I did not come to mental health counseling through a textbook alone. Before I became a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I spent more than five decades as a pastor — walking alongside individuals, couples, and families through some of the most difficult seasons a human being can face. Grief. Addiction. Broken marriages. Crises of faith. Depression. The quiet desperation of people who looked fine on the outside while falling apart on the inside. Those years taught me things no graduate program could fully teach. I learned how people actually suffer. I learned what genuine hope looks like when it is earned rather than assumed. And I learned that most people are not looking for someone to fix them — they are looking for someone who understands them well enough to help them find their own way forward. That understanding is at the heart of everything I do as a therapist. In our work together, you won't find judgment or a rush to label what you're going through. You'll find a steady presence, careful listening, and a counselor who believes you remain the expert on your own life — even when it doesn't feel that way. I work with adults navigating grief and loss, life transitions, anxiety and depression, relationship struggles, and questions of meaning and faith. Whatever brought you here, you don't have to carry it alone. Lee Pelletier is a New York State Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) offering telehealth therapy to clients across New York.