About Kristen
Kristen Buongiorno is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who brings 14 years of hands-on experience to her work. She focuses on stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, depression, addictions, relationship and intimacy concerns, and ADHD. She aims for a straightforward and compassionate approach when people come looking for change.
Her practice centers on the link between thoughts and actions, using cognitive behavioral ideas to help people notice unhelpful patterns and try different responses.
Background and approach
She also uses mindfulness to help clients calm and focus, and elements of motivational interviewing to explore readiness for change. Sessions are practical and goal-focused, with an emphasis on what a person can do between meetings. Kristen has worked with people facing major life changes, serious illness like cancer, grief, and challenges tied to military service.
She also helps with issues such as body image, adoption and foster care concerns, codependency, and caregiver stress. Her experience includes responding to trauma and supporting those coping with shame, guilt, or infidelity. Clients can expect direct conversation when needed and a collaborative planning style.
Safety planning is a priority for people who need it, and treatment goals are developed together. Kristen encourages people who are ready to make changes and prefers practical steps that fit each person’s life. Kristen practices in New Jersey and offers sessions in English.
She works with a wide range of life and mental health concerns and aims to make therapy useful and doable for everyday life.
How approach and online care work together
Kristen often uses cognitive behavioral techniques to help people spot unhelpful thoughts and try new behaviors. CBT is useful for anxiety, depression, and many everyday struggles because it breaks problems into clear, changeable steps. She also uses mindfulness to teach simple grounding and breathing practices that reduce stress and improve focus. Mindfulness can help when emotions feel overwhelming or when someone needs a steady anchor during hard moments.Finding the right mix of approaches is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences and try methods that fit their life. If one approach does not feel right, adjustments are made so the plan stays useful and workable.
Online sessions include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to offer flexibility. Video lets people see facial cues and practice skills together, while phone sessions are useful when bandwidth is limited or a quieter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging work well for brief updates, tracking progress, or when shorter, more frequent contact helps keep momentum. These options make it easier to fit therapy into busy schedules and to keep consistent contact between meetings.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Bipolar disorder
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Depression
- Eating disorders
- Family conflicts
- First responder issues
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Post-traumatic stress
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 14 years
- Licensed
- New Jersey
- Languages
- English