Dr. Ewa (Eh-va) Adamek Vanagas

Dr. Adamek Vanagas has experience working in schools, outpatient hospital clinics, and private practice throughout NYC and Westchester. Starting her career as a school psychologist, she spent several years working with children and adolescents. Her outpatient work expanded to a wider lifespan, including infants and young adults. These experiences deepened her knowledge and understanding of the sensitivity of human development and it’s core role in common struggles faced in adulthood. While she continues to see some adolescents, Ewa’s current work focuses on providing individual therapy to adults. She has extensive experience working with individuals of various cultural backgrounds.

Considering the complexity and unique narrative of every person, Ewa believes in taking a collaborative, eclectic approach to therapy.

Additionally, Ewa has considerable experience supervising post-doctoral psychologists, helping them refine their clinical skills and navigate the transition into independent practice.

Specialties

  • Anxiety Disorders

  • Relationship Challenges

  • Grief and loss

  • Life transitions

  • Trauma

  • Therapeutic approaches

  • Attachment Focused Psychotherapy

  • Relational Therapy

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

  • Interpersonal Psychotherapy

  • Multicultural/Culturally-informed Therapy

  • Service types

  • Individual Therapy

  • Supervision

Education

  • Bachelor of Arts - SUNY Albany

  • Masters of Science in Education - Brooklyn College

  • Doctor of Psychology - St. John’s University

    Ages served

  • Adults (25-64)

  • Young adults (18-24)

  • Teenagers (15+)

Languages

  • English

  • Polish

Q&A

What was your path to becoming a mental health provider?

I was always curious and my favorite question has always been "why?" Despite being (mostly) an introvert, I enjoy connecting with people, listening to their stories, understanding them, and helping them connect to their authentic selves. Drawing from my background as a first-generation immigrant and my family's experiences with the pains of world wars, as well as the life stories of loved ones, friends, and countless patients, I believe in the inherent resilience of people. My hope for those who I work with is that they learn to recognize this resilience in themselves, too.

What should someone know about working with you?

I am particularly interested in working with those who tend to “internalize” their emotions through self-blame and attack, being hyper-responsible, or attempting to maintain control over themselves and their worlds. I combine empathy, compassion, and a touch of humor to help you build on your existing strengths, gain self-awareness, and improve coping skills.

How do you continue learning and building new skills?

As mandated by my license in NYS, I am compliant in meeting my continuing education credits. I particularly love to learn new approaches to treating and understanding the conditions I commonly work with (e.g., anxiety, trauma, relationship challenges). My aim is to be able to assess and understand individuals from a more holistic perspective.