About Stacy G. Smith
experience & training
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I am a compassionate, friendly, and hardworking clinician, fulfilling my long-held goal of helping others. Being a therapist is not only my career, it's my passion. I hold a Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Long Island University - C.W. Post, and am licensed to practice independently in the state of New Jersey. I have over twelve years of experience working on inpatient psychiatric units, in intensive outpatient programs, as well as in private practice, which has allowed me to see clients at their worst, as well as their best, and therefore understand the time, effort, and strategies needed to bring about effective change.
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I received intensive training through the Beck Institute for Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and am a Diplomate and Certified CBT Therapist from The Academy of Cognitive Therapy. I have also taken training courses through the Psychiatry Academy at Massachusetts General Hospital, and received intensive training in OCD through the Behavior Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) offered through the International OCD Foundation. Furthermore, I am a graduate of the Trichotillomania Learning Center’s Virtual Professional Training Institute, which focuses on CBT-based treatment of Body-Focused Repetitive Behaviors, including hair-pulling (Trichotillomania) and skin-picking (Dermatillomania).
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Approach
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My current focus lies in the private practice setting, where I work full-time treating adult individuals (18 years and older) with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), as well as other anxiety and avoidance-based conditions. I take a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy approach, including the use of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) and Inference-based CBT (I-CBT), which allows for long-term benefits in fewer sessions than other counseling models. I believe the focus of counseling is to not only work on managing your current struggles, but to develop the skills needed to independently manage future obstacles as well. Sessions are structured, goal-oriented, and instructional, with the goal of guiding you towards becoming the best version of you!
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