About Me
I wanted to be a therapist long before I knew what therapy was. I’ve always been curious about people and wanted to know all about them and to understand what made them, them. From the mundane to the obscure, all of it matters. How you like your coffee, what song you listen to when you need a good cry, your failures and sacrifices. It all matters because all of these stories weave into something complex and human and uniquely you.
After decades of listening to stories and bearing witness to all the corners and edges of humanity, I’ve found the details matter. It’s my privilege to be able to listen to all the details of your life.
Stella Jang, LCSW
Here is some general information about my education and professional training to help you get to know how I work.
I earned my MSW from New York University in 2001. After NYU, I completed a post-master’s social work fellowship at the Yale Child Study Center where I learned how to understand and work with children and their families from a psychodynamic orientation.
I spent the following twelve years as a Treatment Care Coordinator at New York Presbyterian Hospital - Westchester Division working on both the child and the adolescent inpatient units, and briefly in the Child Outpatient Department. These years helped me to understand symptoms and diagnoses and treatment.
I left NYPH in 2014 to work in New Jersey. First, as a psychotherapist at Hackensack University Medical Center’s Debra Simon Center and then I joined a private group practice in Northern New Jersey. During this time, I started to work with adults across the lifespan. My extensive experience working with children and families prepared me well for working with adults.
Presently, I work with adolescents and adults and specialize in the treatment of mood disorders, complex family systems, and relationships.
Additionally, I have attended and completed numerous trainings to deepen my clinical expertise and actively continue to do so. Most recently, I completed my second certificate course through The William Alanson White Institute in NYC.
So, hopefully, you now have an idea of what goes into the way I work. What else goes into how I work is who I am as a person. I immigrated to the US as a very young child and grew up in New York and New Jersey which afforded plenty of opportunities to navigate my ethnic and cultural identities. My lived experience as a Korean American invariably informs my work but my clinical training has allowed me to be aware of our similarities and differences. Recognizing your uniqueness and subjectivity will be the focus of our work.
Lastly, I truly love my work and consider it a privilege to be in this field. I hope to be useful to you and welcome the opportunity for us to work together.