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Joanne has an eclectic background beginning with her first degree in Laboratory Medicine. After many years of experience in a variety of clinical laboratories (hospital, oncology, reference labs), she returned to college to achieve her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Social Work from Rutgers University, from where she graduated with honors. She has also drawn on her determination and abilities to survive as a single parent of 2, even managing her own home-based childcare business, coupled with a weekend lab job to make ends meet. Tenacity is her middle name; resourcefulness her forté.

Joanne’s passion for helping people is fueled by her ability to truly empathize with you, regardless of your situation. Her sincerity and compassion are palpable; she draws from her life experiences, her open-mindedness, her insight, and her innate ability to listen with an open mind, heart, and spirit.

Believing in a “team approach”, Joanne will help you to prioritize your own needs, with the goal of leading you to view your options from different perspectives, thus enabling you to make decisions that are otherwise difficult or that seem insurmountable.

She is strongly supportive of the under-served needs of those who are stressed by their role as caregivers for those with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. She is also well-versed in helping those with depression, anxieties, grief in its many forms, relationship difficulties, and mindfulness (including self-care).

Currently, Joanne does not accept insurance (that option is in process). Fee will be decided at your first session, based on what is amenable to both parties.

As a therapist who specializes in loss and grief, Pat Obst has walked the grief journey with many clients and has experienced losses personally. This led her to create the Afterwards Journey, to help clients grieve, heal, and recreate their lives after loss.

She began practice more than twenty years ago as a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and life coach. In addition to counseling and earlier in her career, Pat was a case manager in a mental health outpatient facility. She was then a care coordinator of in-home care giving services for older adults. Then, as a hospice social worker, Pat facilitated care and support for hospice patients and their families.

Her specialization in grief counseling came about 19 years ago after the loss of her infant son Ricky. Pat developed her specialization in grief therapy through years of additional training. Within that, she specializes in working with parents who have lost children.

Pat co-created and co-facilitated a program called Afterwards, LLC., which was dedicated to helping those 1-5 years past a major loss to step forward into the next chapter of their lives. She has led grief lectures, workshops, and done podcasts for The Starting Point, Inc. of New Jersey. She has also presented at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) annual conference.

 Specialties

• Loss & Grief
• Divorce
• Grief-related depression
• Grief -related anxiety
• Grief related to life changing illness/injury
• Grief-related trauma

Type of Therapies

• Compassion Focused Therapy
• Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Functional Analytic Psychotherapy
• Holistic Therapy
• Humanistic Therapy
• Mindfulness Based CBT
• Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy

Education: MSW – Master of Social Work, Rutgers University-Camden, NJ; BA -Sociology, Eastern College, St. Davids, PA;
Licenses: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), NJ
Additional Training: Continuing Education in grief and loss through The Columbia Center for Complicated Grief. Life coach training through the GROW Training Institute, Inc.

Pat has been working with helping families to lead healthier lives by offering programs such as:

• Active Parenting,
• Active Parenting for Teens, and
• Cooperative Parenting and Divorce.

She also helps partners and families heal from the effects of Trauma and Sexual Addiction. Pat believes that, hope can be regained, lives can be rebuilt, and meaningful change can be created within a caring environment.

Kevin is a licensed clinical social worker who provides individual, couples, family, and group counseling.

He has counseled and advocated for people with substance abuse related concerns and those who suffer from various mental health diagnoses, such as depression, anxiety, and Bipolar Disorder, etc., for more than 25 years.

Additionally, Kevin has worked with both adolescents and adults, addressed men’s and women’s issues, and works within a holistic approach. He uses an empathetic client-centered model that “meets the person where they are”. Kevin believes in providing a safe and nonjudgmental atmosphere for people to mend, increase their strengths, and evolve to be the person they choose.

He has been in private practice at The Starting Point, Inc. for more than 10 years and accepts a variety of insurances.

Frankie welcomes clients from all walks of life. Her particular areas of expertise are depression, addiction, and codependency, couples counseling, gay and lesbian concerns, and adolescents.

She has been in private practice for over 20 years at The Starting Point. In using various forms of therapy she establishes a rapport with clients so they can move forward in their lives.

Frankie is also a professor and field consultant for Rutgers University in the School of Social Work.

Erik received his graduate degree in Social Work from Rutgers University and is a Licensed Social Worker in the state of New Jersey. He studied and is interested in working with vulnerable populations. He initially served as an intern at The Starting Point and chose to remain after his graduation to start his own practice.

Erik works with children, adolescents, and adults who are seeking help with issues such as self-esteem/worth, anxiety, sexuality, recovery from trauma, feeling stuck in life, codependency, and relationship issues. He offers his services in individual and family sessions, implementing various therapeutic approaches catered to the client’s needs. He is committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for his clients.

Erik’s philosophy is that the role of the counselor is to take the journey of healing with the client, not lead the client.

Tara is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who is experienced in assisting clients navigate some of life’s challenges such as anxiety, depression, anger, relationship issues and/or substance abuse. Skilled at providing psych education, she helps clients identify and address self-defeating thoughts, beliefs and behavioral patterns that negatively impact your sense of well-being and health. Whether you have experienced a sudden change or an accumulation of stressors, question your actions or lack of actions that results in self criticism, or ruminate about the past and/or worry about the future Tara can assist you with developing positive self care, increased insight, healthy boundaries, and strategies to function and feel better. She is compassionate, down-to-earth, straightforward, and believes in the benefits of light, purposeful humor. She is also respectful regarding where you are and allows you to move at your own pace. Ultimately Tara hopes to challenge you and encourage you to face your challenges and grow.

Janice is a psychotherapist and an eclectic individual with a broad range of experience. She believes that during the cycles of ones life – as part of the human condition – individuals are presented with challenges and conflict. At times, one can get “stuck“.

Using a team approach, Janice and her clients work together in a dedicated partnership to work through distress and conflict. Janice has years of clinical experience and is continuously updating her skills.  She is comfortable with all age groups. She specializes in trauma therapy, mood disorders, conduct disorders (with adolescents), and runs both groups and workshops. Janice believes that utilizing these tools and modalities foster change and personal development.

Throughout her career, Janice has found that conflict, turmoil and personal distress respond positively to the application of various clinical modalities.

Vincent has worked with and advocated for individuals with issues ranging from addiction to mental health challenges. For the past 20 years, he has taught people how to use healthy coping skills in order to alleviate intense emotional discomfort. He uses proven treatment techniques that are based in CBT, DBT, Client-Centered, and Family Systems therapies. Besides working with those who are having difficulty navigating life’s many stressors,

Vincent also has extensive experience helping those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered & questioning (dealing with “coming out” issues).

Vincent is available to work individually (15 years and older), as well as couples and families. His priority is helping with the process of Paving Pathways to Peacefulness, to cultivate a more hopeful future.