Find a Therapist in Ridgefield, New Jersey.

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.

If you find yourself struggling with the same old issues to no avail, I can help. Using a collaborative approach, I will work with you to identify the feelings, beliefs and behavioral patterns keeping you stuck. We will get curious about the narrative you have about yourself and question long-held ideas of what you should and shouldn't do and be. Through this process of exploration, discovery and growth, you will open up to new ways of understanding yourself, the world, and what is truly possible for you.

In my approach to psychotherapy, I create a safe and supportive environment where clients can explore their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in depth. I use a personalized, client-centered approach, drawing from various therapeutic modalities to address each individual’s unique needs. Through our work together, clients gain greater self-awareness, uncover patterns, and develop healthier coping mechanisms. My goal is to empower individuals to overcome obstacles, improve emotional well-being, and foster long-term personal growth and resilience.

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.

I care deeply about the people I work with and offer a personable and warm approach to psychotherapy. I integrate a variety of therapeutic techniques, including CBT and Insight Oriented Therapies, and I tailor my sessions to meet your unique needs. My clients learn coping skills to address daily stressors, and how to alter negative self-talk that exacerbates anxiety, depression, and feeling out of control of their life. I help my clients explore patterns of thoughts and behaviors, and to address the root of what is troubling them. I center our work on building a strong therapeutic relationship where clients feel at ease, and are fully seen, without fear of judgement or rejection.

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.

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.

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.

I am a strong believer that good therapy is always safe but not always comfortable. I will establish rapport to generate safety and gently challenge my clients to explore their narrative and behaviors to explore how they can shift their mindset or actions to achieve their goals. With a tendency to let my client sit in the driver seat, my clients set the pace and I help them navigate their road.

Psychotherapy is an umbrella term for the work I do with clients. With couples psychotherapy involves the Gottman method and with individuals it involves many different approaches that are best suited for the individual at hand. Through psychotherapy, I provide a safe space for clients to share what they've been going through as well as their goals and guide them in reaching those goals.

I welcome and foster your deep expression of joy, sadness, vulnerability, and wisdom. When you know that you are fully accepted as yourself, and when you can fully see yourself, then you can also accept and love your full self as you truly are, because ultimately we are all amazing beings. By the therapy pointing to moments and narratives that are full of authenticity and feeling, as well as clarifying narratives that hold you back, you can start to sense and feel areas of yourself that you had forgotten existed, or had forgotten the importance of. Through therapy you can, via open, insightful discussion and safe emotional connection, reclaim lost parts of yourself and thrive.

Psychotherapy has been proven to relieve symptoms of stress. Stress comes in many forms, feelings, expressions and feels different for each person. My goal in psychotherapy is to hold a safe space for you to explore what it is that brought you here, so that, together with you, I can help you improve your life, reduce your stress symptoms as well as discover and experience meaning in everyday life.