Find a Therapist in Elmwood Park, New Jersey.

When I work with clients in psychotherapy my focus is on careful listening to their emotional experience and responses. I am especially attuned to listening and learning about the quality of their closest connections. Oftentimes when an individual, couple or family is in pain it is nearly always an indication that their most important relationships are suffering in some way. My listening and responses are focused on the clients experiences with those that matter most to them and to help them find ways to express what they truly need and want from those that they are most emotionally dependent upon. I help them connect with that vulnerable place within them.

Together we will explore the roots of your unhappiness and sources of stress. We will formulate a plan to address these issues by making new choices, challenging unhealthy beliefs which may hold you back from living a more peaceful life. In changing your beliefs and behaviors, you will grow into a new sense of empowerment and regain a joy in living.

I have extensive expertise in psychotherapy, utilizing a client-centered approach to support individuals in their journey toward emotional well-being. With a foundation in various therapeutic modalities, I'm adept at addressing various mental health concerns. My practice is rooted in empathy, active listening, and collaboration, creating a safe space for clients to explore their thoughts and emotions. Together, we work towards identifying and implementing effective strategies to cope with challenges, develop healthy coping mechanisms, and foster personal growth and resilience.

Psychotherapy also known as talk therapy allows me to enter into a professional and trusting relationship in helping my clients work through, cope and solve their own problems. This relationship with help to facilitate effective communication and change. Once I have established a relationship with my clients and identified their need; I use a mix of clinical interventions such cognitive behavioral, strengths based, solution focused, gestalt, and person-centered.

Although I am licensed as a psychoanalyst in New York, over my 37 years of practice I have also trained in Gestalt therapy, bioenergetics, art therapy, psychodrama, group therapy, couples therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Thus I am eclectic and I apply whatever modality is needed in each case. Over the years I have developed a reputation as a psychotherapist who genuinely cares; and those clients who make a commitment to therapy make real progress.

I look at thoughts and feelings what is important to you to give you a clearer approach to your path in life and what may be getting in the way. You may have an idea of how you want to be helped, and I will formulate a specific idea of how I can best help you. The reason that I like doing this kind of therapy is it is deep work that can be life changing.

Prioritize your wellness with psychotherapy in conjunction with medication management. Psychotherapy can offer a place to look at your current and past experiences from new perspectives and receive support as you move into the next chapter of your life. Let’s look at your wellness beyond just the biology. I want you to feel in control of your own wellness. As your doctor, I am committed to equipping you with the information you need to make clear, informed choices about your health.

One of the most life altering actions when seeking to gain traction in the struggle to live a satisfying life is the choice to work with a therapist. It signaled a ground-breaking change in our approach to meeting the challenges we faced; demonstrating a shift that embraced the possibility of tapping into knowledge and support outside our own skull. Most of us have a better ability to see and understand the actions and motivation of others than our own. We all have personal blind spots. This is evident early in therapy, when one experiences striking progress as a result of new insights gained in therapy.

Psychotherapy is a safe place in which you learn to tell your truth. Psychotherapy has been called the "talking cure" because it has demonstrated, again and again, that telling your truth, your story, to someone who is empathetic and neutral reliefs symptoms such as depression and anxiety. However, psychotherapy is much more that just telling your truth; as a therapist, I am listening to what you are saying and what you are not saying, and I will make connections between "dots" in your life and share them with you. This process will help you look at your life, your relational patterns and your reactions from a different perspective allowing you make long lasting change.

For the past 12 years, I have been helping individuals, couples and families heal themselves, their relationships and childhood hurts. I facilitate this by being compassionate, creating a safe environment and caring about my clients. I help my clients build higher self-worth and strengthen their relationships. In a very short time, I can provide you with the tools to communicate effectively, manage difficult feelings and not take others' behavior personally.

My approach to psychotherapy starts with you--hearing the story the pain or difficulty you're carrying, the goals you have for your wellness, and the relationships you want to strengthen. I work with children, teens, adults, and couples and help with challenges like depression, anxiety, trauma, PTSD, sexual abuse and assault, grief, and anger management. In my work with teens and adults, I use a blend of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and strength-based approaches that start with a culturally sensitive lens. With couples, I draw on the Gottman Method to promote healthy communication and emotional connection. Play, art, and creative therapies help me connect with children.

Talk therapy can help you become your true self. I have worked extensively with adults and have a good understanding of childhood issues.I work with individuals and families from an interpersonal approach with a focus on emotions.I believe that all people have resources to solve problems.I am easy to talk to and I have great listening skills. I have worked many years with adolescents in public education. I have had great success with them because I understand what it is like being an adolescent today. I also have an extensive background in substance abuse.

