About Susan
Susan Shafer is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with 15 years of clinical experience. She practices in New Jersey and helps people facing anxiety, depression, trauma-related difficulties, and the stress of life changes. She also works with concerns such as ADHD, grief, addiction, parenting stress, and relationship issues.
Susan blends client-centered care with practical tools from cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness. Sessions emphasize clear goals, skills practice, and ways to change unhelpful thoughts and habits.
How Susan works
She often uses breathing and movement exercises to help people notice how their bodies and minds respond to stress. Her approach is collaborative and down-to-earth. Clients set priorities and Susan helps them build small, manageable steps toward those goals.
She also incorporates motivational interviewing and solution-focused strategies to support change and strengthen motivation. Susan has experience across settings and with a broad range of mood and behavior concerns. She pays attention to attachment, codependency, communication problems, and issues around abandonment and control.
Her work includes helping people cope after disasters, navigate separation, and address first responder stress. Therapy sessions are aimed at increasing coping skills, calming intense feelings, and improving day-to-day functioning. Susan guides clients through practical exercises and homework they can use between sessions.
She encourages people to notice progress and adjust plans as goals evolve.
Susan lists 6 ways of working on the entry:
What Susan works with
The areas below are the ones Susan selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Attachment issues
- Bipolar disorder
- Career difficulties
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Family conflicts
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Life purpose
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Parenting issues
- Post-traumatic stress
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Registers | LCMHC, LPC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 15 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | New Jersey |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How these approaches translate to online therapy
Susan draws on client-centered therapy to make sessions feel focused on each person's priorities. That approach emphasizes listening, reflection, and building a plan based on what matters to the client. It is useful for stress, grief, and relationship concerns where understanding and validation help people move forward.Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is also a central piece of her work. CBT breaks down thoughts, feelings, and behaviors into manageable parts and teaches practical skills to change patterns. It is often used for anxiety, depression, mood disorders, and sleep problems because it gives clear exercises and homework to practice between sessions.
Finding the best approach is a shared process. Susan will work with each person to choose which methods fit their needs and goals. That collaboration allows adjustments over time so therapy can focus on the most helpful strategies.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to connect. Video calls let people use visual cues during sessions. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging are convenient for brief updates, coaching-style support, and arranging next steps. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, school, or caregiving schedules.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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