Individual Therapy in New Jersey
Colleen Makowsky offers individual therapy for adults across New Jersey — practical, evidence-based, by secure video.
Individual therapy at Colleen Makowsky LPC is one-on-one therapy by secure video across New Jersey. Anxiety, depression, life transitions, self-esteem, trauma-recovery, chronic stress, identity work, relationship-of-origin patterns — whatever brings you here, the work is practical and the sessions are structured to help you reach your goals.
When individual therapy can help
Most people who reach out for individual therapy are not in a severe crisis. They’re carrying something that’s been building — a pattern that keeps showing up, a chapter that’s more difficult than expected, or a low mood that hasn’t lifted. Individual therapy is practical, one-on-one work — to improve your mental health.
Anxiety and chronic worry
Generalized worry, catastrophizing loops, physical anxiety (poor sleep, appetite change, muscle tension), social anxiety, occasional panic. The thoughts become loud in quiet moments, and the body keeps a tally even when the day seems fine on the outside. For information see anxiety therapy in New Jersey.
Low mood and life transitions
Persistent low motivation, grief, post-move, post-loss, or post-relationship adjustment. The phrase clients use often is “I don’t enjoy my life right now.” For more information see depression therapy in New Jersey.
Self-esteem and identity
Quiet self-criticism that runs constantly in the background. Imposter feelings at work or in roles that appear successful from the outside. Identity questions across career, relationship structure, or family role. Have you thought, “I’ve been performing a version of myself that doesn’t resonate anymore.” For more information see self-esteem and life transitions.
Trauma-recovery
Past experience that still surfaces in the body, disrupts sleep, or affects relationships. Attachment wounds. Childhood patterns showing up in adult relationships, work, or parenting. This work is trauma-informed (CCTP credential) and moves at your pace. For more information see trauma therapy in New Jersey.
Chronic stress that has become unmanageable
Job burnout that interfered with a vacation. Caregiving overload that has no clear endpoint. Sustained-pressure exhaustion that sleep doesn’t relieve. Ongoing stress and chaos in everyday life. We work on regulating emotions, increasing self care, identifying what you can change, and learning to accept/tolerate areas you cannot change to reduce the intensity of feelings.
Career and identity transitions
Pivot work — career shift, returning-to-school, post-promotion overwhelm, identity that is attached to the role you’re leaving. The challenge is figuring out who you are and who you want to be. A values conversation.
Relationship-of-origin patterns
Family exploration — how past patterns show up in current relationships, work, parenting, and friendship. This is individual work on how your family-of-origin affects you in the present. You’re the only one in the room. The patterns you identify here most likely travel with you into many other rooms.
Evidence-based individual therapy in New Jersey
Individual therapy using evidence-based approaches to match your therapy needs. See below for more information on evidence-based modalities.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT works on the link between thought, feeling, and behavior. We notice the automatic thoughts driving a reaction, test them against evidence, and build new responses. Strong evidence base for anxiety, depression, and rumination loops . Practical, structured, action-oriented.
Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT)
SFBT is action-first and future-oriented. Rather than excavating every old wound, we look at what’s working (even a little), what’s already shifted, and what one concrete step looks like next. Many adults respond to this faster than open-ended exploration — there’s traction inside three or four sessions.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT helps name values you want to live by — not values someone else handed you — and then drop the patterns pulling you away from them. Useful when the thing you’re working on isn’t “wrong thinking” so much as “I’m living in a way that doesn’t fit who I want to be.”
In addition to the three modalities above, Colleen also uses Motivational Interviewing , EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques — body-based emotion work), and trauma-informed care.
Sessions
Most adults imagining therapy default to the cultural image — a quiet couch, a clinician taking notes, fifty silent minutes. Good counseling sessions are a structured conversation between two adults, beginning with a check-in, back and forth exploration of content/feelings, and ending with a takeaway-identifying what was learned, and something to practice.
The first session
The first session is is an introduction, gathering of important information, and identifying areas to work on. You tell me what brings you to therapy. I ask a few questions about your history and your unique situation – what exacerbates/reduces symptoms. By the end of the hour we have a working hypothesis and a rough plan. I’ll give you some coping strategies to try during the week to help alleviate symptoms.
The first session is the start of an ongoing conversation that gets sharper every week.
What ongoing sessions look like
Ongoing sessions run 38 to 53 minutes. We pick up where we left off, check in on whatever you tried since the last session, and continue to process feelings, identify areas for growth, problem solve, and keep focused on the treatment goal(s).
Good therapy is practical. You should leave each session with something you can use — not just insight that stays in the room.
When the goals change
Therapy often takes turns. The presenting problem that brought you to therapy sometimes shifts – different problems surface, a sudden life situation changes the focus, a relationship issue you thought you resolved re-emerges. We follow what’s most pressing, not what was on the original list. The plan adjusts to meet your needs.
The work is matched to what you bring in, we build it together.
