Nelly Leenman, LPC

Nelly Leenman is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) based in New Jersey. She has eight years of clinical experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, addictions, grief, trauma, and relationship concerns. Her style is warm and direct and she aims to make sessions practical and understandable for busy families.

Nelly adapts her approach to each person. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), attachment-based methods, client-centered techniques, and motivational interviewing. Sessions focus on clear goals, real-life strategies, and small steps that fit daily routines.

Clients often work on changing unhelpful thought patterns, building coping skills, and improving communication. Nelly also guides people facing intimacy issues, parenting strain, career stress, and compassion fatigue. She supports those coping with serious life events such as cancer, hospice and end-of-life concerns, immigration stress, and isolation.

Her background includes work across healthcare settings and with diverse populations. She pays close attention to how past attachment wounds and experiences of abandonment shape current patterns. Nelly also brings experience supporting people with substance use and domestic violence histories.

Therapy sessions are collaborative and paced to the client's needs. Nelly tailors treatment plans and uses motivational interviewing to strengthen readiness for change. She offers services in English and Dutch and works with clients to set achievable steps toward better daily functioning.

How these approaches translate to online therapy

CBT focuses on identifying unhelpful thoughts and changing behaviors. Online CBT sessions work on specific problems like anxiety, sleep trouble, and depression using practical exercises and homework you can do between meetings.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice values and take committed action even when uncomfortable feelings are present. In online ACT, clients learn mindfulness exercises and value-driven goals that fit daily routines and real-world choices.

Attachment-Based Therapy looks at early relationship patterns and how they affect current connections. Remotely, this can mean talking through relational patterns, practicing new ways of relating, and rehearsing communication skills during sessions.

Finding the right approach is part of therapy. The therapist works collaboratively to choose methods that match a person's goals, preferences, and needs. That means trying things, checking what helps, and adjusting the plan together.

Online formats offer flexibility for different schedules and needs. Video calls give face-to-face interaction, phone sessions use less bandwidth, live chat can be a shorter check-in, and text messaging supports ongoing reflection between sessions. These options make it easier to fit care into work, parenting, or treatment schedules while keeping focus on progress and practical tools.