Stephanie Sammarco , LPC, LPMHC

Stephanie Sammarco is a licensed professional counselor with 15 years of experience. She practices in New Jersey and works with adults on common concerns such as stress, anxiety, depression, grief, and relationship challenges. She brings a calm, direct style to sessions and focuses on building a trusting working relationship first. Stephanie helps people address practical problems and emotional patterns that get in the way of daily life. She draws on approaches like client-centered work, cognitive behavioral techniques, and mindfulness to help clients manage symptoms and respond differently to difficult situations. She also uses motivational interviewing and psychodynamic ideas when those fit the issue. Her background includes supporting people coping with trauma and abuse, compassion fatigue, caregiver stress, chronic illness and pain, and identity concerns related to LGBT issues. She also helps with parenting strain, blended family adjustments, communication problems, and life transitions. Stephanie pays attention to how family of origin experiences and attachment patterns shape current relationships. Sessions aim to be straightforward and focused. A typical visit might include setting goals, learning skills for stress or mood management, and reflecting on unhelpful patterns that keep recurring. She adjusts methods to the client’s needs rather than following one fixed plan. People who prefer clear steps, practical skill building, and a collaborative tone often report feeling more in control after a few sessions. Stephanie welcomes questions and will outline a simple plan at the first meeting to help clients know what to expect.

How therapeutic approaches translate to online care

Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and responding to each person’s concerns. It emphasizes empathy and understanding so clients feel heard and can set their own goals. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact and teaches practical skills to change patterns that worsen anxiety or depression.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with the client to decide which methods fit their goals and preferences. That might mean using CBT skills for immediate symptom relief, combining mindfulness practice to build calm, or drawing on psychodynamic ideas to look at repeated relationship patterns over time.

Online sessions offer flexibility and practical benefits. Video calls let people keep visual connection while meeting from different locations. Phone sessions can be helpful when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging work well for quick updates, ongoing support between sessions, or for people who prefer written communication. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life while trying different approaches to see what helps most.