Tara L. Benincasa, owner of Lotus Integrative Mental Health Counseling, is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor. Tara provides individual counseling for children (ages 10 and above), adolescents, and adults. She has a specialty in working with people of all ages who have endured trauma, including sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, as well as children and adolescents who have engaged in sexually acting out behaviors. She also works with people who are struggling with depression and anxiety, teen and women's issues.

Tara is also a Headstrong Project Clinical Partner. The Headstrong Project is a nonprofit organization in NYC that provides cost-free, bureaucracy-free & confidential mental health services to post 9/11 veterans and military service members suffering from PTSD, depression & anxiety, substance abuse, as well as survivors of military sexual trauma. For more information, visit getheadstrong.org.

Additionally, Tara has experience conducting risk assessments with youth who sexually act out. She conducts sex abuse assessments for local county agencies, utilizing the NYS Children's Justice Task Force Forensic Interviewing Best Practice Guidelines and APSAC Practice Guidelines for Psychosocial Evaluations of Suspected Sexual Abuse in Children. She is also hired as an expert witness in criminal trials for childhood sexual abuse cases. Tara has, and continues to, supervise graduate-level interns, as well as limited permit holders and licensed professionals.

Tara grew up in Liverpool, N.Y., and moved to the Capital Region to attend The College of Saint Rose for her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She lives with her husband, daughter, and three cats.