A woman with long red hair, blue eyes, and a nose piercing smiling, dressed in a black button-up shirt and blue jeans, standing against a neutral background.

Hi, I’m Colleen.

I’m a therapist specializing in OCD, anxiety, perfectionism, self-doubt, and couples therapy.

But more than anything, I work with people who are tired of feeling like they can’t trust themselves.

You may spend a lot of time wondering whether you’re making the right decision, whether you’re doing enough, whether someone is upset with you, or whether there’s something you should be worried about that you haven’t figured out yet.

You may look incredibly capable from the outside.

You have a career. Responsibilities. Relationships. People who rely on you.

And yet internally, you’re exhausted from thinking about everything so much.

Or maybe the problem isn’t only happening inside of you anymore.

You and your partner may have built a life together that you worked hard for, but somewhere between careers, children, household responsibilities, money, family, and everything else that needs your attention, you’ve stopped feeling like the team you used to be.

These are the kinds of problems I love helping people untangle.

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Why “Choosing Yourself”?

I named my practice Choosing Yourself Counseling because of something I kept noticing in my work.

So many people already have some sense of what they need, want, or value.

The hard part is trusting themselves enough to act on it.

And before long, your life can become organized around avoiding mistakes, preventing other people’s discomfort, meeting expectations, or trying to achieve enough certainty that you finally feel safe making a decision.

That is where the idea of choosing yourself comes in.

Choosing yourself isn’t about always putting yourself first.

It isn’t about ignoring other people’s needs or doing whatever you want without considering the consequences.

It’s about being able to hear your own voice among all the other ones.

It’s knowing what matters to you and developing enough trust in yourself to make choices from that place.

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You Don’t Need to Know Exactly What You Need Yet

You might know you’re anxious but not understand why you can’t stop overthinking.

You might wonder whether what you’ve always called anxiety is actually OCD.

You might know perfectionism is exhausting you but worry that giving it up will make you less successful.

Or you and your partner may simply know that the way you’ve been relating to each other isn’t working anymore.

You don’t need to diagnose yourself before reaching out.

We can start by understanding what is happening.

Then we’ll figure out what needs to change.

Ready to See If We’re a Good Fit?

The first step is a free 15-minute consultation.

We’ll talk briefly about what is bringing you to therapy, what you’re looking for, and whether my experience and approach fit what you need.

Schedule a consultation

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  • I’m Interested in What Keeps You Stuck

    I don’t think therapy should be limited to talking about what happened during your week and helping you feel better about it for an hour.

    Of course, sometimes you need a place to vent.

    Sometimes life is genuinely hard and having someone understand that matters.

    But I also want us to understand why the same problems keep happening.

    Therapy With Me Is Active

    I’m not a therapist who is going to sit silently and occasionally ask, “How does that make you feel?”

    I’ll listen carefully, but I’ll also participate.

    I’ll ask questions.

    I’ll point out patterns.

    I’ll help you make connections you may not have noticed.

    I’ll challenge assumptions when I think they’re keeping you stuck.

    I want therapy to be compassionate.

    But I also want it to be useful.

    Evidence-Based Doesn’t Mean One-Size-Fits-All

    I care a lot about using treatments that are supported by research.

    For OCD and anxiety, my work draws from approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Inference-Based CBT (I-CBT).

    For couples, I integrate Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and the Gottman Method.

    But people are more complicated than treatment manuals.

    Two people with the same diagnosis can get stuck in completely different ways.

    I want to understand your version of the problem before deciding what will be most helpful.

    I Especially Enjoy Working With People Who Think a Lot

    A lot of the people who find their way to me are analytical.

    They are thoughtful, self-aware, capable, and very good at examining things from every possible angle.

    Those are strengths.

    Until your brain decides that every problem can be solved by thinking about it a little longer.

    What It’s Like to Work With Me

    Clients often tell me they appreciate having a therapist who can offer both compassion and clarity.

    I’ll take what you’re struggling with seriously.

    There will also be times when the work is uncomfortable, because changing patterns usually requires doing something differently before it feels natural.

    You don’t have to do any of that perfectly.

    In fact, learning that you don’t have to do therapy perfectly may be part of the work.

  • I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with more than 10 years of experience working with adults and couples.

    Over the years, I’ve pursued specialized postgraduate training in the areas I care most about, including cognitive behavioral therapy, OCD treatment, Exposure and Response Prevention, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Inference-Based CBT, trauma treatment, perfectionism, and OCD and neurodivergence.

    I continue to invest in specialized training because I believe clients deserve more than a therapist who simply says they “treat anxiety” or “work with OCD.”

    If you are coming to me for a specific problem, I want to understand that problem deeply.

  • Master of Social Work (MSW)
    Rutgers University, 2016

    Postgraduate Clinical Training

    • Cognitive Therapy Training Program, Beck Community Initiative in partnership with Penn Medicine

    • Gottman Method, The Gottman Institute

    • Exposure and Response Therapy for OCD, Cognitive Behavior Institute

    • EFT Attachment Science in Practice, Psychwire

    • Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD, Cognitive Behavior Institute

    • ACT for Perfectionism, Alma

    • Comprehensive Inference-Based CBT Training, OCD Training School

    • Understanding OCD and Neurodivergence, OCD Training School

    Licensed Clinical Social Worker

    New York
    New Jersey
    Pennsylvania
    Delaware

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