Teen Therapists in Highland Park, NJ

Have you ever felt your interactions with others do not represent your true self? Do you often feel misunderstood? Do you lack emotional energy or avoid uncomfortable situations? Are you often triggered but lack self-awareness to understand the source of your feelings? Perhaps you are a teen or young adult wondering how your feelings and emotional intelligence will affect your life.

I offer behavioral treatment of sleep disorders, especially insomnia, utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia, CBT-I. If you have difficulty getting to sleep, staying asleep, or you wake up earlier than you'd like, CBT-I is a scientifically proven intervention that you may want to consider. I also treatment nightmare disorders and sleep terrors. Treatment typically lasts 3-6 sessions over 2-3 months. I treat children of all ages and adults. My practice is an online, telehealth practice. I am part of PsyPact, treating patients on-line throughout the U.S. (see psypact.org for a list of participating states).

When I think of my work as a therapist, what lifts my spirit is the enormous potential of people for living a full life; a potential they are often unaware of. Everyone has strengths and weaknesses. Therapy helps to identify them and develop the tools to improve their lives. The goals: enhanced self-esteem, reduced tension, more expressiveness....a fuller life. Whether I work with the child, adolescent , adult, individual, couple or family, I find the work inspiring.

Psychotherapy is a process that allows for healing and meaningful connection. Past struggles and difficult thought patterns can cause strain on your sense of self and your relationships. My goal is to provide a warm and supportive space that allows you to share and explore what you need. As your therapist I would take great care in hearing your story and attending to our therapeutic relationship. I work with individuals, couples, and families across a spectrum of identities and backgrounds on their path toward wholeness.

I am a firm believer in encouraging positivity, bolstering self-efficacy, and cultivating independence in others. My typical client is a child, adolescent , or young adult (age 3 to 29) who may be struggling academically, socially, or with developing effective emotional coping skills. Often, the individuals I see have difficulty with attention, concentration, organization, and with meeting the daily demands required of them at school. I also offer much support to parents who may be frustrated with their attempts at connecting with their kids and who are in need of guidance relating to discipline techniques and behavior management.

I provide psychotherapy for couples, families, children, and adults from diverse backgrounds. I help to keep the peace at home, by enhancing intimacy, expressing emotions, improving communication skills, decreasing fighting, and bridging differences in personalities and habits, such as ways of managing finances, and finding time to enjoy each other. I help my clients to navigate normal life changes and stresses such as marriage and parenthood, divorce, step- and blended family changes, and recovering from infidelity. I help to address school and academic problems, "stinking thinking", child behavior problems, common (and uncommon) disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

An important, positive, life event occurs when you decide to seek therapy. It is not an easy decision. Should you decide to call me, you can anticipate that it will be a gentle, informative and positive experience. Clients describe me as being upbeat, easygoing and knowledgable. While I generally use Cognitive, Behavioral Treatment, I am trained in a variety of treatment modalities which can be tailored to your needs. What will always happen is hope as we work together to repair what I often describe as "broken dreams."

We all tell stories to and about ourselves. The stories we tell can empower us, and sometimes we find that our stories do not serve us. At its core, therapy is a safe space for you to tell your story. As a licensed clinical psychologist, I value the story each person has to tell. My compassionate and non-judgmental approach allows me to collaborate with you, to understand your experiences and where you may be feeling overwhelmed or stuck. I will support you in the process of gaining insight, in order to facilitate meaningful change. I strive to build a strong bond with my clients, to help you feel more at ease within yourself.

If painful experiences were met with confusing or anxious responses from others or described in manners that did not respond to emotional needs, then a child or individual would likely cope with difficulties by disconnecting from the threatening emotional meanings. We need another at times, or search for a healing process. If you have been struggling with strong feelings or a particular situation, it is time to get help. You can find the way through fears, loss or other struggles. I am here to support you through your struggles, through personal hardships, finding truths or make sense of confusion in your mind or life.

My practice specializes in helping people deal with life's increasingly complex challenges with special focus on the psychological demands of finding joy and happiness in one's life. Treatment includes dealing finding one's inner authentic self which gets lost in the face of life's problems. My focus includes helping people cope with emotional isolation and loneliness as well as developing and maintaining one's personal life to find happiness, fulfillment and intimacy in primary relationships. My practice also includes helping women find pleasure and satisfaction in dealing with the impossible balance of work, home and relationship life.

Welcome! I am the founder of Meraki Psychology Center (MPC). Whether you’re looking to start therapy for the first time or try something new, I am here to help you rewrite your story and work towards the life you want. At MPC, we strive to embody our name in the services we provide. Everything we do is with 'meraki' or passion. We hope to instill this passion in each of you. We provide individual, couples, parenting & family therapy for adolescents & adults. Each of your identities influence who you are & our treatments are adapted to fit your individualized needs.

I have been in practice for over 30 years, working with couples, individuals, children and families. I use many therapeutic tools depending on my clients' individual needs. These include: helping clients look at the negative things they tell themselves; discover how their problem(s) arose, which often ends a cycle of shame and self-blame; learn the interpersonal skills they lack and then devise homework assignments to practice new skills. I often use hypnosis to address issues on a deeper level than our conscious will. Finally I help my couples and families to understand and change destructive patterns of interaction.

If you're feeling hurt, hopeless, or lost, finding a place to feel safe is paramount. Whether you're struggling with a past trauma as an adult or child, having a hard time adjusting to today's new political and racially charged climate, facing difficulty in your relationships, or are challenged with anxiety and depression, I'm here to help you feel grounded, confident, and empowered to become your best self.

C.G. Jung stated, "In many cases in therapy the patient who has come to us has a story that is not told, and which as a rule no one knows of. To my mind, therapy only really begins after the investigation of that wholly personal story. It is the patient's secret, the rock against which s/he is shattered." My practice involves creating a client/therapist relationship and environment where this wholly personal story can be explored and brought to consciousness. I work to create a safe, accepting, nonjudgmental, and collaborative space that will bring wholeness and meaning to the suffering that every human experiences.

Bringing a careful, curious & compassionate attention to ourselves and our present situation is often the first step in any journey of healing or self-discovery. In our work together, I will encourage you to join me in a non-judging, non-blaming attitude of curiosity towards yourself, your past and current experiences and relationships, and whatever comes forward during our meetings together. For me, this curiosity includes elements of deep respect for what is known and not known about what shapes our sense of who we are and what drives our moods and behaviors.

I work with people who want more satisfaction in their lives,as it relates to transitions in the areas of relationships, career, education and family life cycle. People who are open to learning and healing themselves in the pursuit of growth and balance. I collaborate with individuals and their families to help them with mental, emotional and behavioral challenges such as anxiety, depression, relational conflicts and more. As an experienced psychotherapist, I will work with you to develop tools and skills to face expected and unexpected challenges, overcome limiting patterns of belief and facilitate your personal empowerment.