+ Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

• I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help you build a better relationship with difficult thoughts and feelings instead of fighting to get rid of them first. So much energy goes into pushing away the thoughts we don't want, and that struggle often keeps us stuck in place. Together we'll work on making room for those thoughts, getting clear on the values that matter most to you, and taking small, concrete steps toward the life you actually want. ACT pairs well with mindfulness practice, and it gives you something to move toward rather than just something to manage.

+ Anxiety Therapy

• Anxiety has a way of taking up more and more space until it's shaping your decisions for you. I work with clients experiencing generalized worry, social anxiety, panic, perfectionism, and the physical symptoms that come along with all of it. Our work starts with understanding what your anxiety is responding to and where it shows up, then builds practical skills so you feel more in control day to day. I draw on CBT, mindfulness, and ACT depending on what fits you best, and we'll adjust as we go.

+ Attachment Issues

• The way we learned to connect early in life tends to follow us into every relationship after. If you find yourself pulling away when someone gets close, over-functioning to keep the peace, or bracing for rejection that hasn't happened yet, those are patterns worth understanding. I help clients see how childhood and past experiences shape their present-day relationships, communication, and emotional reactions. Using psychodynamic and relational approaches, we work toward a stronger sense of emotional security and healthier ways of connecting with the people who matter to you.

+ Couples Counseling

• Couples work is the center of my practice. Most couples who come to see me aren't in crisis. They're worn down from having the same argument in different clothing and they want a place where the conversation actually finishes. I earned a Specialization in Couples and Relationship Counseling from Monmouth University and completed Level 1 and Level 2 training in the Gottman Method.

• Where you are in the relationship matters less than you'd expect. Couples who just got engaged often use sessions to say out loud what they've each quietly assumed about money, family, and the next ten years. Couples twenty years in often come to find their way back to each other after a long stretch of running logistics side by side. I work with couples of all orientations and relationship structures, and I build the work around what the two of you actually need.

Common areas of concern addressed in couples counseling include issues with:

• Money

• Parenting

• Sex

• Infidelity

• In-laws

• Chronic health issues

• Infertility

• Substance use

• Emotional distance

• Frequent conflict

+ Gottman Method

• I have completed Level 1 and Level 2 training in the Gottman Method, a research-backed framework for understanding what's really happening underneath a couple's recurring conflicts. Most couples aren't fighting about the dishes. They're fighting about feeling unheard, unappreciated, or alone in the relationship, and the same argument keeps resurfacing in different clothing.

• I use Gottman-based strategies to strengthen communication, help you work through your differences instead of around them, rebuild friendship and intimacy, and create a partnership that can hold up under stress. You'll leave with tools you can actually use at home, not just insight you talk about in session.

+ LGBTQIA+ Population

• I welcome LGBTQIA+ clients and couples, and I work with people in polyamorous and open relationships. Some of what comes up in session is specific to identity: coming out, parenting a kid who just came out, questioning your gender or your sexuality, or dealing with discrimination at work or in your family. Plenty of it is the same as everyone else's, like a partner who shuts down the second you raise something, or not being able to tell whether you're the one being unreasonable.

• Your identity doesn't have to be the reason you're here. Sometimes you just want a therapist you won't have to explain your whole life to before you can get to the point. I am an ally, prefer She/Her pronouns, and prefer to be called Victoria.

+ Life Transitions

• Change is hard even when you're the one who chose it. A new job, a move, a wedding, a baby, or a parent who suddenly needs care from you can all leave you off balance in a way that's tough to explain to people who see the change as good news. I help clients get specific about what's actually difficult, which is usually not the part they expected going in. From there we look at the transitions you've already come through and what got you to the other side, then put those same strengths back to work. You don't need a crisis to deserve support during a big shift.

+ Premarital Counseling

• Premarital counseling isn't about fixing something that's broken. It's about getting on the same page before you're in the middle of a hard conversation for the first time. Together we'll talk through expectations, values, money, family, and what you each picture your life looking like in five and ten years. I use the Gottman Method to help couples build a shared language for conflict now, so that when the real stressors arrive, you already know how to talk to each other about them.

+ Psychodynamic Therapy

• I use a psychodynamic approach to help you understand how past experiences, relationships, and long-standing patterns shape your thoughts, emotions, behaviors, and relationships today. We often repeat what we learned early on without realizing we're doing it, and those patterns can be hard to spot from the inside.

• In our work together, we'll explore those patterns with curiosity rather than judgment. Building that insight is what creates room for real, lasting change instead of the kind that only holds up until the next stressful week.

+ Relationship Counseling

• I help clients work through relationship challenges including communication difficulties, ongoing conflict, boundaries, trust, and disconnection. This isn't only for couples. Plenty of people come in on their own to understand why the same dynamic keeps repeating across friendships, family, or dating.

• Using psychodynamic and relational approaches, I help you better understand the patterns affecting your relationships and refine how you communicate so you can voice your needs more clearly and hear the other person more fully.

+ Teens

• A lot of what teens are carrying never makes it out loud. Academic pressure, friendships that shift overnight, social media, figuring out who they are, and family expectations all land at once, and "I'm fine" is usually the shortest way out of the conversation. In session, I give teens a place where they can say the actual thing without managing how it lands on anyone else. From there we build coping skills they'll genuinely use, so your teen feels steadier and more like themselves.

+ Telehealth

• Prefer to meet virtually? I offer telehealth sessions by video or phone for anyone living in New Jersey. Couples tend to appreciate this one especially, since lining up two schedules and one commute every single week is often what quietly ends therapy before the work is finished. It also helps when a kid is home sick, when you're traveling, or when you'd rather not add a train ride to the end of your day. I treat virtual sessions exactly the same as in-person ones and find them just as effective.