Dr. Pechenik started her career working with troubled adolescents in the late '80s which led her to pursue a Masters degree in Family Therapy to address issues from a systemic perspective and her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology to develop expertise in diagnostic, testing and assessment skills. Throughout her graduate training she embarked in challenging work in forensic, psychiatric and cognitive rehabilitation settings with individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness, addiction and brain injuries.

In the late 1990s, as Associate Director for the Center of Multicultural Human Servicesin Washington DC, she worked with immigrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, co- developing one of the nation's first Programs for Survivors of Politically Motivated Torture and Severe Trauma.

In the early to mid 2000's, as Associate Director of the Counseling and PsychologicalServices at Cornell University, she developed and implemented non-traditional mental health services for students who under-utilized traditional campus mental health services which has now been adopted in colleges and universities nationwide.

Since 2008 Dr. Pechenik has served in different capacities at the New York State Office Mental of Health providing clinical leadership in Suicide Prevention and Forensic Services, being Principal Investigator in federal grants, and currently as Principal Psychologist at the Buffalo Psychiatric Center, where she is the Director of the APA approved Psychology Internship Program and oversees the facility's centralized psychological testing services.