Avita Integrative Care (“On the forefront of comprehensive mental health practice”) recently announced the opening of its second office, conveniently located in Fort Lee. A quietly warm and comforting environment welcomes you, and Avita offers a great deal more than your typical psychology practice. If you are looking for a wider range of psychological services, Avita has combined some powerful and specialized counseling and allied counseling services under a canopy of care to serve and benefit both individuals and families.

The dynamic, compassionate and pro-active team is led by Kaman Khodik, Psy.D., whose vision for comprehensive mental health care seems to know no limits. He integrates what each person expresses with what they truly need, then gently yet firmly creates a flow of information and skills that converge to transform problems into healthy, life-altering solutions and pathways. Khodik spent many years in facilitating positive change and organizational optimization at some of the most prominent global corporations, such as McKinsey & Company, the World Bank and the Credit Suisse Group. Dr. Khodik currently serves as the director of psychological and psychophysiological services at Avita Integrative Care, LLC, a practice dedicated to providing an integrative and comprehensive approach to various disorders related to anxiety, emotional dysregulation and poor stress resilience.

With formal training in several theoretical orientations including long-term and brief psychodynamic psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral techniques, biofeedback and evidence-based drug and alcohol counseling, Dr. Khodik integrates treatment strategies to best fit each patient’s unique needs. He can also integrate spirituality into his professional work through his own spiritual journey and current practice. So he is uniquely positioned to help patients explore openly their relationships with the sacred and overcome their spiritual struggles, and guide them to reaching an integrated sense of self. Khodik speaks fluent Russian and has international, multicultural exposure; so he is also skilled in providing a culturally sensitive approach. This allows patients to freely express themselves and explore their conflicts, while creating real and sustainable change. His keen abilities to identify and address the operative factors in a person’s internal battleground provide the gentle yet firm guidance towards understanding and resolving the issues that have become an obstacle to living their optimum life.

A ZocDoc rating states: “My appointment with Dr. Khodik went great. Dr. Khodik made me feel comfortable and safe. At the end of our session, which was very pleasant, he outlined the course of treatment we should take. I have been to other therapists, but I would rate Dr. Khodik as the top one for making me feel safe and comfortable to share my thoughts and feelings. I genuinely felt better after the session. I can’t wait to come back.”

Khodik’s vision of care advances the important perspective of a diversified approach to certain types of issues. To this purpose, he has assembled a team of specialists that will promote each client’s personal needs to the best and highest good. Since so many people are challenged by multiple issues—some psychological, some situational, some spiritual, and others medical or health-related—we know that multiple issues can affect each other, adding to the severity of any of them.

To accommodate this frequent scenario, Avita Integrative Care has engaged the compassionate and highly effective expertise of Ellie Wolf, MS, BCB, Fellow BCIA, a seasoned biofeedback practitioner. Ellie’s reputation is well established in some of the most highly respected health care institutions in the country. Formerly senior biofeedback provider at the Pain Management Center of RIC (the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, rated as the top rehab hospital in the country for almost 30 years in a row), and later at the Raby Institute for Integrative Medicine of Northwestern University Medical Center in Chicago, she brings a portfolio of success and skills in biofeedback treatment to the Avita family of practitioners. She has also worked with NFL and MLB professionals; Olympic, collegiate and elite athletes; and professional dancers and musicians. Endorsed strongly by her former colleagues and patients, here is what people are saying:

“I have had the tremendous opportunity to learn from Ellie how to employ the powerful impact of biofeedback as an adjunct in controlling procedure-related pain. Many of my patients require bone marrow aspiration and biopsy, which can be a very painful experience. Biofeedback provides patients a way to focus their attention towards achieving a state of calm self-management, both physically and mentally. The patient feels more in control, reporting less discomfort. This also renders the procedure much easier for me, as the doctor, to perform.”—Dr. Marlon Kleinman, MD, medical hematologist/oncologist, 2016

“Thank you for all of the positive support and biofeedback for my back pain resulting from multiple myeloma. My average pain dropped from 8 out of 10 to an easily manageable average of 0-3. I no longer need to wear a back brace or walk with a cane, and am finally off of the addictive narcotic pain meds that were running my life for five years! I am indebted to you for empowering me to get back into the ‘pilot seat’ of my life.—Mike F., 2016

“I work in a fast-paced and stressful environment [the NFL]. The biofeedback work with Ellie Wolf helped me to control my reaction to the stress and be more productive. And it has certainly helped me to enjoy the work so much more!”—Bob L. Sept. 2016

Biofeedback involves the use of non-invasive, externally applied physiological monitoring technology that identifies a person’s stress markers. Most biofeedback technology has been around for 50 or more years, so we have a huge body of normative data that tells us whether a person is within or outside the normal ranges. Stress markers can tell us whether a person’s body is expressing inordinate or prolonged levels of stress that have been highly correlated to compromised health and reduced immune system function. High stress is also linked to compromised cognitive ability and poor or limited work and academic performance.

Emerging areas of great success using biofeedback involve the spheres of occupational performance, test-taking anxiety, post-concussion recovery, fibromyalgia, addictive behaviors (like eating, drug abuse and smoking), chemical addictions and autoimmune disorders (POTS and the spectrum of dysautonomia—including Lyme disease, and various GI disorders). Biofeedback has shown amazing promise in these areas and new studies appear regularly.

Avita offers a discounted mini-session for those who would like to “try before you buy.” Contact Avita to set up your 30-minute mini-session. No prescription or referral required. Come and experience how this amazing science can change your life forever, relieve and resolve many symptoms of headaches, pain and compromised health, and bolster your school, work or athletic performance.

Avita Integrative Care has also stepped up as a trailblazer to meet a vastly distinctive and almost universally challenging life event: the break-up of a marriage. Especially when children are involved, divorce can be one of life’s most difficult and disheartening crossings. Avita Integrative Care understands this reality, and has engaged the highly specialized divorce counseling and mediation expertise of Maryana Kanda, LSW, APM (Accredited Professional Mediator).

Since divorce is one of the top five stressful events in one’s life; it is also a time when people make some of the most difficult and important decisions (for themselves, and their children, if applicable). Each year thousands of lives are disrupted and destroyed by the negative and sometimes devastating effects of a litigated divorce. To Avita Integrative Care, you are caring individuals who have come for support and guidance at a time when your high stress level and flaring emotions could impact your ability to make the right choices for yourself and your family. Kanda facilitates the divorce process with sensibility and sensitivity—untethered from partiality—to help you see that there really is light at the end of the tunnel.

Here is a testimonial from a respected attorney: “I have worked with Maryana on a number of mediations, and as post-mediation counsel for one of the parties. I have found her work to be thoughtful, sensitive and thorough. Maryana takes the time to understand peoples’ needs and wants, and helps them understand the difference. She is family-centered and helps each party leave the mediation with their dignity and self-respect intact.”

Kanda cites a time-honored quote from one of America’s foremost attorneys as a banner for her practice: “Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser—in fees, expenses and waste of time.”—Abraham Lincoln, 1850.

Here is Kanda’s special offer to Jewish Link readers: Take advantage of our Grand Opening invitation: free 30-minute consultation to learn how Kanda can serve the best interests of your family or a friend you refer. Just mention the Jewish Link.

You can reach Dr. Khodik, Ellie Wolf or Maryana Kanda via email at [email protected] or by calling 888-242-2732.