Marissa Sappho, LCSW, BCD, CEDS-S

FOUNDER, CEO & Clinical Director

Phone Extension #104

Marissa Sappho, LCSW, BCD, CEDS-S, is the Founder, CEO & Clinical Director at Aurora Center NYC for Eating Disorder Treatment and Mental Health Services. Aurora Center NYC is a comprehensive mindfulness yoga-based eating disorder treatment center in New York City. It is the first such center in the area specializing in the treatment of Binge Eating Disorder.

In addition to overseeing the Clinical Programs at Aurora, Marissa maintains a full time patient caseload. Marissa is a passionate educator, holding the title of Adjunct Professor at New York University in their graduate school of social work, as well as being Faculty and Supervisor at the Center for the Study of Anorexia and Bulimia (CSAB), where she also serves on the Advisory Board and the Executive Committee. Marissa also serves as Director to the Board for the Center for Clinical Social Work, which encompasses the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work and the American Clinical Social Work Association. As of January 2019, she is the co-chair alongside the esteemed Douglas Bunnell, PhD, FAED, CEDS, for the Psychodynamic & Integrated Psychotherapies Special Interest Group of the Academy of Eating Disorders. 

Her work includes direct teaching experience as well as program and curriculum development for psychoanalytic training institutes and outpatient clinical services.

Marissa is dedicated to social justice and co-founded the New York State Coalition of Social Workers (2008-2011), a non-profit 501c(6) professional membership organization to advocate for social workers statewide and the clients that they serve; she later served as President of the Coalition. She has maintained a commitment to serving under-served populations.

Prior to Founding Aurora Center NYC, Marissa maintained a busy full time private practice. Previously, Marissa has held clinical positions in both inpatient and outpatient settings in New York and Connecticut, including Assertive Community Treatment Teams, Intensive Outpatient Programs, city and state psychiatric facilities, clinics, and day treatment programs. Marissa has performed both administrative and clinical supervision and been responsible for clinical program development and implementation of state funded research protocols.

Marissa has published and presented nationally and internationally on Binge Eating Disorder, most recently at the Renfrew Center Foundation Annual Conference, the Eating Disorders & Obesity Conference in Australia, and the American Psychological Association. She is a frequent guest speaker at universities and psychoanalytic institutes on topics including eating disorders, psychodynamic approaches to treatment, social work licensing issues, and career development.

Presently she is working on a handbook for beginning clinical practitioners, and developing a client workbook for those with Eating Disorders in order to provide access to recovery tools. Through Marissa’s extensive experience with researching, teaching, training, and treating eating disorders, she recognized a need for a new model for the treatment of Binge Eating Disorder, called Reframing Recovery. Current research interests include the symbolic meaning of binge episodes, and intimate relationships in emerging adulthood in the context of social media.

Marissa holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Hartford, and a Master of Clinical Social Work degree from New York University. She is an advanced standing candidate at the Institute for Clinical Social Work and is presently working on her dissertation “Missed Connections: Countertransference Reactions Known and Unknown in Therapists Who Treat Patients With Binge Eating Disorder.” Marissa is also a Board Certified Diplomate in Psychoanalysis. Marissa is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Certified Eating Disorder Supervisor with the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals.

Marissa maintains professional memberships in the following organizations: American Association for Psychoanalysis in Clinical Social Work (AAPCSW); The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA); Academy for Eating Disorders (AED); Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA); International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (IAEDP); National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA).