Trauma Therapy in New Jersey
Colleen Makowsky, LPC offers trauma-informed therapy for adults across New Jersey — childhood, interpersonal, medical, and acute trauma, with honest scope on what she’s trained for.
Trauma changes how the body and the mind hold pressure. The work is grounded — naming what happened, slowing the activation, building tools for the days when it still gets loud. Colleen holds the CCTP credential (Certified Clinical Trauma Professional). Online, NJ statewide. Adults only.
Colleen Makowsky offers trauma therapy in New Jersey for how trauma actually shows up
Most couples who reach out aren’t in a single big crisis. They’re in a slow accumulation — small disagreements that didn’t resolve, communication patterns that became defaults, distance that crept in without anyone naming it. Marriage counseling is for naming that out loud, in a room where both people get heard.
Complex trauma — accumulation, not just one event
Repeated relational injury over time — childhood neglect, abusive partnerships, chronic invalidation. Doesn’t fit the “single-incident” PTSD picture. Often shows up as relationship patterns, self-worth disruption, body activation without an obvious trigger. The CCTP credential is built precisely for this presentation — the work that generalist therapists often refer out.
Acute trauma — one event, recent or old
A defined incident: accident, assault, medical crisis, sudden loss. The body still holds it. May meet PTSD criteria; may not. CCTP-informed pacing + CBT cognitive processing + window-of-tolerance work. We don’t push through the activation faster than your system can integrate — that creates more trauma, not healing.
PTSD-adjacent — symptoms that read like PTSD but haven’t been diagnosed
Flashbacks, avoidance, hyperarousal, intrusive thoughts. Whether or not the formal diagnosis applies, the symptoms respond to trauma-informed work. Colleen doesn’t diagnose for billing — she works with what’s actually showing up. The label matters less than the pattern.
Interpersonal trauma — when other people are the source
Childhood abuse, partner violence, ongoing relational injury, betrayal, abandonment. The work involves both naming the pattern and rebuilding safety in current relationships. Often interweaves with attachment-pattern work — the way the original injury shaped how you read closeness now.
Medical trauma — what your body went through
Surgery, ICU stay, chronic illness, fertility loss, birth trauma, dental trauma. The body remembers what the medical chart didn’t capture. EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques — not Emotion-Focused Therapy) can fit here when activation lives in the body and talk alone hasn’t moved it.
Grief-related trauma — when loss tipped into something more
Sudden loss, traumatic death, anticipatory grief that became its own injury. Sometimes the grief and the trauma are entangled. The work addresses both — CCTP frame for the trauma side, grief-counseling tools for the loss side. The grief and loss page goes deeper on the bereavement-only side.
Three trauma-informed approaches Colleen uses
Trauma work depends on the trauma’s shape and where it lives in your system. The three approaches below are the evidence-based tools Colleen draws on — within a trauma-informed frame backed by the CCTP credential. The frame is what holds; the methods are how we move.
Trauma-informed care (CCTP-credentialed)
The frame everything else sits inside. Colleen holds the CCTP — Certified Clinical Trauma Professional credential — which means trauma-informed pacing, window-of-tolerance attention, choice and control on every session, and recognition that the body holds what the words can’t always name. Not a modality on its own — it’s how every session is conducted when trauma is in the room.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
CBT adapted for trauma work — including cognitive processing of trauma-related beliefs (“it was my fault,” “the world isn’t safe,” “I’m broken”), graded re-engagement with avoided situations within window of tolerance, and practical tools for when intrusive thoughts spike. Strong evidence base for PTSD and trauma sequelae. Always paced — never pushed.
EFT tapping + Solution-Focused Brief Therapy
EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques — body-based bilateral tapping protocol, NOT Emotion-Focused Therapy) can fit when activation lives in the body and talk alone hasn’t moved it. SFBT maps the next concrete step when the bigger trauma work feels like too much in any given week. Both kept inside the trauma-informed frame.
Trauma work is paced to what your system can actually process — not to a fixed timeline. If you’ve been told EMDR or DBT would fit your presentation, see the FAQ at the bottom of this page for an honest note + refer-out.
Colleen’s trauma work is grounded in credentialed training
Trauma work needs a foundation. The three claims below describe Colleen’s — the credential, the pacing principle, and the honest scope of what she does and doesn’t offer.
The CCTP is a real credential, not a workshop weekend
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional certification requires substantial post-licensure training in trauma neurobiology, assessment, and treatment — substantially deeper than what’s covered in standard counseling graduate programs. Colleen completed it; it’s why she takes trauma cases that other generalist therapists refer out. The credential shapes how every trauma session is paced.
Trauma training isn’t optional for trauma work. It’s the whole foundation.
Trauma work is paced, not pushed
Window-of-tolerance pacing means sessions stay inside the activation range you can actually process. Pushing past that creates more trauma, not healing. Colleen titrates — slower than feels “productive” sometimes, because that’s what actually integrates. The work isn’t about how much you cover; it’s about what your system can hold.
If trauma work feels overwhelming session-to-session, that’s a signal to slow down — not to push harder.
Honest scope on what Colleen does and doesn’t do
Colleen is not trained in EMDR or DBT. If either has been recommended to you, the FAQ at the bottom of this page has the honest note + refer-out to a colleague who specializes in that work. What Colleen offers is grounded in CBT, trauma-informed care (CCTP), EFT tapping, and SFBT — with the credential to back the trauma-informed frame.
Good therapy is practical. You should leave each session with something you can use — not just insight that stays in the room.
How we start — your first three steps
Reach out
Send a quick note through the contact form or call (551) 305-3742. Two fields: name and best way to reach you. Don’t include trauma details up front — we’ll talk through what’s going on at whatever level feels possible on the call.
15-minute call (free)
We get on the phone for fifteen minutes. You tell me what’s bringing you in. For trauma cases especially, this call is also where we check whether what I offer is the right fit — or whether EMDR/DBT/IFS would be a better starting point with a different colleague.
First session, then ongoing work
Sessions run 38 to 53 minutes, by secure video, weekly to start. Trauma work typically runs six to twelve months — sometimes longer, paced by your system. You set the rhythm; I hold the frame.
WHAT A SESSION LOOKS LIKE
What a trauma therapy session actually looks like
Paced sessions, by secure video. Here’s what a trauma session actually covers — and what you leave with.
Colleen’s view of where trauma often comes from
Trauma roots take many shapes. Some are loud and named; others are quiet and ambient. Naming the root doesn’t undo it — but it changes how you work with what the body is still holding.
Childhood adversity — what your nervous system learned was normal
Chronic invalidation, neglect, abuse, parentification, growing up around addiction or untreated mental illness. The patterns become baseline; therapy makes them visible. Adults processing childhood trauma is one of the core presentations Colleen works with — the work happens with the adult, not the child.
A single defining event you’ve worked around
An accident, assault, loss, or medical crisis you’ve been managing for years. Sometimes the work is finally giving that event the processing time it didn’t get when it happened. The body has been holding it; therapy is where it gets to put it down.
Relational patterns from key adult relationships
Partnerships marked by control, betrayal, violence, or abandonment. Often interweaves with childhood roots — the original injury shaped how you read closeness, which shaped who you chose, which shaped the new injury. The work names the layered pattern and rebuilds safety in current relationships.
Medical or birth trauma the chart didn’t capture
What happened in the ICU, on the OR table, in the birth room, in the recovery period. The body remembers what the medical record summarized in two lines. Medical trauma is real trauma — even when the procedure was “routine” or “successful.”
Cumulative chronic stress — trauma’s quieter cousin
Long stretches of unrelenting pressure: caregiving, illness, financial precarity, immigration stress, marginalization stress. The nervous system never got to step down. Sometimes this doesn’t look like trauma — but the body is holding it like it is. Trauma-informed pacing applies here too.
It might be time to reach out if…
Most people wait too long — partly because the timing never feels right, partly because trauma work can feel intimidating before it’s started. The signs you’re ready to consider it usually look like this.
If three or more of these are landing, that’s usually a signal it’s worth a 15-minute call. We use the call to check fit — including whether what I offer matches your trauma’s shape.
Colleen Makowsky offers trauma 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.
CCTP-credentialed (Certified Clinical Trauma Professional) · CBT · trauma-informed care · EFT tapping · SFBT.
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
Mon–Fri by appointment
Sat & Sun: Closed
Phone
(551) 305-3742
EXPLORE OTHER SERVICES
Other ways Colleen works
Anxiety Therapy · Depression Therapy · Grief & Loss Counseling · Anger & Emotion Regulation · Individual Therapy
Trauma therapy FAQ
What does insurance cover?
Colleen accepts Aetna, Cigna/Evernorth, Optum/UnitedHealthcare/Oxford, Horizon BCBS NJ, Oscar, Medicare, and most EAPs. Out-of-network superbill available on request. Medicaid is not accepted. See the insurance and cost page for carrier-by-carrier specifics.
How long are sessions?
Sessions run 38 to 53 minutes. Trauma sessions in particular are paced — sometimes shorter when the system needs more downtime, sometimes longer when there’s processing to finish. Weekly to start, with cadence reviewed as the work progresses.
How long does trauma therapy take?
Six to twelve months is the typical frame for trauma work — sometimes longer for complex or accumulated trauma. Colleen paces the work to what your system can process, not to a fixed timeline. She doesn’t quote session counts; she hedges honestly.
Do you do EMDR or DBT?
I’m not trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) or DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy). If a clinician has recommended either, or if you’ve read that one would help with what you’re working on, I can refer you to a colleague who specializes in that work. What I offer for trauma is grounded in evidence: CBT, trauma-informed care (CCTP credential), Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and EFT tapping (Emotional Freedom Techniques — not Emotion-Focused Therapy).
What does the CCTP credential actually mean?
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. Post-licensure training in trauma neurobiology, assessment, and treatment — substantially deeper than what’s covered in standard counseling graduate programs. It signals competency to take trauma cases that generalist therapists refer out, and it shapes how every trauma session is paced and conducted.
Can you work with childhood trauma in adults?
Yes — childhood trauma in adults is one of the core presentations Colleen works with. Complex trauma, attachment injury, family-of-origin patterns, and the lasting impact of childhood adversity. Note: Colleen does not treat children or teens — adults only. The childhood-trauma work happens with the adult who’s processing it now.
What if I don’t want to talk about the trauma in detail?
You don’t have to. Trauma-informed work doesn’t require you to narrate the trauma in full to make progress. Colleen works on the patterns, the activation, and the present-day impact — without forcing detailed retelling. Some clients eventually want to talk through specifics; others never do. Both work.
What if I’ve tried trauma therapy before and it didn’t work?
Worth talking through on the free 15-minute call. Sometimes the pacing was off (too fast), sometimes the modality didn’t match (EMDR when CBT would have helped, or the reverse), sometimes the fit was wrong. Colleen asks what you’ve tried so she’s not running the same play twice.
RELATED SPECIALTIES
Anxiety Therapy in NJ · Depression Therapy in NJ · Grief & Loss Counseling in NJ
READY TO START?
Schedule your free 15-minute consultation
Trauma work doesn’t have to start with a long story. It starts with a 15-minute conversation about whether we’re a fit — for you, for your nervous system, for now.