Carly Patterson (she/her) LPC, LPAT, ATR-BC

My name is Carly Patterson and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Professional Art Therapist in New Jersey. I specialize in relationships with heterosexual and LGBTQIA+ individuals, couples, and non-monogamous partnerships. Whether you are single, dating, engaged, recently broken up, married, separated, divorced, in a non-monogamous relationship, or would like to engage in nonmonogamy, I'm here to ask you the right questions so that you can get the perspective that you need to take the next steps confidently! Areas that I often explore with my clients include: -Communicating your needs -Forming healthy boundaries -Processing commitment obstacles -Dating with confidence -Increasing intimacy -Exploring recurring themes -Expanding emotional intelligence -Managing resentment associated with the relationship/s -Rediscovering who you are as an individual inside and/or outside of the relationship -Engaging in nonmonogamy successfully (polyamory, swinging, open marriages) ​Relationships are a great source of love, respect, and safety, however they can also lead to feelings of sadness, frustration, anxiety, jealousy, guilt, and heartbreak. You deserve happiness, to be heard, to have your needs met, to love freely, and to be loved wholeheartedly. I want to help you to achieve this. OTHER SPECIALIZED AREAS OF COUNSELING GRIEF COUNSELING I personally understand what it means to lose a loved one. None of us are immune to death and while we know this, it doesn't change the pain we experience as a survivor. It feels as though a part of us has died with that loved one and continuing life without them almost feels like a sin. Grief can cause us to lose ourselves. The person we once knew is now a stranger to us and trying to find support in friends and family is uncomfortable. Our feelings are so raw and unknown to us that leaning on someone feels confusing because we are at a loss for words. How many times have you told yourself, "I should be over this by now?" The truth is, grief never goes away but the intensity lessens....it grows softer. We find a way to sit with it more comfortably as the days move on, but if we don't talk about it and allow ourselves to face it, it can cause our lives to uproot and feel very uncertain. Processing your grief with a professional can help you to stop feeling like a stranger to yourself and shine light within the darkness again. I would be honored to help you weather that storm. I think it important to mention that grief has many forms and loss does not always mean death. Greif can be the loss of a relationship, the loss of a job, the loss of a pet, moving to a new place, and more. I say this because often my clients experience grief without knowing why and I hope this helps anyone searching for an answer. CAREER COUNSELING Our career is half of our identity. If you think about it, we are preparing for our careers as soon as we are able to enter school. When you meet someone for the first time, after asking you what your name is, what is the second question they then ask you? "What do you do?" This question lays heavily on many of us, especially when we do not like our answer. Having a professional with the knowledge of how careers and psychology intertwine is important in understanding your own career identity. Our lives are already complex with how much we have to balance, add in the impact of our mental health, it becomes even MORE of a necessity to process with a career counseling professional. Areas that I often explore with me clients include: -Processing current job stressors -Contemplating a job change -Contemplating a job promotion -Career assessments and processing results -Resume building -Preparing for interviews. -Entering the job market after stepping back for a substantial period of time. -Career impact on mental health, self-esteem, and relationships -Asserting and maintaining healthy work boundaries -Strengthening communication with peers and superiors ART THERAPY As a professional counselor and art therapist, I am able to integrate counseling theory with art therapy techniques for clients interested in utilizing this approach. While not all of my clients engage in this technique, many of my clients have found that it fosters deeper emotional understanding. If you are a NJ resident and would like to schedule a free phone consultation, please don't hesitate to email me. I look forward to speaking with you soon!