My philosophy of therapy and change is that change comes from within. As a therapist, I ask a great deal in asking an individual to change, as change is an incredibly difficult task for everyone. The journey of change requires both the client and myself to work collaboratively throughout this journey. It is for this reason that the rapport between the client and myself is critical. I aim to provide all my clients with the space to explore their underlying feelings, thoughts, and behaviors so that they can engage in change.

Psychotherapy can be an effective approach when you’re feeling “stuck” with a particular life situation. It can help you better understand why you’re thinking, acting or feeling the way you do. It can be hard to make sense of our behaviors at times, and I approach psychotherapy with the goal of finding your puzzle pieces and putting them together so you can feel whole.

I leverage a solution-based approach to clearly outline your primary challenge, work through an exercise to meditate on and define your future state and then work over 8 sessions to achieve it via homework and 1:1 sessions. Clients have experienced great success with this approach, my goal is to empower you - YOU have the answers and I want to help you find them.

Psychotherapy, or talk therapy as it is known, is the most common approach to learning about the root causes of the presenting problem. We will use psychotherapy extensively together to learn about your life and what might seem in the way of moving forward in it. Make no mistake, the barriers to moving forward to the kind of life you want to live are removable!

My approach to psychotherapy is mainly insight oriented. I tend to provide a lot of insight to the client's life situations, while aslo actively listening to their situations. We work on proiritizing what is important for the client so that we can focus on the client's goals. Each client will work toward their goals in each session while establishing a theraputic relationship.

Psychotherapy is the use of psychological methods to help a person change behavior and overcome problems in a positive manner. Its aim is to help people understand the thoughts behind feeling anxious or depressed and addressing these thinking patterns. Psychotherapy will help you change behaviors and habits that are limiting you, to experiencing your fullest potential.

Psychotherapy provides a unique opportunity to explore your thoughts, feelings and behaviors in the context of a relationship that is safe, compassionate, and non-judgmental. In this space it is possible to gain insight into patterns that might be harmful and/or holding you back from realizing your relationship, career and family goals and potential. I am certified in cognitive processing therapy and EMDR, both evidence based practices for the treatment of traumatic experiences and/or PTSD. Additionally, I am trained in interpersonal psychotherapy, motivational interviewing, and frequently use elements of mindfulness based practices to treat depression and anxiety.

Psychotherapy is the path to self knowledge, to help you find cliarity in not only what you want, but why you feel a certain way that you do. Over the years we endure traumas and life events that impact how we feel about ourselves and how we interact with the world around us. Through psychotherapy we can explore what it is that you want and who it is that you are.

Like most human experiences, I believe that Psychotherapy is a process. It needs a significant investment of time an energy and can be navigated in three stages: 1. Exploration; 2. Identification; 3. Change. My role as a therapist is to create the space for people to explore and identify some areas within themselves that they want to change and take the risk.

As experienced, highly-credentialed clinical psychologists and couples counselors, Dr. Joel Stukalin and Dr. Sara Mandelbaum have the necessary background to conduct short-term or psychoanalystic psychotherapy with clients. This means that clients can decide to work on direct symptom-relief or more comprehensive therapy that may lead to a deeper understanding of inner-conflicts, self-aspirations and unconscious processes. In order to do our psychotherapy compassionately and effectively, Dr. Joel and Dr. Sara collaborate closely with clients to understand their initial motives and unfolding goals within the psychotherapy process. Clients often benefit from this higher standard of care.

Psychotherapy or counseling is an important and proven form of talk therapy that can help you navigate your feelings of anxiety, depression or difficulty adjusting to a new phase in life. I will use multiple theoretical and practical basis based upon you as an individual to help you achieve your goals. These including cognitive behavioral therapy, solution focused therapy, mindfulness and action commitment therapy. Together we will approach your concerns in a safe and compassionate but motivating way.

When clients graduate from treatment, they take with them a box full of "tools", such as effective anger management techniques, avoiding confrontations that lead to negative expressions of anger, resolving conflict peacefully and quietly, making the right decisions in every aspect of life, and perseverance to always build skills against life's problems and apply them consistently.

Many studies have found psychotherapy to be an effective and valuable method to treat a variety of conditions, including depression and anxiety. Psychotherapy can give you the insights and tools you need to help ease your distress. During therapy sessions you will learn to overcome the emotional and behavioral issues that keep you from having the life you want. We will work together towards improving your mental wellness in a safe and supportive space.