Our Impact in 2023

See your support in action! Explore our Annual Report to witness how we’ve worked this past year to make mental health services affordable and accessible.

Scholarship Fund

Droste’s core programming is our scholarship fund. Recognizing the barriers individuals face in accessing mental health care, we have implemented a sliding scale fee structure that tailors costs to each participant’s financial capacity. This approach makes it possible for those unable to afford the standard therapy rate of private practitioners to still access high-quality therapy services without spending months on the waitlists of overwhelmed hospital and community clinics. Our scholarship fund is solely supported by you, our loyal donors, and is what allows us to continue to offer our services to those who would otherwise be unable to access quality mental health care.

In 2023:

Community-Based Mental Health Program

Through a generous grant from Catholic Charities of New York, Droste is able to provide 16 free counseling sessions to students, their parents, and teachers of parochial and charter schools in need of additional mental health services. Schools in low-resourced areas or those schools without significant mental health infrastructure were targeted for initial partnership. Though the program began as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting community-level trauma, it evolved into something far more than that. 

Because of the partnerships established through this grant, Droste was in a position to provide immediate mental health support when our partner schools have experienced crises. Some crises have been large-scale, like Droste’s support of Ukrainian students, some of whom fled the war and others who still had family in the Ukraine; other crises have been experienced by the school community, like one partner school who experienced the sudden and unexpected loss of a student; and many crises have been individual, like the students who have been navigating homelessness.

Partner Schools

2023 Impact

  • St. George Academy

    As the guidance counselor of a Catholic high school, I have struggled for years to find my students mental health resources. Often our students had nowhere to turn, either because they had no insurance, or their insurance only paid for a few sessions, or they were too afraid or embarrassed to ask their parents to take them to speak to someone. Having the opportunity to work with Droste has been a true blessing. The ability to refer students, parents, and teachers to competent mental health services has had an immediate impact on our school. Some of our students have come into my office crying tears of joy because someone is listening to them. In some cases, these services have been a lifeline for desperate parents trying to connect with their children. Between COVID and the war in Ukraine, our students have been hurting. We did what we could, but we were mostly powerless. With this priceless resource, we are able to support our families. It is the most important connection I've made in my entire time working at our school.

  • Brilla Public Charter Schools

    “Droste has been such an impactful resource at Brilla Public Charter Schools. This organization has been a crucial resource during one of the most difficult times that the Brilla Community has experienced, as we experienced the loss of one of our beloved students this past Spring. This event has had a major impact on our community and Droste has been available to provide Grief support for our students. This has ensured that all students that need support are not left without services, as having only two Social Workers on our campus during this time has been challenging. Our students look forward to having sessions with members of this organization, and have advocated to continue with their sessions until the last day of school. Droste has been so flexible and supportive by extending these much needed services for our students and Brilla will forever be grateful for this partnership.”

  • Cornelia Connelly Center

    “Having Droste partner with our school has been very crucial and beneficial. This past year students and families have been navigating the difficulties that resulted from the pandemic, the lock down, remote schooling, and families undergoing difficult circumstances due to the pandemic. Now more than ever, our students need more mental health support. Because of this partnership, our students are provided social/emotional/mental support which allows for more room for the school staff to focus on SEL support in the classrooms and for our families. Our families have expressed how incredibly grateful they are to have this resource and to have the additional support for their children.”

  • Cathedral High School

    “Droste performs a valuable service for our students. The agency has always been helpful, but due to the effects of the pandemic the agency has become more important. When our families needed therapy, they did not have to wait to get assistance. Therapy was made available in a timely fashion. This is important because when families are struggling, they cannot wait, their suffering increases. The families felt important and appreciated the attention that they were given. Financially, families are struggling to make ends meet and therapy is not always a priority because of the price. Droste has enabled our families to put a priority on their mental health. Thank you for assisting our students and families.”

