Monica Kramer made her decision to become a professional therapist when she was still a teenager in high school. By making herself available to friends who had problems with their family, friends or dating relationships, she learned the importance of listening and how to ask questions that encouraged constructive dialog. After graduation, she gained experience in her first career as an elementary school teacher and in her volunteer work in homeless shelters, programs for unwed mothers and mental heath emergency treatment clinics. After her two children became adults 20 years ago, Monica returned to the academic world to earn the necessary credentials for her professional career.
Monica understands that each person’s issues are unique and everyone deserves to be heard and valued. Because each client faces unique challenges, she helps her clients express their own needs and balance their stated goals as a fundamental way to establish rapport. Monica considers the creation of an empathetic, non-judgmental environment a paramount necessity in her therapy practice because it enables clients to face their challenges with comfort and trust in the process.
Monica uses an eclectic mix of therapies to emphasize psychodynamic principles, CBT, person-centered, and humanistic practices. In her safe, enriching and trusting environment, her clients can work through any issue they consider important. By understanding themselves and the way the past relates to the present, her clients make the progress they desire.
Monica ’s depth of experience includes depression, anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, grief and loss, low self-esteem and family & marital issues. She works equally well with young adults, individuals and couples.
Because everyone experiences challenges in their life, Monica believes in the importance of therapy to help each client identify their personal issues to better understand how to deal with the ideas and emotions that influence behavior. She strives to push gently to help her clients address their problems in a way that isn’t overwhelming. Her motto: “The key to understanding any client is to be where the client is.”
Monica is a Mental Health Counselor having earned her BA degree at C.W. Post College in New York. She received her Master’s degree from Argosy University.