Counseling Service Staff

Counseling Service staff can be reached at (845) 437-5700. See below for additional contact information.

Wendy Anne Freedman, Director of the Counseling Service

wefreedman@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Wendy earned her bachelor’s degree at Cornell University and her doctorate in clinical and school psychology at The University of Virginia. Before joining the Vassar College Counseling Service staff in 2004, Dr. Freedman worked in both inpatient and outpatient mental health settings and as a school psychologist. She completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Pace University Westchester campus counseling service. Dr. Freedman is a certified group psychotherapist and is a member of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Taskforce of the American Group Psychotherapy Association. Professional interests include group therapy, attachment and relationships, suicide prevention, disability and chronic health conditions, and working with multicultural and social justice concerns, and Eye Movement, Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy (EMDR).

Natalia Martínez Muñoz Potter, Associate Director 

nmartinezmunozpotter@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Natalia is the Associate Director of Vassar College’s Counseling Service, where she provides clinical leadership and trains the next generation of psychotherapists as a supervisor to MSW students, post-MSW fellows, and staff clinicians.

Born and raised in Ecuador, Natalia has long been interested in how culture, family, and social contexts shape identity, relationships, and psychological development. Her curiosity about cultures, traditions, and systems led her to live, study, and work across three continents.

Natalia approaches her psychotherapeutic work from a relational, psychodynamic, and multicultural perspective, helping clients make sense of what has brought them to this moment while supporting them to imagine and move toward the life they wish to create. She is particularly attentive to questions of identity and cultural meaning in both personal and institutional contexts.

Natalia trained as a psychologist in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, where she discovered her passion for college mental health as a trainee at Counseling and Psychological Services. She has completed extensive training in DBT and mindfulness, as well as postgraduate education at the William Alanson White Institute in New York City focused on the treatment of eating disorders, addictions, and compulsions.

She is a guest lecturer at the Harvard Divinity School and serves as a member of the Mindful Eating Support Team (MEST) at Vassar.

Natalia received the 2015 Clinical Excellence Award from the Pennsylvania Society for Clinical Social Work and is a Multicultural Concerns Scholar in APA - Division 39. She is also the 2024 recipient of the Copper-Haynes Award from the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors (AUCCCD).

She has presented nationally and internationally on psychoanalysis, mindfulness, buddhism, and multicultural psychotherapy.

Natalia is a native Spanish speaker and fluent in French.

Alison (Ali) Krause Christensen, Assistant Director of Training

akrause@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Alison earned her Social Work Masters from Fordham University and is a licensed Clinical Social Worker with over thirteen years of experience as an agent of support and growth.  Alison comes to the Vassar Counseling Service from Ramapo for Children, where she served as the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Clinical Services, supporting a transition to independence program for neurodivergent young adults. Through her leadership experience in this intentional community, Alison developed a deep appreciation for inclusivity and advocacy. Alison also has experience working in child welfare, substance abuse treatment, behavioral health clinic settings, and crisis management.  Alison has received training in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and Internal Family Systems, and her therapeutic practice incorporates these, and various other models to support students in developing skills rooted in a growth mindset. 

Alison believes deeply in the human capacity for resiliency. She steeps her therapeutic approach in the understanding that all people are looking for a sense of connection and to develop comfort and safety in their own brains and bodies. Alison works with each client through a person-centered framework, harnessing their unique strengths and better-equipping individuals to navigate the inevitable highs and lows of life. She is passionate about the healing qualities of nature and often draws inspiration from its grounding, restorative benefits. Alison values community and relationship building and views therapy as a collaborative space to strengthen our connections—with ourselves, with others, and with the wider world. As a Hudson Valley native, Alison has a lifelong connection to the local community and enjoys yoga, bike riding, and listening to live music in her free time.

Carly Shumaker, Staff Therapist

cshumaker@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Psychotherapy, for me, is a practice of listening closely to the stories we tell ourselves and to the histories that speak through our bodies, our relationships, and our silences. Symptoms, while often painful, are also traces of survival, creativity, and longing—clues pointing us toward what has been too difficult to know alone. In the therapeutic relationship, I aim to create a space where these hidden meanings can be spoken, reworked, and lived with greater freedom.

