If you’re a Black Christian woman or a woman of color in New Jersey looking for a therapist who understands chronic pain, medical gaslighting, and what it means to fight to keep loving God while you’re suffering, you’re in the right place.
You’ve prayed through it and kept showing up for your family, your job, and your church while running on empty. At Cheerful Heart Mental Health Counseling, you finally have a place to rest intentionally. Our founder, Shakira K. O’Garro, LMHC-D, LPCC, LPC, NCC, is a Black Christian woman living with Stage IV endometriosis and adenomyosis herself. Her lived experience informs how she works, and you’ll be met with understanding and compassion that can feel rare.
A Therapist Licensed in Both New Jersey and New York
Shakira is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in New Jersey and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with diagnostic privilege (LMHC-D) in New York. That matters when your life crosses the Hudson.
Many New Jersey women commute into Manhattan, have family in the Bronx or Brooklyn, or split their time between both states. Working with a therapist licensed in both means you can keep the same clinician whether you’re home in Bergen County or staying with family in New York for the holidays.
Telehealth Across New Jersey
Secure video sessions bring faith-integrated, trauma-informed care to women throughout the Garden State, including:
- North Jersey: Newark, Jersey City, Hoboken, Paterson, Montclair, Teaneck, Hackensack, and the rest of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Passaic counties
- Central Jersey: New Brunswick, Princeton, Edison, Elizabeth, Plainfield, Trenton, and Middlesex, Union, Somerset, and Mercer counties
- The Jersey Shore: Asbury Park, Red Bank, Long Branch, Toms River, and Monmouth and Ocean counties
- South Jersey: Camden, Cherry Hill, Willingboro, Atlantic City, Vineland, and every corner of the state
In-Person Sessions in Nearby White Plains, NY
Prefer to meet face to face? Our office at 30 Glenn Street, Suite 205, White Plains, NY 10603 is within driving distance for many North Jersey clients. Some women choose in-person sessions for EMDR intensives or deeper trauma work, when it helps to leave home and step into a space set aside just for healing.
What We Help With in New Jersey
- Individual therapy for anxiety, depression, burnout, and life transitions, built around your real life.
- Chronic illness counseling with specialized expertise in endometriosis, adenomyosis, PMDD, cancer, and autoimmune conditions.
- EMDR therapy for medical trauma, PTSD, and C-PTSD. Faith-informed EMDR is available if you want to bring your faith into this body-based work.
- Brainspotting, a body-based therapy built on the idea that where you look affects how you feel. It helps you process trauma your body is still holding.
- EMDR intensives that condense weeks of therapy into a focused half-day or full-day format, online or in person in White Plains.
- EMDR groups, including G-TEP for women with endometriosis and medical trauma, GREP2 for single Christians with dating anxiety, and R-TEP for vicarious trauma in women’s health professionals.
- Christian counseling for church hurt, spiritual burnout, and crisis of faith, with no spiritual bypassing.
- EndoKin Collective, a cohort-based EMDR group for Black women living with endometriosis and medical trauma.
Who We Work With in New Jersey
- BIPOC Christian women living with chronic illness or chronic pain
- Women who have been dismissed, misdiagnosed, or harmed in medical settings
- Women carrying church hurt or questions about God that feel hard to say out loud
- Women in healthcare, ministry, and helping professions who are always the strong one
- Therapists looking for their own therapy (Therapy for Therapists)
Workshops, Consultation, and Speaking Across New Jersey
Shakira O’Garro, LMHC-D, LPCC, LPC, NCC, is available for workshops, consultation, and speaking engagements for churches, hospitals, nonprofits, and workplaces across New Jersey. Drawing on clinical expertise and lived experience, she speaks and trains on:
- Medical trauma and medical gaslighting
- Chronic illness, endometriosis, and mental health
- Caregiver burnout
- Faith, lament, and healing
- Culturally responsive care for BIPOC women
To book a workshop, consultation, or speaking engagement, reach out on our contact page.
A Note on Clinical Supervision
Clinical supervision is currently offered in New York only, where Shakira holds diagnostic privilege (LMHC-D). Supervision for New Jersey counselors is in the works. Sign up for our newsletter at the bottom of this page to hear when it opens, or learn more on our Clinical Supervision page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you offer online therapy in New Jersey?
Yes. Cheerful Heart provides secure telehealth throughout New Jersey, including Newark, Jersey City, Montclair, Princeton, Cherry Hill, and statewide. Shakira is licensed as an LPC in New Jersey.
Is there a therapist licensed in both New Jersey and New York?
Yes. Shakira is licensed as an LPC in New Jersey and as an LMHC-D in New York, so clients who live, work, or travel between the two states can keep working with the same therapist.
Can I see a therapist in person if I live in North Jersey?
Yes. Our office in White Plains, NY is within driving distance for many North Jersey clients, especially in Bergen and Passaic counties. In-person sessions are available for individual therapy and EMDR intensives.
Can I find a Black Christian therapist in New Jersey who specializes in chronic illness?
Yes. We specialize in supporting BIPOC Christian women living with endometriosis, adenomyosis, PMDD, cancer, and autoimmune conditions. Our care combines evidence-based EMDR with genuine respect for your faith.
How does EMDR help with medical trauma?
EMDR helps your brain reprocess distressing memories, like dismissive doctors, painful procedures, repeated ER visits, or years of diagnostic delay, so they stop triggering a fight-or-flight response. We use specialized protocols like R-TEP and G-TEP that work well for medical trauma.
Do you take insurance in New Jersey?
Cheerful Heart is a private-pay practice. If you have out-of-network benefits, we work with Thrizer so you can seek reimbursement from your plan. Visit our Rates page to estimate your costs.
Do I have to be Christian to work with you?
No. We specialize in faith-integrated care for Black Christian women, and we warmly welcome clients of all faiths, races, and backgrounds. We are an inclusive practice.
You’ve carried this long enough on your own. Book your free 15-minute consultation and let’s talk about what healing could look like for you, whether online anywhere in New Jersey or in person in White Plains.
