in person therapy in Hillsborough, NJ | virtual therapy across NJ & NY
You’ve been white-knuckling life long enough
Dr. Angela Gonnella, Licensed Psychologist | Trauma, Anxiety, and DBT Therapy for Adults and Parents
From the outside, you look like you have it together. On the inside, you’re hanging on by a thread
Maybe you’ve thought to yourself:
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When you look back on your life, maybe there are one or more things you know were traumatic. You've shoved those experiences down and hoped that time would do its job, but your body didn’t get the memo. You haven't moved on, even though you feel like you should have by now. Perhaps when you reflect back, nothing seems "bad enough" to justify how much you're struggling now, so you think you just weren't tough enough to handle what everyone else could. Either way, you’re stuck in the aftermath and no matter how much you want the past to stay in its place, it keeps spilling into every area of your life.
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The constant white noise of anxiety never shuts off. You replay conversations over and over, anxiously picking apart every word said. The knot in your stomach tightens over things that haven't happened yet. Thinking spirals about everything that could go wrong leave you wide awake when you’re trying to wind down for the night. Even good days come with the background hum of waiting for the other shoe to drop. You’re beyond tired of living on edge.
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You’ve always been a deep feeler. Emotions come up fast, hit hard, and take forever to come back down. You feel hurt by things you logically know shouldn’t sting this much. A passing comment from a coworker sits with you for days. Tears come when you don’t want them to. Even other people have called you "too sensitive" your whole life, like it's a character flaw. You feel emotions at a volume that seems higher than everyone around you, and you've spent years painfully wondering why you can’t turn it down.
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The stakes feel higher now that you’re a parent. Before you had kids, the coping you used got you by, but now you’re stretched too thin. Every button, even the ones you didn’t even know you had, gets pushed on the daily. You’re more reactive and less present around your children, and find yourself thinking about family patterns that did more harm than good during your own childhood. The last thing you want is to pass your pain onto your kids, but you don’t know how to break that cycle.
You used to think that everyone struggled like this in some way or another…
You're realizing most people aren't running this many calculations just to get through a normal Tuesday.
The difference between you and them feels like proof you're damaged goods. You worry about what would happen if people actually saw what you're carrying: would they judge you, abandon you, or confirm your deepest fear that something is wrong with you?
Releasing all of what’s going on inside feels riskier than containing it. So, you keep powering through the only way you know how - through grit and force- even though it's exhausting. No matter how hard you keep pushing forward, you never actually end up moving from your spot.
You’ve been trying harder than anyone knows. What you’ve done helped you survive, but it isn’t built for the life you’re trying to live now.
Hi, I’m Dr. Angela
I’m a licensed psychologist who specializes in trauma, PTSD, anxiety, and DBT for emotion regulation, with a soft spot for parents who are determined that the hard stuff stops with them. I’m trained in the most rigorously researched treatments and I actually use them. Our sessions don’t end at me nodding and the deepest question being “how do you feel about that?”
I believe long term change is at the intersection of insight and action. That means we’ll go deep to explore what drives your reactions, unpack what you’ve been through and approach what you’ve been avoiding and build skills that hold up in real life. I’m direct, I’m warm, and I will absolutely laugh with you. When the voice in your head says you’re damaged goods, I’ll be the one telling it, respectfully, you’re wrong.
You’ve carried this long enough. Let’s put some of it down.
Trauma & PTSD
Untangle the past in a way that helps you make sense of what happened, feel safer in your own body, and more in control of your present
Anxiety
Understand the factors that contribute to anxiety, learn how to get out of your head, and stop rehearsing every worst-case scenario
Emotion Regulation
Build skills to manage intense emotions, stay present in the moment, and strengthen your relationships with yourself and others
Therapy for Parents
Heal the parts of you shaped by years of family conflict, emotional neglect, or childhood abuse. Understand what you’ve carried from your family system, and learn how to break the patterns you never want to repeat.
How to get started:
All it takes is one phone call
Book a free 20-minute phone consultation
This is a no-pressure conversation to get to know each other better and see if we are a good fit.
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Work With Me
We’ll collaborate together on what your treatment plan looks like. We’ll use the approach with the best research behind it for what you’re dealing with, and I’ll tell you exactly why. We’ll collaborate together on what your specific treatment plan looks like that will challenge you without flattening you.
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feel the difference in your life
Experience fewer emotional blow-ups and faster recovery when they happen. Memories of the past don’t derail your day. You feel more confident and present as a parent.
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