I hold a Master of Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College, where I studied Anthropology/Sociology and Environmental Studies. I hold a postgraduate certificate from UT Austin’s Steve Hicks School of Social Work in Contemporary Psychoanalytic Social Work Practice, as well as a certificate from Harvard Divinity School in Insight into Mindfulness. My clinical work is psychodynamic, systems-oriented, and collaborative, drawing on anti-oppressive frameworks.

Before joining Vassar College Counseling Service, I lived and worked in a variety of cultural contexts—from rural Pennsylvania, where I grew up as a first-generation college student, to cities across the U.S. and Europe. These experiences continue to shape my curiosity about how culture, family, language, and place leave their mark on identity and psychic life.

At Vassar, I work with students navigating questions of belonging, identity, desire, and loss. I am especially drawn to the intimacy and vitality of working with young adults as they wrestle with the complexity of who they have been and who they are becoming.

Ben Hindell, Staff Therapist

bhindell@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Ben earned his Masters in Social Work at NYU and a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Denver and is thrilled to be part of Vassar’s Counseling Services. Previously, he has had the privilege of working at the counseling centers of Juilliard, Colorado College, and Pace University where he specialized in helping students explore issues of social anxiety, mood concerns, trauma recovery, relationship dynamics, as well as issues of identity. Ben enjoys integrating CBT, insight-oriented approaches, as well as mindfulness and self-compassion to help students gain insights into what matters most to them. It has been Ben’s passion to support students throughout their college experience. Born and raised in New York City, Ben has made his home in the Hudson Valley where he enjoys biking with his kids on the many rail trails and trying to find the best pizza places.

Robin Shutinya, Staff Therapist

robinshutinya@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Robin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who earned her Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University. She also holds a Master of Arts degree in Humanities and Social Thought from New York University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. Robin has past experience training and working in outpatient mental health clinics and providing short-term crisis intervention for mental health and substance use concerns in an urgent care setting.

Robin utilizes a strengths-based, individualized and relational approach to therapy that integrates psychodynamic theory and systems theory with behavioral and somatic interventions. She strives to provide trauma-informed care to her clients, which centers therapy on an individual's agency and ability to make choices for themselves. Her clinical passions include working with anxiety, family and relationship concerns, grief/loss, and trauma, with experience and special interest in providing therapy to members of the LGBTQ+ community and survivors of sexual violence and abuse. Robin is cognizant that many students may be seeking counseling for the first time at Vassar (and that this can feel scary!), and values the opportunity to provide a warm and supportive introduction to therapy. She is a Certified Grief Counselor (GC-C) via the American Institute of Health Care Professionals, a 300-hour certified Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga facilitator (TCTSY-F), and is trained in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), which is a short-term, evidence-based psychotherapy designed for the treatment of trauma. Robin is originally from Baltimore, Maryland; after years studying and working both internationally and throughout the United States, she feel fortunate to call the Hudson Valley home.

Vinny Malik Dehili, Staff Therapist

vdehili@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Good news everyone! I’ve created a digital pathway for you to learn about the saga of Dr. Vinny Malik Dehili through the reading of this digital lightbox! Vinny hailed from the small town of Ormond Beach Florida, born to an Algerian father, and a Canadian white mother. He grew up as a simple, nerdy child, enjoying video games and listening to ska music far past when it was somewhat cool. In his youth, Vinny blossomed into uncharted territory and joined the circus while studying in his undergraduate psychology program at Florida State University. Hanging up his clown shoes, Vinny went into the world of psychotherapy through FSU’s Counseling and School Psychology Ph.D. program. Vinny’s research on ADHD in college students eventually allowed him to recognize that his research may have been more of a me-search, shifting to owning his neurodivergent strengths of creativity and hyperfocus.

