Jennifer Durso, MHC-LP
Message from Jennifer
Jennifer Durso is a mental health counselor. She obtained her Master’s degree from New York University. She resides in New Jersey with her wife and fur babies. Jennifer believes in tailoring her approach in therapy to meet the unique needs of every client. She is passionate about helping clients build on their strengths, as well as optimize their happiness, meaning, and purpose in life. She treats clients holistically, which involves improving their mind, body, and spirit. She also values the importance of being multiculturally competent and aware of clients’ various identities. As a therapist, Jennifer’s strengths are making clients feel validated, supported, and excited about making change. She has expertise in approaches such as cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. She likes to teach clients skills that allow them to feel more confident about managing their mental health and tackling everyday problems. Jennifer specializes in areas such as anxiety disorders, stress management, low self- esteem, body image challenges, eating disorders, family concerns, dating/relationships, LGBTQ, depression, career issues, and trauma. She has extensive experience in diagnosing and treating ADHD and changing negative behavior patterns. Jennifer has over three years of doctoral training in school psychology, which has afforded her these specialties. Jennifer draws from her knowledge, training, and personal experience in order to provide clients with the best quality of care. For example, she strongly empathizes with clients who are suffering from chronic physical conditions. She manages her own Crohn’s disease (stomach inflammation) and has two parents with terminal illnesses. Lastly, Jennifer is a body builder and enjoys incorporating her love of fitness, understanding of nutrition, and advocacy for body positivity into her work. She personally knows the benefits of meditation, which she performs daily. She has many hobbies such as photography.
About Jennifer's practice
Weekdays Before 9am
Weekdays 9am - 5pm
Weekdays After 5pm
Weekends 9am - 5pm
Weekends After 5pm
$$$
Sliding scale
Directive
Reflective
Body-based
In-person available: No
Virtual available: Yes
LGBTQIA-Related Stress
Anxiety
Self-Esteem
Depression
Trauma
ADD/ADHD
Food-Related Stress
Eating Disorder
Out of network providers
NY
Why state matters
Get to Know Jennifer
What degrees do you have and what techniques are you trained in?
I have 87 credits of doctoral training from Fordham PhD, I have a Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Wagner College, and a Masters in Mental Health Counseling from NYU
How long should I commit to being in therapy, at least in the beginning?
As long as you need. Sometimes it take a few sessions to make sure if it is a good fit.
How can you tell if I am feeling stuck, unseen, or unheard?
I can notice it in the change in your demean or attitude around therapy.
How can you tell if I am benefiting from working with you?
When I notice or you tell me that you are starting to feel happy and excited to come to therapy and you start to notice small changes that happen outside of therapy that eventually lead to bigger changes.
How do you approach diversity in the room or working with clients who may come from a different background than you?
The client is always the expert of their own life and I approach clients with openness and a willingness to learn about who they are and all aspects of their identity and by practicing cultural sensitivity, which is very important to me. I use aspects of clients identity to inform treatment.
What is unique about the work you do, or how have you found your work to be different than your colleagues'?
I have gotten a lot of feedback from clients that I do a good job demystify the stigma and fear behind coming to therapy. My therapy feels like we are just having a conversation while learning and growing. I make my clients feel extremely comfortable.
What is the best part of the work for you?
Seeing people change for the better.
What led you to become a mental healthcare practitioner?
I have wanted to be a therapist since my junior year of HS when I took my first psychology class. Learning about psychology helped me understand what was going on in my own life and that is what motivated me to want to do the same for others.
Do you have experience (5-10 years+) working with any types of obstacles or people in particular?
I have a lot of experience with school age population ranging from pre-school to college.
Have you received any particular training beyond your post-Bachelor's training?
I have over three years in doctoral training in school psychology (assessment, ADHD, developmental disabilities, behavioral intervention, learning disabilities, academic stress), in addition to my Masters in Mental Health Counseling.
Where did you work before going into private practice?
I worked at a college counseling center prior to going into private practice. Helping high functioning adults and adolescents.
Is there ever a time when you would encourage me to leave or graduate? Or how do I know when it's time to end or move on, or time to stay and explore more?
In certain cases a good indication of knowing when it's time to move on is when they are using all the skills learned outside of session and also feel like they have met their goals and are in the maintenance phase. In other cases relationship can last as long as the patient wants and the patient can continue to work on personal development and have a space to process life stressors.
How will our relationship be different than relationships I have with friends/loved ones?
This is a time for you to focus on yourself 100%, it's not about me. You can take advantage of that time however you want, I'm your biggest supporter.
Do you assign homework, activities, or readings for me to do between sessions? Why or why not?
Yes, as long as it's appropriate and client is finding it helpful.
How participatory are you during sessions?
I believe in being collaborative with the client. Not overly directive but working together to achieve a goal or process an experience.
How much do you share about yourself during our time together and why?
I only share if I feel like it will benefit the client or help motivate them or give them the confidence that they can make the change as well or to help them have an example of an experience.
From your perspective, what is therapy?
Therapy is a place where you are able to speak to someone and have support from someone who is not invested in your situation so they are able to help you process things and be completely non judgmental in the process.