Clinical Director
Arlene (Ari) Istar Lev LCSW-R, CASAC II, CSTS is a social worker, family therapist, educator, and activist who has been serving the LGBTQ+ community for over 30 years. She is the Founder and Clinical Director of Choices Counseling & Consulting and TIGRIS: The Training Institute for Gender, Relationships, Identity, and Sexuality in Albany, New York. She is a Credentialed Alcoholism Counselor and a Certified Sex Therapist (ASSECT).
Ms. Lev offers supervision, consultation, and mentorship for social workers, and other mental health providers. She is an approved Mentor with the GEI (Global Education Initiative) for applicants seeking WPATH Certification, a Certified Sex Therapy Supervisor through ASSECT, and an approved AAMFT Supervisor.
Ms. Lev is a part-time lecturer at the University at Albany, School of Social Welfare and is the Project Director of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Project (SOGI). She is an international speaker on issues related to sex and gender, and has lectured at Smith College School for Social Work, Empire College, Vermont College, Union Institute and University, Pink Therapy, Université libre de Bruxelles, (and the California School of Professional Psychology.
Ms. Lev is the Founder and Board President for Rainbow Access Initiative, Inc., which provides low-cost therapy to LGBTQ individuals. She served as a committee member of World Professional Association for Transgender 7th revision the Standards of Care which has revolutionized the medical and mental health treatment of transgender people worldwide.
She has authored numerous journal articles and three books: The Complete Lesbian and Gay Parenting Guide, Transgender Emergence: Therapeutic Guidelines for Working with Gender-Variant People and their Families, and Families in Transition: Parent Perspectives on Raising Gender Diverse Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults (with Andrew Gottlieb, Ed).
If you would like more information, please email info@choicesconsulting.