How we start — your first three steps
Reach out
Open the secure intake form or call (917) 519-8447. It takes about a minute, and we’ll set up your free 15-minute consultation from there.
15-minute consultation (free)
Fifteen minutes by video or phone. You tell me what brings you to therapy. I tell you how I can help. We decide if we are a good fit, or I’ll provide a referral.
First session, then ongoing work
Sessions run 38 to 53 minutes, by secure video, weekly. Most adult therapy sessions span three to twelve months — it varies. You should notice change after a few sessions. I work at your pace.
WHICH FORMAT FITS
Individual therapy – couples therapy – group support
Which format fits best? Here’s a rough guide.
About adult patterns
Most patterns adults work on in therapy have been showing up for a long time – formed in family-of-origin, in early childhood, in relationships, in cultural scripts. The patterns are not who you are. They’re scripts you learned, and scripts can be rewritten.
Family-of-origin scripts
How emotion was expressed in the family you grew up in becomes your default template — whether emotion was allowed or bottled up, whether family members were close or distant, whether empathy was present or absent. Adults often notice the template when it interferes with the life they’re building.
Attachment patterns
Early-attachment experiences shape us — anxious patterns, avoidant patterns, secure patterns. None of these are static. Adults can change patterns with focused work, and improve their relationships and life.
Earlier-relationship templates
What we learn in earlier romantic, friend, or work relationships can become a template for the present. Each experience updates the model. Clients learn to notice what the current template predicts and decide if change is needed.
Cultural and contextual scripts
Scripts around gender, ethnicity, queer identity, religious upbringing, class, immigration — all of this is important to explore in therapy. Clients rewrite a narrative that resonates.
When is the right time to start individual therapy
Most adults wait too long. You do not have to be in a crisis to ask for help. See below for signs indicating you might benefit from therapy.
If you are experiencing any of these signs, reach out for a consultation to see if Colleen can help.
Colleen Makowsky offers individual therapy across New Jersey
Colleen Makowsky
MA · LPC · NCC · CCTP · CAIMHP
Licensed counselor in Fort Lee, NJ. Adults and couples across all of New Jersey by secure video.
MA in Community Counseling, Montclair State University.
Trauma-informed (CCTP) · CBT · ACT · SFBT · MI · EFT tapping.
OUR LOCATION
Online counseling across New Jersey
I’m a service-area provider — I work with adults and couples statewide by secure video. My base is Fort Lee, NJ (Bergen County), but you can see me from anywhere in New Jersey.
Hours
By appointment
Weekdays and weekends
Morning, afternoon, evening
Phone
(917) 519-8447
EXPLORE OTHER SERVICES
Types of therapy
Couples Therapy · Anxiety Therapy · Depression Therapy · Trauma Therapy · Self-Esteem & Life Transitions
Not married — dating, partnered, or pre-engaged? See couples therapy in New Jersey.
Individual therapy FAQ
How long are sessions?
38 to 53 minutes, occasionally 60 minutes if needed.
How long does individual therapy take?
Three to twelve months for most adults — varies by individual. Single-issue work is often short term. Trauma-recovery work often takes longer.
Do you take insurance?
Yes. Aetna, Cigna/Evernorth, Optum/UnitedHealthcare/Oxford, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Oscar, Medicare, and most EAPs. Medicaid is not accepted. Out-of-network superbill available on request. For details, see insurance and cost.
Do you offer EMDR or DBT?
No. I’m not trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) or DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy). If a clinician has recommended either, I can refer you to a colleague who specializes in that work. What I offer for trauma-recovery work is CBT, trauma-informed care (CCTP credential), SFBT, and EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques-body based emotion work). For trauma work, see trauma therapy in New Jersey.
What modality is best for me?
Most clients don’t need to pick a modality before the first session — that’s part of what we sort out together. CBT works well for anxiety, depression, and rumination loops. ACT works well for identity, values, and life-transition work. SFBT works well when you want traction fast. We match the approach to the work, not the other way around.
Do you diagnose?
Only when one is needed for insurance billing, and only after we’ve worked together long enough that the diagnosis is grounded in what I’ve observed. I’m not a diagnostic-testing practice — for psychological testing or formal evaluation, I refer to a colleague who does that work.
Can therapy work by video?
Yes — for most adults, for most work. Some kinds of work (severe substance use needing observation, active eating disorders needing medical monitoring) need a different level of care; I refer for those. For the vast majority of individual therapy, secure-video sessions work as well as in person, and the flexibility (you can be in a parked car as long as you are in New Jersey and have privacy) makes the work easier to sustain.
What if I don’t know what to talk about?
That’s normal in the first few sessions. Part of my job is to gather important history and ask questions; you do not have to lead. By session three or four, most clients have a clearer sense of what’s most pressing. We follow that.
RELATED SPECIALTIES
Anxiety Therapy in NJ · Depression Therapy in NJ · Trauma Therapy in NJ
READY TO START?
Schedule your free 15-minute consultation
Reach out for a 15-minute consultation to see if Colleen can help.