Milana Banton
Summary
Successful at helping clients unravel physical, mental and emotional layers to identify root causes of problems and develop strong coping skills for diverse scenarios. Proficient in interdisciplinary collaboration with passion for leaving positive impact on patient lives.
Overview
8
8
years of professional experience
Work History
Psychotherapist
Defining Moments PLLC
04.2023 - Current
- Developed personalized treatment plans based on comprehensive assessments and ongoing evaluations of client progress.
- Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams to coordinate care and ensure holistic support for clients' mental health needs.
- Implemented evidence-based therapeutic techniques, enhancing clients' coping strategies and emotional well-being.
- Utilized mindfulness techniques during sessions to help clients develop greater self-awareness and coping skills for managing stressors.
Psychotherapist
Mental Health Providers Of Western Queens
03.2022 - 05.2024
- Guided clients in development of skills and cognitive behavioral therapy techniques.
- Maintained and updated patient records, changes in service plans, and treatment reports.
- Counseled up to 15 patients weekly with issues such as mood disorders, PTSD, ADHD and anxiety.
- Assisted clients to better understand roles as parents, focusing on developing skills to nurture and guide children.
- Aided parents in arranging medication evaluations and psychological testing.
- Offered expert testimony for legal consultations and court hearings.
- Assessed patient behavior, moods and other responses to determine correct diagnosis and devise treatment plans.
- Assessed client issues pertaining to depression, anxiety and physical abuse to resolve conflicts between students, peers and teachers.
- Identified risk and resiliency factors within individual youth, peer group, family, school and community and developed strategies for intervention
Billing Administrator
Freedom Institute
01.2020 - 03.2023
- Kept physical files and digitized records organized for easy updating and retrieval by authorized team members for annual OASIS audit.
- Delivered expert clerical support by efficiently handling wide range of routine and special requirements.
- Tracked and recorded expenses and reconciled accounts to maintain accurate, current and compliant financial records.
- Performed weekly billing, collection and reporting functions of client's.
- Produced high-quality documents and spreadsheets for internal and customer-facing needs using Medisoft and Billflash.
Research Intern
Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Ins
01.2022 - 05.2022
- Using strong, compassionate and eloquent speaking skills in delivering questions to survey participants by phone and prompting responses to complete questionnaires.
- Demonstrating strong writing skills to generate original clinical reports.
- Utilizing recruiting strategies to re-engage participants who have taken part in this 75 year, longitudinal study.
- Attended seminars and symposiums to improve overall knowledge and understanding.
Residential Counselor
The New Hope Mental Health Counseling Services
01.2020 - 09.2020
- Effectively maintained caseload of 10 sessions per week using alternative therapies while documenting client's progress.
- Gathered information about clients using observational techniques and interviews, case histories and other assessment methodologies.
- Implemented intensive individualized treatment plans addressing family relationship problems, destructive patterns of behavior and other psychosocial issues.
- Contributed to weekly supervision meetings addressing client's needs. This interdisciplinary treatment team aided development of treatment plans.
- Consulted with public and private service agencies and university researchers to advise clients on resources available.
Emotional Support Helpline Counselor
New York State Office Of Mental Health
05.2020 - 07.2020
- Specialized in Disaster Mental Health around infectious disease by providing disaster-focused psychological first aid to essential workers experiencing stress reactions to their current work during COVID-19.
Outreach Specialist
FedCap WeCARE
05.2018 - 01.2019
- HRA's Back to Work program: Assisted those with mental and/or physical disabilities throughout each step of their journey to suitable employment.
- Placed infractions on those who were non-compliant.
- Assessment of those requiring reasonable accommodations include translation services, transportation, reduced wait times, help completing or reading forms, etc.
- Recorded, transcribed and maintained confidential client information into applicant tracking system and database.
Public Policy Research Intern
National Counsel For The Blind Ireland
01.2018 - 03.2018
- Trained and skilled in guiding those with vision impairments.
- Facilitated focus groups used to push forward new policies, promoting accessibility of those with impairments.
- Compiled research of over 20 countries regarding their taxi fare subsidy schemes. This contributed to the implementation of taxi fare subsidy scheme for disabled persons in Ireland.
- Teaching and distribution of tactile ballot templates, enabling those with vision impairment autonomy and independence to vote privately for the first time.
Education
Master of Arts - Counseling Mental Health Wellness
New York University
New York, NYNo Degree - Psychology
Queensborough Community College
Bayside, NYB.A - Psychology
Hunter College Of The City University Of New York
New York, NYCASAC-T - Addiction Counseling
The Resource Training & Counseling Center
Brooklyn, NYRECOVERY COACH - Addiction Counseling
Resource Training And Counseling Center
Brooklyn, NYSkills
- Skilled in SimplePractice, OfficeAlly, Footnotes, AllSector and NYCWay
- Psychological First Aid Certified
- Conscious of HIPAA laws
- Guiding those with vision impairments
- Intervention Planning
- Harm Reduction
- Psychoeducation
- Case Management
- Group Therapy Facilitation
- Time management
Affiliations
Golden Key International Honor SocietyPsi Chi Honor Society
Timeline
Psychotherapist
Defining Moments PLLC
04.2023 - Current
Psychotherapist
Mental Health Providers Of Western Queens
03.2022 - 05.2024
Research Intern
Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Ins
01.2022 - 05.2022
Emotional Support Helpline Counselor
New York State Office Of Mental Health
05.2020 - 07.2020
Billing Administrator
Freedom Institute
01.2020 - 03.2023
Residential Counselor
The New Hope Mental Health Counseling Services
01.2020 - 09.2020
Outreach Specialist
FedCap WeCARE
05.2018 - 01.2019
Public Policy Research Intern
National Counsel For The Blind Ireland
01.2018 - 03.2018
Master of Arts - Counseling Mental Health Wellness
New York University
No Degree - Psychology
Queensborough Community College
B.A - Psychology
Hunter College Of The City University Of New York
CASAC-T - Addiction Counseling
The Resource Training & Counseling Center
RECOVERY COACH - Addiction Counseling
Resource Training And Counseling Center