Mitch Jaffe, LMFT

Education and Licenses:
BA: Binghamton University: Sociology; minor in Human Development and Education
MA: Syracuse University; Marriage and Family Therapy
NYS License to practice Marriage and Family Therapy

About Mitch Jaffe:
Mitch is a licensed marriage and family therapist and has had a private practice since 1986. He does a lot of work with couples, and has a specialization in relationship issues, parenting and conflict resolution. He enjoys working with couples at all stages of their relationship and has experience helping couples to re-engage and strengthen their relationship, as well as helping couples to figure out the most civil and productive ways to dissolve their marriage or intimate relationship. He believes that couples do best when they focus on their ‘interests’ (the underlying concerns or motivation) rather than their ‘positions’ (non-negotiable, concrete outcomes) and helps clients work to define what their interests, concerns and motivations are. Mitch is excited about the evolution of the collaborative divorce process and believes that the traditional adversarial process is destructive to couples, families and our community. He believes that the collaborative approach has been a wonderful addition to alternative dispute resolution and that it provides a forum for couples to act in the best interests of their children, their families and themselves.

Professional and Community Involvement
Prior to getting his graduate degree, Mitch taught pre-K for 6 years. Since graduate school, he has worked as the Director of Behavioral Health at Health Services Medical Group and as the Executive Director at Syracuse Jewish Family Service. Mitch has supervised students from Syracuse University’s Marriage and Family Therapy Program, School of Social Work and Counseling Department from 1990 through 2008. He is presently working full time in his private practice where he sees clients who are struggling with relationship and/or parenting issues, as well as depression, anxiety and other presenting concerns.

Mitch has served on the Boards of Directors of CNY Collaborative Professionals, Plymouth Day Care Center, Onondaga Pastoral Counseling Center, the New York State Division of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and has been the President of the Central New York Chapter of the NYS Division of AAMFT. He is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals.

Recent Publications and Presentations
Mitch has given numerous workshops and presentations on parenting and relationships at such locations as Penn State University, Syracuse University, Syracuse College of Law, Upstate Medical Center, Catholic Charities, The American Cancer Society, Head Start, and the Onondaga Child Care Council.