Find a Therapist in Palisades Park, New Jersey.

At its best, psychotherapy is a place to come back to our authentic selves. Life tends to be filled with responsibilities and busyness; we often forget how to get quiet and connect. My approach is rooted in the belief that you have all the inner wisdom you need to feel better and heal. I will help you gain the clarity and direction you need to find your way back to your authentic self. I am not an "uh-hm" therapist. My style is interactive and engaged. I seek to hear your story and provide a safe space in which you can tell it. We will explore patterns with curiosity and learn how to outgrow ones that once protected you. You will feel more emotional resilience and balance in your life!

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.

Madison Park Psychological Services is devoted to serving the NYC community through many psychotherapy and treatment specializations. Our goal is to provide a safe environment and professional guidance so you can achieve balance at the Body-Mind-Spirit level. We work with diverse populations across various cultures, religions, and ages to offer a tailored treatment for sustainable results.

Psychotherapy is at the core of everything I do. It's a space to slow down, look honestly at what's been driving your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, and start making sense of patterns you may not have even noticed before. I draw from a range of evidence-based modalities, including EMDR, Brainspotting, CBT, DBT, and somatic work, tailoring the approach to what you actually need rather than fitting you into a predetermined framework. Over time, clients develop deeper self-awareness, healthier coping skills, and a stronger sense of who they are and what they want. Real, lasting change is possible. Sometimes you just need the right space to do the work.

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.

I am successful. I have what I thought I wanted I should be happy but I feel like a failure and why don’t people understand what I am going through? Does that sound like you? Then you are in the right place. When you feel this way it time to look at your life, relationships and where you want to be. With a free consultation I can get you started.

I gear the therapy I provide to each individual client or couple based on what I believe will be most helpful. To me, psychotherapy begins when there is safety and a trusting therapeutic relationship. I meet the client where they are at and we work at a pace that feels comfortable for them. I have tremendous respect and admiration for my clients and appreciate their willingness to open up to me and let me into their lives.

My approach to psychotherapy is grounded in compassion, collaboration, and evidence-based care, with a specialized focus on addiction and co-occurring disorders. I work with clients to understand the underlying patterns driving substance use and behavioral addictions while building practical tools for lasting change. I integrate modalities such as cognitive-behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and relapse prevention to meet each client where they are. Clients benefit from a nonjudgmental, supportive environment where they can develop insight, strengthen coping skills, and move toward a more stable, meaningful, and self-directed life.

Talk is powerful. Through talk we can learn how to listen, how to better understand ourselves and those around us, and begin the process of change. As a therapist, my goal is to listen to you and your needs so that I can give you the tools to move forward in your life and towards the goals you want to accomplish. In my practice I have helped individuals and couples deal with anxiety, depression, infidelity, and many life changes and challenges, and I know that no problem is too great too overcome. When you're ready for a real conversation, let's talk.

As a clinical social worker, I focus on building a strong therapeutic alliance that relies on your strengths to help you bring change in your life. Together we will develop a caring and supportive environment to help you melt away your suffering and expand your capacity for work, love, and establish genuine connections. Through our encounters, you will learn new skills that will help you overcome adversities and inner suffering. My therapeutic approach combines cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and insight-oriented interventions to help identify the negative beliefs that have prevent you from achieving your goals and experience greater joy.

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 use an approach called positive psychology. Our primary goal in working together is guiding you toward a more happy, meaningful and fulfilling life. From work, to marriage, to social relationships, and raising children, you will learn effective emotion coaching kills that you will be able to apply across all areas of your life. Together we will increase positive emotions, engagement, meaning, and relationships in your life. We will conduct a character strengths test and begin working with your strengths across all areas of your life. I will show you how to use self concordant goals in order to achieve desired results in your job, marriage or with your children. Self concordant goals are goals that you choose that are aligned with your deep personal values and interests.

Life can be hard. Help is here for you. Challenges and problems are part of life. It's good to reach out for help. You are the expert in your life, in your goals, values and aspirations. I am here to provide tools, accountability, support, encouragement and help in revealing to you all your inner awesomeness. I have unwavering confidence in your capabilities and potential, even when you find it hard to see them. Together we create a place to step back and gain perspective, test ideas, create solutions and move towards a life that is fulfilling, meaningful and connected.