About Tara
Tara Porphy is a Licensed Professional Counselor who focuses on helping people cope with stress, anxiety, depression, parenting challenges, addiction concerns, and life changes. She writes plainly and listens closely so parents and individuals can find clearer next steps. Tara works from New Jersey and brings ten years of experience in different settings to each session.
She adapts her approach to what each person needs. Sessions may include talking through upsetting thoughts, learning practical skills to manage mood, and exploring relationship or attachment concerns.
Background and approach
Tara often uses techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and attachment-based methods in ways that fit a client's life. Her background includes work in residential addiction programs where she led groups and provided individual and family-focused counseling. She has supported people in recovery and the family members affected by addiction.
That experience shaped how she addresses co-occurring concerns and motivation to change. Tara has also worked with children, teens, and adults in home and community settings. She has experience with autism and developmental disabilities, trauma, self-harm, grief, and sleep problems.
When needed she helps parents find strategies to support children's behavior and emotional needs. In sessions she blends client-centered listening, motivational interviewing, and mindfulness tools when helpful. Tara aims to create a practical plan people can use between meetings, and she adjusts her methods as goals change.
How attachment work and CBT adapt to online therapy
Attachment-based work focuses on how relationships shape feelings and behavior. In sessions this looks like talking about patterns in close relationships, naming emotions, and practicing new ways of connecting and responding to others. It can help with parenting worries, relationship anxiety, and trauma-related trust issues.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, helps people notice unhelpful thoughts and try different behaviors. Practical exercises and short between-session tasks are common, which make CBT a good fit for online formats when someone wants tools to manage anxiety, low mood, or sleep problems.
Tara will collaborate with each person to find the best mix of approaches for their goals. Early sessions focus on what matters most, then she suggests ways to test ideas and adjust techniques based on feedback. That plan is shaped by the client's needs, preferences, and how they respond in real time.
Online sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone conversations, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is useful for longer therapy work and interactive exercises, while phone calls can work when bandwidth is limited. Text or chat can be used for shorter check-ins and steady support between meetings. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy family routines or workdays.
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What this counselor works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Family conflicts
- Parenting issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Anger management
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Trichotillomania
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 10 years
- Licensed
- New Jersey
- Languages
- English