. It allows them to notice the difference between what is actually happening and what they may be perceiving through pain, fear, or past experiences. Over time, the goal is to slow down the unhealthy cycle, interrupt it, and begin replacing it with a healthier pattern of connection, communication, and emotional safety.
The way I approach Christian counseling depends on each client’s convictions, faith journey, and season of life. I do not use the Bible as a prescription pill with fixed dosages, because I believe faith is sacred, intimate, and relational. For some clients, Christian counseling may include prayer. For others, it may involve reflecting on a biblical story, theme, or lesson that connects with their lived experience. At times, we may explore how Scripture, spiritual practices, or faith-based reflection can support healing, clarity, and growth. Christian counseling is also about understanding the client’s needs, desires, convictions, and relationship with God, and supporting them in living with integrity to those convictions. My role is not to force a particular formula, but to honor the sacredness of their faith while helping them integrate their spiritual life with their emotional, relational, and mental well-being.