When you’re in the thick of it – work, kids, stress, relationships, grief, all of it – sometimes what you really need is someone who will sit with you, see you, and help you figure out what’s next. Not someone who rushes to label you. Not someone who nods silently while you unravel. Someone who gets it. Someone who’s lived enough life to understand that healing is about finding peace, one piece at a time.
That’s why Counseling with Compassion was founded.
Hi, I’m Dr. Sheila Chiffriller
I started Counseling with Compassion because I got tired of watching people settle for therapy that wasn’t helping them get anywhere.
My interest in this field began in college when I first saw someone I knew being abused by her boyfriend. I couldn’t understand how you could love someone who would harm you. Over time, I came to understand that violence isn’t always physical. The words we say to each other can be weapons. Silence, judgment, alienation. All of it can hurt just as much and do as much damage.
These reflections pulled me into deeper study of interpersonal violence. Then I discovered the revolutionary work of Marshall Rosenberg and Carl Rogers, whose ideas about nonviolent communication and empathy shaped the way I view people, pain and healing.
Compassion isn’t optional.
Where Most Therapy Falls Short
Therapists are so busy following protocols and treatment plans that they forget to ask what the person sitting in front of them actually needs right now.
Most people aren’t in touch with what they actually need.
- You think getting that promotion will make you happy.
- You think if your partner just did X, Y, and Z, everything would be perfect.
- You think losing 10 pounds is the answer to feeling confident.
- You think a certain amount of money earned will ease your stress.
But these are external conditions we chase, hoping they’ll bring peace… and they rarely do. And when they don’t deliver the happiness you expected, you’re left feeling more lost than when you started.
As a humanistic existential therapist, inspired by my hero Marshall, I ask three simple questions:
“What’s alive in you?”
“What are you feeling?”
“What do you need?”
Not what you think you should need, not what society tells you to need, not what worked for your friend, but what do YOU need at this moment?
Sometimes it’s rest. Sometimes it’s stimulation. Sometimes it’s a cookie.
But most of the time, it’s just someone who actually gets it.
Things start to change when you stop trying to fix everything with “shoulds” and start listening to what’s actually going on inside you.
When Marshall Rosenberg worked with warring nations, he didn’t sit them down to ask them “how does this make you feel?” He helped them understand what each side actually needed beneath all the strategies and positions. That’s what real compassion looks like – seeing what’s actually going on underneath it all.
Most therapy never gets to this level.
And frankly, it’s because most therapists haven’t been on the other side of the work.
I didn’t just study trauma. I survived it.
Like most people, my life hasn’t followed a straight path. I met my first husband when we were teenagers, working the counter at McDonald’s. He supported me through grad school. I supported him when he went back to study culinary arts. He was chronically ill from the time he was a toddler, and by the time we were in our forties, I was raising our five kids on my own.
I remarried several years later. My husband had three kids of his own. Between us, we’re raising eight. (Yes, eight!)
I’m also a 9/11 survivor. I was working downtown when the towers fell. My twin brother was in the building and was lucky to survive. After those first terrible weeks, I stayed and helped rebuild communications for the companies in that area. We didn’t know it then, but the exposure I had at Ground Zero likely led to my series of cancers years later. I went through chemotherapy, which left me without an immune system during the pandemic.
All of that taught me you can go through the unthinkable and still choose compassion over cynicism.
And it shaped how I built this practice.
Fifteen years ago, I was booked solid – early morning to late night. Parents would call, crying, desperate to get help for their children. The need was growing faster than I could ever hope to meet in the hours I had available.
A lot of people would have just raised their rates and kept the exclusive model. I did something else. I started training and supervising other therapists to meet the demand.
What This Means for You
I started this practice because I wanted more people to have access to high-quality mental health care exactly when they needed it. Whether you’re using insurance or on a sliding scale, you deserve to be seen by someone who’s competent, supervised, and held to a high standard.
Most quality therapists in the area are booked months out. I found a way to meet the growing need without compromising on the quality of care people received.
When you work with Counseling with Compassion, you’re not getting a fresh graduate reading from a textbook. You’re getting a therapist trained by someone who’s endured more than most and who’s learned how to help others do the same.
Almost every clinician at CWC has completed their graduate training. All are under the supervision of experienced therapists like myself or Dr. Pointek, a trusted colleague of mine for over 20 years.
We don’t just hand you off to whoever’s available – we make sure you get the right fit.
If you’re here, it means…
You want more for yourself, your kids, your relationships, your future. You want to understand why things feel off even when life looks “fine” on paper. You want to feel like yourself again – aligned and happy.
You care about doing the work. And when you’re ready, you shouldn’t have to wait to get started.
Wherever you are, whatever piece of life you’re holding right now, we’ll help you find the next one. We’ll take things at your pace, but this isn’t passive work.
We will move intentionally, with compassion.
That’s the work we do here.
We work with most insurance plans
We’ve made it easy for you to get started right now.
Three simple steps. No waiting lists. Just real help, right when you need it.
Reach Out
Send us an email at hello@cwcrvc.com or call us on 516-476-9057 and tell us about what’s going on.
Get Matched
We’ll connect you with the therapist best suited to your needs.
Start Sessions
In person at our Rockville Centre office or online from your couch – either way, we’ll help you take that first real step toward feeling better.
