About
Cornell's Faculty & Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) is a free, confidential resource to help Cornell employees resolve concerns that may impact their personal and/or professional lives.
Through counseling, consultation, and referral services, our professional counselors provide specialized care to meet the unique needs of Cornell's faculty and staff members. We recognize and celebrate the rich diversity of our Cornell community, and strive to be inclusive of the many cultures, experiences, practices, and values represented among our clients.
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FSAP is funded by the university's Division of Human Resources as a benefit and Wellbeing resource for employees.
FSAP staff
Wai-Kwong Wong, Ph.D. |
Wai was born in Hong Kong but grew up in New York City. A product (some would argue a consequence) of that city's public school system, he attended the University of Chicago largely because that’s where Indiana Jones had studied. Armed with such sophisticated decision-making skills, he has still somehow managed to get through life. After graduating in 1989, he held several jobs in Chicago and New York City working with developmentally disabled and chronically mentally ill adults, as well as individuals with HIV before going to grad school at the University of Virginia, where he earned a PhD in Clinical Psychology. He came to Cornell in 1999, and worked at Counseling and Psychological Services for 23 years before joining FSAP. Wai doesn’t believe that counseling is rocket science -- struggle and pain is part of the human condition and people have been seeking help from others for thousands of years. He believes that our culture just happens to call one particular form of help-seeking “counseling.” Professionally, he is interested in how our different identities affect our experience of ourselves and the world, as well as anxiety and OCD.
Outside of work, he enjoys running, biking, reading trashy sci-fi/fantasy novels and just looking at the stars.
Eve Abrams, LCSW, |
Eve is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She graduated with a BA in philosophy, religion and sociology in 1990 from Ithaca College. Her studies included a semester abroad studying death and dying in India. Upon her return, she decided to make Ithaca her home.
She received her Master’s in Social Work from SUNY Binghamton with advanced training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction as well as trauma-based modalities. Eve has worked with college students, faculty, and staff since 2007.
Eve’s clinical interests focus on health, trauma, sexuality & intimacy, aging, and the development of mindfulness skills to respond to the challenges of being a human. In addition, she enjoys working with people who are going through transitions of all kinds including early career adjustments, family changes, and end of career considerations. She welcomes the exploration of how intersectional identities impact our day-to-day lives.
She brings a down-to-earth, warm, and relational way of working together that helps clients find belonging, well-being, and to be less alone.
Eve's personal interests include Buddhism, walking in the woods, gardening, having good food, spending time with family, and finding humor in unlikely places.
Casey Benson, LCSW, PMH-C |
Casey Benson has been growing roots in Ithaca since 2006. She is a licensed clinical social worker with experience in private, public, non-profit, and higher educational settings.
Casey’s counseling style is both supportive and collaborative. She utilizes a client-centered, relational, and strengths-based approach which emphasizes self-compassion, emotional expression, and mindfulness. Casey strives to create a caring, connected, and inclusive environment where clients feel free to be their authentic selves.
Casey’s clinical interests include issues related to interpersonal communication, couples/marriage, parenting, perinatal mental health, work stress and burnout, gender and sexuality, neurodiversity, grief and loss, depression, and anxiety.
Nature, yoga, food, and time with family and friends are a few of Casey’s favorite things.
Jason Stark, LCSW |
Jason Stark graduated from Cornell in 1999 and earned a Master of Social Work (MSW) from Florida State University in 2002. He was excited that his role in FSAP allowed him to return to campus.
Jason has worked for 15 years in Tompkins County, addressing issues of sexual and domestic violence, anger management, substance use, and crisis intervention. Jason enjoys working with multidisciplinary teams and looks forward to cultivating relationships with faculty and staff to further the health of the Cornell community. A long-time “townie” (having spent the majority of his life living and working in Ithaca), Jason is a family man with two daughters who keep him busy outside of work.
Jasmine Jay, MFA |
Jasmine Jay is the Lead Clinical Administrative Assistant for the Faculty & Staff Assistance Program (FSAP). She provides administrative support to all the FSAP clinicians and strives to create a welcoming and inclusive environment for all of FSAP's clients.
Having originally studied poetry and writing, Jasmine taught Creative Writing and and horror film courses at Cornell for two years before joining the FSAP. She is passionate about working for the betterment of Black girls and Black women in Ithaca, and is committed to creating spaces for Black and Brown people to thrive and prosper.
When she isn't working alongside the FSAP team, Jasmine can be found brainstorming new writing projects, reading about astrology, and listening to Whitney Houston.