Tara Porphy, LPC

Tara Porphy is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) practicing in New Jersey with ten years of experience in mental health care. As an LPC - a state license to provide professional counseling - she has worked across multiple settings including home-based services, office appointments, residential programs, and telehealth, and with clients ranging in age from early childhood through older adulthood.

Her clinical background includes leading groups and providing individual and family counseling within a dual-diagnosis residential program for men facing substance use and mental health challenges. In that role she offered motivational interviewing, psychoeducation, and recovery-focused support for residents as well as guidance for their family members. She approaches addiction as a family-centered issue and is comfortable working with everyone affected by it.

She also has substantial experience addressing anxiety, panic disorders, depression, trauma, self-harm, and intellectual or developmental disabilities including autism. Tara has worked with at-risk children and teens and frequently partners with parents either individually or with the whole family to strengthen relationships and improve daily functioning. Her clinical style is eclectic and adaptable, drawing on methods such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and person-centered techniques to meet each client where they are. She welcomes clients seeking support and aims to collaborate with them on a path toward healing.

Therapeutic Approaches Adapted for Online Care

Tara draws from several established approaches to tailor online therapy to each person's needs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and changing unhelpful thought patterns and behaviors; it is often applied for anxiety, depression, sleep concerns, and stress-related problems. Client-centered therapy emphasizes empathic listening and the client’s own goals, creating a supportive space that can help with self-esteem, relationship concerns, and parenting challenges. Attachment-based approaches explore patterns of relating that develop from early connections and can be especially helpful for family issues, adoption and foster care concerns, and difficulties with trust or abandonment.

Choosing the right approach is part of the therapeutic journey. Tara collaborates with each client to determine which methods fit their goals, preferences, and life circumstances, and she adapts techniques as progress unfolds. This collaborative process helps ensure a personalized plan rather than a one-size-fits-all model.

Online sessions - whether by video call, phone, live chat, or text messaging - offer flexibility for busy schedules, allow care from home, and make it easier to maintain continuity of treatment during life transitions. These formats support consistent work on coping skills, communication, and recovery while fitting into the rhythms of everyday life.