Marcia Ryan, LPC

“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become” -Carl Jung

As a therapist, I am committed to provide compassionate and strength-based counseling to my clients. My goal as a therapist is to foster a warm and nonjudgmental therapeutic relationship that will help you to navigate and solve the concerns that have brought you to therapy. I work collaboratively with clients and I strive to help them finding balance to lead a more productive and authentic lifestyles.

I have completed an internship at Bonnie Brae and the experiences I have gained is indeed invaluable. As a licensed therapist, I worked at Richard Hall CMHC for approximately a year and that job offered me an opportunity to work in a multidisciplinary team and coordinate meetings with doctors, nurses, case managers, justice system and probation officers,  This is particularly a very unique experience as it allowed me to work more closely with the clients and their family members. Family therapy sessions improved over time as we navigate the concerns the client is working on from an individual perspective and having a strong support system makes the process manageable over time, as they developed the necessary skills and techniques to navigate through life’s circumstances and challenges.

In both of my previous experiences as a therapist, I have worked with culturally diverse population in a residential and community mental health settings providing counseling services to individual, group and families. My clinical and hands on experiences allowed me to facilitate IOP groups and counsel children, adolescents and adults diagnosed with severe and persistent mental health diagnoses and co-occurring substance abuse disorders. I have counseled several clients struggling with the following disorders: anxiety, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, substance use, and complex trauma.

I am familiar with several counseling approaches while at Seton’s Hall and as employee. As a therapist, I have adopted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to appropriately address clients’ needs and support their therapeutic goals. However, I am an adept of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) which is an optimistic and nonjudgmental orientation to build upon clients’ strengths and promote clients’ overall sense of wellbeing.

In Brazil, I was employed as a teacher for seven years before immigrating to the US. The experiences of working with underprivileged children shaped my outlook on life and inspired me to pursue a career as a counselor to make a positive contribution in people’s lives.  My educational journey started with my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Rutgers University. I have earned my dual Master’s Degrees in Professional Counseling and Education Specialist from Seton Hall University. I am licensed counselor in New Jersey. I am also certified as a Family Trauma Professional and Sex Offender Treatment Provider. I am fluent in Portuguese.

“Nothing is Impossible. The word itself says I’m Possible.”  -Audrey Hepburn