  • Achievement First

    “Over the past two years we have seen a significant increase in mental and behavioral health requests from our students, families and staff. Due to the nationwide increase in demand, these requests have been unsatisfied due to low supply. The partnership with Droste has opened the door to therapeutic services for our students and staff while also eliminating one of the biggest barriers -COST! We are so grateful to be able to share this resource with our community.”

Clinical Training Program

Since 1982, Droste Mental Health Services has hosted graduate-level students in our Clinical Training Program to complete an internship doing outpatient mental health therapy. Our Clinical Training Program nurtures future professionals, bridging the gap between academic knowledge and practical skills, ultimately enhancing the well-being of our clients by ensuring professionals joining the field have solid foundational skills.

Each year, three or four graduate student interns are selected from over 40 applicants. At the heart of our program lies the recognition that hands-on experience is invaluable for aspiring mental health counselors and social workers, but that the hands-on experience must be accompanied by high-quality, intensive supervision. Interns participating in our program undergo a comprehensive training curriculum and receive supervision that guides them through the phases of the treatment: assessment and diagnosis, treatment planning and modalities, interventions, safety planning, and the termination process. 

Droste’s interns are matched with clients who are open to working with someone still in training. Benefits of working with an intern include fresh perspectives and enthusiasm, immersion in the latest theories and techniques, increased availability, collaborative growth experience, and the ability to take advantage of a good personality fit while still having the comfort of knowing there is intensive supervisory support. Many interns join Droste as therapists after they end their internship; however, even those who move on to other places of work or away from New York bring Droste’s orientation to mental health service provision and the solid foundational skills learned with them wherever they go. 

  • “Droste is a place where I truly understand “大爱无疆” (love without border) in a professional mental health setting. The unconditional responsiveness and the wholehearted best regard for our clients are the greatest treasures I will carry with me in my future career as a therapist. Beyond this, the clinical knowledge I have learned makes me confident in my ability to continue to help people overcome mental health challenges. I am a better therapist because of the supervision and training with Sarah I have received at Droste."

    Jessica Yang, Teachers College

    2023-2024 Clinical Intern

  • "My experience at Droste has been transformative. The personalized attention and guidance I received as an intern has offered me insights into therapeutic interventions, taught me how to make ethical judgment calls both thoughtfully and quickly, and how to evaluate the varying rates of each individual’s therapeutic journey. Droste stands out as a diverse and multicultural space with empathetic and genuinely kind individuals, where people respect each other's values and beliefs, creating a non-judgmental and safe environment for sharing, both among colleagues and with clients."

    Alizay Baluch, Teachers College

    2023-2024 Clinical Intern

  • “Droste has been the perfect setting for me to put my theoretical knowledge to practice somewhere that I feel completely supported. Droste has given me the space to be reflective, explore different therapeutic styles, and lean into my therapeutic work with curiosity and excitement.”

    Durga Jambunathan, Teachers College

    2023-2024 Clinical Intern

  • “Droste has given me the opportunity to work with a diverse range of clients. Specifically, I have highly valued being able to work with adolescents from various racial and ethnic backgrounds. The experience I have gotten at Droste has allowed me to strengthen my cultural awareness and has given me the opportunity to be a part of expanding access to quality, responsive mental health care that so often, the most vulnerable groups of adolescents, in particular BIPOC and LBGTQ+ youth, lack.”

    Talisa Kouyoumjian, Hunter

    2023-2024 Clinical Intern

  • "My internship at Droste has been immeasurably enriching, far exceeding the average social work placement experience. Sarah Strole’s quality infrastructure from an operational point of view is excellent exposure to the technical factors involved in building a thriving practice for the long term, but it is her supervision in particular that creates an optimal environment for professional clinical development. Her consistent, expansive, and thoughtful supervision felt like a top-notch dynamic seminar in itself, emphasizing learning through experience and honing and refining one’s professional intuitions through a person-centered lens."

    Jenna Martinez, Columbia University

    2023-2024 Programmatic Intern