Therapy After an STI Diagnosis
Compassionate, judgment-free support for the emotional weight of an STI or STD diagnosis. Online therapy available across New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, South Carolina, and Florida.
This is emotional and psychological support, not medical testing or treatment. For medical care, please consult your doctor or a sexual health clinic.
A diagnosis can shake far more than your body. The feelings that come with it deserve care too.
The moment you get the news, something can shift in how you see yourself. Even when the medical reality is manageable, and for most people it genuinely is, the emotional reality can be overwhelming. Shame arrives, often out of proportion to anything you actually did. Anxiety follows close behind. You may find yourself replaying how it happened, bracing for conversations you dread, or quietly deciding what this now means about you.
None of that reaction is a sign of weakness or a character flaw. It is the result of living in a culture that has wrapped these diagnoses in silence and stigma for generations. You absorbed those messages long before you ever needed them to be untrue, and now they are running loud at the worst possible moment. The result is that a health issue starts to feel like a verdict on your worth, your desirability, or your future.
It is not a verdict. And you do not have to carry the emotional part of this alone.
I work with people navigating exactly this: the shame, the fear, the grief, and the loneliness that so often follow a diagnosis. My role is to give you a space where none of it has to be hidden or explained away, so you can process what happened and find your footing again.
What you might be experiencing
Shame or a sense of being "damaged," out of proportion to the medical facts
Anxiety about disclosure and how partners will react
Fear of rejection, judgment, or future dating
Grief for the life or self-image you feel you lost
Replaying how it happened, or spiraling into self-blame
Anxiety about your health, your body, or the future
Isolation, and the sense that you cannot talk to anyone about this
A hit to your confidence, sexuality, or sense of desirability
Why people seek this support
-
Overwhelming shame or self-blame after a diagnosis
-
Anxiety about disclosing to current or future partners
-
Fear of rejection and its effect on dating and intimacy
-
Grief, anger, or a sense of loss
-
Health anxiety connected to the diagnosis
-
Isolation and the weight of keeping it secret
-
A diagnosis that has shaken confidence or identity
-
Wanting one place where this can be spoken about openly
You might benefit from therapy if…
The shame has taken on a life of its own. When the emotional weight outsizes the medical reality, that gap is exactly where therapy helps. I work with you to untangle the stigma you absorbed from the facts of your situation, so the diagnosis stops defining how you see yourself.
Disclosure feels impossible. The fear of telling a partner can be paralyzing. Together, we work through that fear and, if it helps, practice the conversation so you can approach it from steadier ground rather than in dread.
It has changed how you see yourself. A diagnosis can quietly rewrite your sense of your own worth and desirability. I help you challenge those conclusions and rebuild a relationship with yourself that the diagnosis does not get to dictate.
How I help
I approach this work the way it deserves: with zero judgment and a lot of care. So much of the pain around an STI or STD diagnosis comes from stigma, not from the medical facts, so a large part of our work is separating the two. Once you can see how much of the shame was handed to you by a culture of silence, it starts to lose its grip.
I draw on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help you catch and challenge the thoughts that fuel the shame spiral, the catastrophizing, the all-or-nothing conclusions about your future, the harsh self-talk that treats a health issue as a moral failing. We replace those with something truer and kinder.
When it is useful, we work directly on disclosure: what you want to say, how to say it, and how to keep your sense of worth steady regardless of how someone responds. For many people, moving from dreading that conversation to feeling prepared for it is a turning point.
We also make room for grief. It is normal to mourn a sense of yourself, or a version of your future, that the diagnosis disrupted. Naming that grief, rather than rushing past it, is often what allows you to move forward.
My aim is to help you reach a place where this is simply one part of your health and your history, held in perspective, no longer running the show or defining your worth.
All sessions are online, so you can do this work from wherever you feel most private and comfortable.
What to expect after you reach out
You book your free 15-minute consultation.
Choose a time that fits your life, or send us a note and we will happily find one together. This part is easy, and we make it that way on purpose.
We connect.
This is a warm, unhurried conversation about what has been weighing on you and how we might help. There is nothing to prepare and nothing you need to have figured out first. You can simply show up as you are.
You decide what feels right.
If we are a good fit, we will get you settled and scheduled. If not, we’ll connect you with someone in our network!
What High-Achieving Women Say About Our Work Together
About Brianna Paruolo, LMHC
Featured as an expert in
I provide virtual therapy for women in New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Florida.
CLINICAL EXPERTISE & CREDENTIALS
As founder and Clinical Director of On Par Therapy NYC, I bring elite training and specialized certification to your therapeutic journey:
Advanced Education
Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, St. John's University
Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, St. John's University
President of Chi Sigma Iota Counseling Academic and Professional Honor Society
Specialized Certifications
Certified Narcissistic Abuse Treatment Clinician (NATC)
SBIRT Certified
Psychological First Aid (PFA) Certified
Clinical Experience
Former Primary Therapist at one of the nation's leading eating disorder residential treatment centers
Clinical training in integrative psychotherapy, incorporating innovative approaches including play therapy, biofeedback, and neurofeedback
Featured mental health expert in major media publications and news outlets
On Par Therapy exists because I needed it myself. Before becoming a therapist, I managed social media strategy for health and wellness brands, then transitioned to a People & Culture role at a unicorn startup while pursuing my master's degree.
I understand perfectionism, burnout, and self-doubt not just clinically, but personally. This unique perspective has led major news outlets and publications to tap me as a mental health specialist, providing insights on everything from workplace stress and impostor syndrome to dating dynamics and narcissism.
My practice focuses on the challenges high-achieving women face most: the anxiety that never fully quiets, the perfectionism that both drives and exhausts you, disruptive life transitions, and relationship patterns that feel frustratingly familiar. I integrate CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and relational therapy with a real-world understanding of what it takes to excel without self-destructing.
Therapy with me feels grounded and intelligent, and I like speaking with someone who genuinely gets it because I've sat on both sides of the conversation.
Book your FREE 15-minute consultation today.
Reach out through my contact form for a free consultation.
Meet with me for compassionate, judgment-free support.
Begin separating your worth from your diagnosis.
I am licensed to work in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Florida, and South Carolina.
Don’t see a time that works? Email: Admin@onpartherapynyc.com !