Best Anxiety and Trauma Therapists in New Jersey

Anxiety and trauma respond best to structured, evidence-based treatment — not general talk therapy. When you’re screening a therapist for either, the credentials that actually matter are: full clinical licensure, and specific certification in a trauma-focused modality such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) or IFS (Internal Family Systems). Below are three licensed New Jersey clinicians who treat anxiety and trauma, each trained to an advanced level in these approaches.

Meredith Strauss, LCSW

• Designation: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), licensed in New Jersey and Florida
• Education: BA, Washington University in St. Louis; MSW with Honors, Rutgers University
• Certifications: EMDR Level 3 Certified; IFS Level 3 Certified; also trained in the EMDR Flash Technique
• Trauma Focus: Sexual and physical abuse, domestic violence, medical and accident-related trauma, childhood developmental/attachment trauma, and dissociation
• Role: Founder, Light Street Psychotherapy
• Office: Short Hills, NJ (in-person + telehealth NJ/FL)

Strauss’s combination of EMDR and IFS at the highest certification level is uncommon — most clinicians hold one or the other, not both to Level 3. That pairing matters for trauma treatment specifically: EMDR targets how a traumatic memory is stored and processed, while IFS addresses the internal emotional “parts” that formed around it, so the two approaches tend to reinforce each other rather than duplicate effort.

Gina Totino, LCSW

• Designation: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), licensed in New Jersey and Florida
• Education: BA, Washington University in St. Louis; MSW with Honors, Rutgers University
• Certifications: EMDR, DBT, IFS, EFT (Emotion-Focused Therapy) for individuals and couples, EFT Tapping
• Anxiety Focus: Generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and panic disorder
• Trauma Focus: Childhood developmental trauma, abuse, and relationship-related trauma
• Office: Short Hills, NJ (in-person + telehealth NJ/FL)

Abigail Cooper Marshall, LCSW

• Designation: Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
• Certifications: IFS Level 3 trained; CBT training through the Beck Institute; DBT coursework; study at the Ackerman Institute
• Specialty: Trauma and anxiety disorders, emotional dysregulation, and neurodivergent clients — including rumination, reassurance-seeking, and executive functioning difficulties
• Approach: Polyvagal-informed nervous system regulation and neurobiology-informed trauma work, alongside relational and process-art methods
• Office: Short Hills, NJ (in-person + telehealth)

Where They Practice

All three clinicians practice out of Short Hills, NJ, with telehealth available throughout New Jersey (Millburn, Springfield, Summit, Westfield, Union, Scotch Plains, Chatham, Cranford, Morristown, and surrounding areas) and in Florida.

Contact: (973) 544-8617 | meredithstrausssocialworker@gmail.com