Lori A. Harris, MSW, LCSW

People seek therapy for many reasons. Perhaps you are in a crisis, confronting a life transition (divorce, retirement, death, illness, empty nest, new relationship), having difficulty coping with work stress, using/abusing substances, or "feeling stuck" and unable to make positive life changes. It could also be that recent impacts due to the pandemic have increased isolation, contributed to relapse, given you a new perspective or new stressors that you want to work through. The last 2 years have brought opportunities, losses, tensions. Many of our lives have been altered. I am here to normalize that - and to offer support to cope with those changes. Approach/Therapy Style: I believe that most of us have blind spots - emotional patterns or behaviors that can get in the way of our healing or fully exploring life’s challenges and opportunities. My therapy style is transparent, empowering, informative, direct, supportive, authentic, accessible, active. I tend to "lean in" - I'm not big on just nodding and periodically offering "how does that make you feel" queries (although I DO want to know how you're feeling). We cry in my "office", we laugh in my "office". Healing and recovery is not linear, there is no "one size fits all" roadmap so I believe that the relational part is really important - we can't set or achieve goals unless they truly reflect YOU. Therefore, my role is to provide clinical insight and guidance that is collaborative, respectful, flexible, helpful. Previous Work/Areas of Focus: Professional experience includes community mental health, hospital based medication assisted opioid treatment, sexual violence support and as a Program Director providing services and resources to the 9/11 and first responder community. I have advanced experience and training in PTSD/Complex Trauma, traumatic loss, grief (including complicated/prolonged), disaster mental health, addiction/abuse, family systems therapy and legal mediation (NJ). There are a variety of ways to approach therapy and these are decisions we make together. I start from the belief that people are resilient, that we can navigate our challenges, and that we can, in time, integrate trauma and grief. I am in awe every day witnessing my clients' ability to (eventually) move forward. We can not “undo” our losses, but we can find meaning and hope in our lives. We can grow “strong in the broken places". https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/405593