Youth Program Provides Free Therapy to Teens

It can be hard to find a therapist that works for you, especially in the world of waitlists and high costs. That’s why the New Paltz Youth Program (NPYP) provides online and in-person counseling services to local children and their families, free of cost.

Located at 220 Main Street, NPYP was founded in 1989 and offers year-round educational, recreational and social opportunities for New Paltz middle school and high school students. They launched their counseling program in January 2022, when NPYP director and Licensed Clinical Social Worker Jim Tinger noticed an increase in demand for mental health services  after the coronavirus.

“I work as a therapist in Kingston, and I’ve been the [NPYP] director for the town for 30 years. After COVID, especially where I work, we got a waiting list of like 800 people. I was getting a lot of calls from parents saying, ‘Do you know where I can find a therapist for my kid?’” Tinger said. “We realized, ‘Why don’t we do that here?’” 

Like many other forms of therapy, counseling sessions at the NPYP are conducted as 45-minute weekly sessions, with a solutions-based approach incorporating dialectical behavioral therapy elements. What sets the NPYP counseling program apart is that it is a town-sponsored program, meaning they provide services for free and do not go through insurance. Additionally, NPYP counselors are graduate students in their mid-20s working towards mental health degrees, making them closer in age and more relatable to young clients.

“I have graduate students from New Paltz, Jordan and Utica, and I match them with kids that I think would be a good match. They have a lot of education because they’re about to get their masters and not a ton of experience,” said Tinger. “They work with the kids on more solution-focused things where we identify problems, set up goals, practice skills and ideally alleviate some of the challenges they’re going through.”

For many children, the NPYP counseling program is their first exposure to therapy, and Tinger wants to ensure they have a positive first experience. The program incorporates play elements and tackles issues such as depression, anxiety and communication skills from a less daunting approach.

“It’s not like, ‘Here’s a chalkboard, and let me tell you what anxiety means.’ It’s more about, ‘How are you feeling, what is that feeling that you’re having?’” said Tinger. “I’ve done therapy with kids where we play a game of UNO, and at the end of the session, they’re like, ‘When does therapy start?’ But we just did! You told me about your family, your childhood, I learned about all your sisters and your experiences in school. You’re just really facilitating a conversation.”

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