ABOUT

Starting Line Counseling

Get out of your head and back into your life

How many times have you thought...

"Why am I so behind everyone else in life?"

"I actually hope I get fired, I can't stand this place!"

"I want to make friends, but can't even imagine talking to people!"

"I take care of everyone, why doesn't anyone take care of me?"

"My feelings are out of control"

"Why can't I stop thinking this way?"

Just because we think it, doesn't mean it's true

Who I Am

My name's Pat and I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Providence, New Jersey, who specializes in working with teens, college students, and adults who are trying to move on to the next thing in their life, whether that be finding a partner, starting school, making friends, or building a career, but feel stuck and held back by their mental health

My area of expertise is working with teens, college students, and young adults who are trying to build their future, but are held back by their OCD, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, panic, uncertainty of the future, and self-esteem. I work with people who overthink everything, have major imposter syndrome, feel behind or lost in life, have a hard time setting boundaries, do too much for others and not enough for themselves, struggle in relationships, feel trapped in behavior patterns, and are their own worst critic.

I provide a collaborative treatment approach and use techniques from CBT, ACT, Motivational Interviewing and other evidenced-based treatments, all on a foundation of emphasizing your strengths, unconditional acceptance, and providing a warm and light feel to the treatment process. In our sessions, you are welcome and encouraged to speak your mind and tell me how you really feel! I'm trained in Exposure and Response Prevention, the gold standard of OCD treatment.

Why do I use these strategies? Simple, they're active and effective, where we actually do something about your challenges, not just talk about them.

I offer early morning therapy appointments for young professionals, afternoon appointments for teens, and everything in between for everyone else. I'm an in person therapist in New Providence, NJ and a virtual therapist for everywhere else in New Jersey and Delaware.

See below for more information on what I usually work with in my practice. This is by no means a list of the only things I treat and I encourage everyone to reach out to and talk with me about how I can help!

You've done this before, spent all day worrying about something that wasn't as bad as you thought it would be. It's not just worry here and there that you eventually forget about. It's relentless, keeps you up at night, and no matter what you do, you just can't get out of your head. With anxiety treatment you can learn to stand up to your worry, learn usable ways to calm yourself, and completely change your relationship with worry, instead of just getting temporary relief from pushing it away.

You feel like everyone notices every little thing you do all the time. It gets in the way of you even wanting to talk to others, no matter how much you want to make friends or start a relationship. You replay conversations in your head, make excuses to stop seeing friends, and dread speaking up in class. With therapy for social anxiety we can challenge the thoughts driving your anxiety and get you gradually putting yourself out there in a controlled and supported way, so you can show up confidently and authentically in every part of your life.

You started your dream job and you realize, it's kind of a nightmare. You're suddenly dealing with coworkers, office politics, trying to stay on top of deadlines, putting pressure on yourself, and realizing how little work really cares about you. Maybe you have a major case of imposter syndrome or your mental health is getting in the way of getting work done, and now you have to stay up all night to hit deadlines. Therapy offers you a place to step out of work mode and take a breather. We can learn ways to manage stress, clarify what you actually want to do with your life, learn that giving 100% isn't mandatory all the time, and learn skills to navigate office politics. You too can learn to log off instead of answering emails when you should be sleeping.

College isn't what you thought it would be. Maybe it was great at first, but then classes start, your realize just how fast it is to fall behind with work, you realize you don't actually know what you want to do with your degree, and the guy you hung out with for a month straight your first semester doesn't even acknowledge you on campus. Many students suffer in silence, pull all nighters to catch up, fall into surviving college instead of experiencing it. With therapy for college students, we can explore your stress more, help you develop the tools to stay on top of assignments, gain clarity on what direction you want to go, and develop the strategies for you to overcome change and actually enjoy your time while you're here.

Is your teen struggling with making friends, going to school consistently, or with worrying about the future? Prior to starting my practice I worked with teens and their families on problems just like these! I help my teenage clients learn ways to cope with stressors, improve their self-esteem, and handle transitions such as new schools, preparing to graduate, or changes outside of school such as divorce. At this time I work with teens 16 and older.

You've always tried to be the hardest worker, best friend, and top of the class. You look like you are successful and have it all together on the outside, but feel pressure and alone on the inside. Doing more doesn't work, just "being better" doesn't work. It's time to try something new. With therapy for self-esteem you can finally quiet down that voice telling you to do more and just "be better" so you can feel genuinely more confident and have more compassion and acceptance towards yourself.

How I Can Help

My passion is helping people not let their mental health get in the way of those parts in life where we're trying to build something. Whether you're finishing a degree, building deep and meaningful relationships, establishing a career, or are just trying to figure it all out. These years are important, can shape your future, and are overwhelming enough without anxiety, self-doubt, panic, or OCD getting in the way of things. I want to help you get through these times, in spite of your mental health, and get you to a place where you feel confident, stable, and excited for the life that you're building!

I understand anxiety, OCD, depression, and how to help people move past feeling stuck in worry, self-doubt, the need to be perfect, social anxiety, and rituals. My career has been built around treating anxiety and people in the "change" parts of life. I've worked with teens finishing school, middle schoolers moving on to high school, and young adults trying to turn their life around and move on from their past.

Through our work together you'll figure out where you want to go and how to get there, learn skills that are useful and actually helpful, and change the way you think about your anxiety. You can have the life you want, despite whatever mental health obstacles are in your way!

Contact Me Here