It was only after this formal education, that Vinny began to explore and become aware of how the aspects of psychological theory tend to be Eurocentric in the ways they focus on the individual self as the reason for one’s problems, rather than the systems surrounding them. Vinny takes the stance that we should not blame the flower for wilting in a drought. Influenced by the Buddhist Monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, Vinny became an avid reader and learner of diverse therapy practices and theories in group therapy and began to shift to a diversity-conscious, anti-racist frame of psychotherapy. Put simply, Vinny believes in Human-Nature, that humans are similar to any other part of nature, not separate from it. Each person weaves and bends to adapt to their environment to receive nourishment, love, and connection in the best way they know how. Vinny’s clinical interests vary as much as his attention, but is board certified in group psychotherapy, nationally involved with various professional organizations advocating for social justice and anti-racist practices within psychotherapy, and researches the benefit of utilizing Tabletop RolePlaying Games (e.g., Dungeons and Dragons) as a medium in group therapy to unlock the inner hero we each have inside of us. 

Serah Betancourt, Post-Doctoral Fellow

sbetancourt@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Serah earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Binghamton University and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at St. John’s University. Serah has past experience training and working in outpatient mental health, inpatient, and therapeutic schools, treating various needs.

Serah utilizes a trauma-informed, integrative approach to therapy that implements third-wave cognitive-behavioral interventions and relational psychodynamic theory. Serah is attuned to the stressors and nuances of cultural straddling and is passionate about the importance of culturally informed care in therapy. Her experience working with immigrant populations and sexual and ethnic minorities has been formative in her interests in clinical work. Serah’s clinical interests include mood disorders, anxiety, crisis intervention, substance use, family and relationship concerns, cultural straddling, and vulnerabilities in ethnic minority populations. Serah’s foundational training focuses on collaboration among family, treatment teams, and educators. This multidisciplinary lens allows her to support her patients in a streamlined, advocacy-focused approach that aligns well with the team approach at Vassar.

Lastly, Serah has a well-rounded understanding of executive functioning (EF). Her experience as an EF coach, researcher, and clinician trained to conduct neuropsychological batteries aligns well with her clinical experience and how she conceptualizes the role of EF, mental health, and the ecological factors that contribute to individuals’ functioning.

Serah is born and raised in New York; she has lived and worked on Long Island and New York City. Most recently, she settled in the Hudson Valley, where she intends to stay.

Olivia Tencer, Social Work Intern

otencer@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House

Olivia Tencer (she/her) is a second-year graduate student pursuing a Master of Social Work degree at Smith College School for Social Work. Olivia earned her Bachelor’s degree from Bard College in Human Rights and completed a Post-Baccalaureate Fellowship with Rethinking Place: Bard-on-Mahicantuck, where she conducted independent research and curatorial work in Indigenous Studies. Coming from a research background, Olivia values an analytic and critical lens in her work with clients. She believes that everyone’s experiences are influenced by the communities, relationships, and systems around them, and she values creating space for clients to make sense of those experiences in ways that feel meaningful to them.

In her clinical work, Olivia draws from a range of theoretical perspectives but is primarily grounded in relational psychodynamic and humanistic approaches. She strives to create a collaborative, supportive, and nonjudgmental therapeutic environment where clients can explore their experiences, strengths, and relationships. Olivia's practice is client-centered, trauma-informed, and guided by a commitment to cultural humility and liberation.

Olivia has a particular interest in working with emerging adults as they navigate identity development, life transitions, relationships, family dynamics, and concerns related to anxiety, depression, and self-esteem. She believes that meaningful change occurs within the context of authentic and trusting relationships and works alongside clients to foster insight, self-compassion, and empowerment.

Outside of her clinical practice, Olivia enjoys spending time with loved ones, crafting, being in nature, and riding horses. 

Mary Cruser, MD, Consulting Psychiatrist

Dr. Mary Cruser attended medical school at the Uniformed University School of the Health Sciences—the military medical school in Bethesda, Maryland. She completed her Psychiatry residency at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Dr. Cruser served in the Army and attained the rank of Major. Since leaving the Army, she has spent her time in private practice. After her partner retired from the Army in 2013, she was happy to be able to move back to the Hudson Valley and start her private practice in Highland, New York. Her practice includes medication management and individual psychotherapy for adolescents and adults. Dr. Cruser takes an individual approach to each patient and strives to help them find wellness through healthy living, not just treating a diagnosis. She has an interest in meditation, exercise, and nutrition as treatment modalities. Dr. Cruser holds a New York State certification in Medical Acupuncture. She maintains her board certification with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

Jessica Diaz, Office Specialist

jediaz@vassar.edu · (845) 437-5700 · Metcalf House