PSYCHOTHERAPY AND COUNSELING
NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK
Your Symptoms are Trying to Tell You Something. Let's Listen
Two people can arrive to psychotherapy with the same symptom and need entirely different work. What happens in therapy takes its shape from you, and from the relationship we build, which is why my practice is called Person to Person Psychotherapy and Counseling.
Therapist in New Jersey & New York
Amanda Frudakis-Ruckel: Licensed Clinical Social Worker
I was born, raised, educated, and clinically trained in New York. In 2019, my family and I moved to Long Valley, New Jersey, and it quickly became home. Within this close-knit town, I’ve discovered what so many of us seek—a pace of life that allows for both professional fulfillment and personal joy. From family dinners to impromptu movie marathons and shared adventures with my husband and two children, I’ve learned a way of living that feels right for me.
My life has taken many forms, but at its core, it’s always been about expression, connection, and growth—the same principles I bring to my work as a psychotherapist.I am drawn to the threshold places, the in-between spaces where something old is ending and something new has not yet taken form, and to the questions that do not resolve neatly. Not everyone grows along a conventional path, and I welcome those whose lives have taken them beyond the lines.
Something shifts when another person witnesses your story: when you finally say the thing you never thought you’d say out loud, and it’s met with presence instead of judgment. Here, two people meet, and you don’t have to become someone more acceptable. You get to share what you’ve hidden and carried alone for so long.
Clinical Experience and Education
Education and Training
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Master's in Social Work: Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services, 2016
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Bachelor's in Psychology: SUNY Stony Brook University
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Certified Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator
Professional Experience
My career path includes:
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Clinical Supervisor for Resilience Lab, now, Cerebral, a virtual mental health startup
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Research leadership for the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism, a nation wide longitudinal research study
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Clinical work at prestigious institutions:
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Memorial Sloan Kettering
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Weill Cornell Medicine
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Francis Residency Program for Women and Infants
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Jarvie Commonweal Service
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Clinical training through NYC's Mental Health Service Corps., under the supervision of a psychiatrist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker
My Therapeutic Toolkit Includes
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
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Trauma-informed yoga therapy & bilateral movement
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Narrative therapy & existential frameworks
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Mind-body integration and holistic wellness tools
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Practical strategies for daily challenges
Speciality Areas
I help adults face the pain that comes with being human: grief, estrangement, regret, aging, loneliness, the question of whether any of it means anything. My approach is existential and insight-oriented, and it draws on Jungian thinking and concepts. I don’t try to talk you out of what hurts. I help you meet it with enough steadiness that it no longer runs your life, and so that sorrow and joy can live in the same life.
Something in you has already begun the journey. Let us meet there.
At Person to Person Psychotherapy & Counseling, you’ll work with a therapist who has sat with many people at the edge of big questions, and who knows from her own life that facing them is hard. Together, we make room for who you are becoming.
The best and quickest way to get in touch with Amanda is by email at info@person2persontherapy.com. You’re welcome to ask any questions you have about the therapy process and explore fit.
