If food and your body take up more mental space than they should, you're not alone and you don't need a formal diagnosis to deserve support. At Clear Light Therapy in Englewood, NJ, we use a 10-chapter clinical workbook with clients across Bergen County and Monmouth County to address the root causes of disordered eating: diet culture, emotional coping, body image, intuitive eating, and building a life that doesn't revolve around food. Here's what that work actually looks like.

Panic attacks can feel like a medical emergency, racing heart, chest tightness, the terrifying certainty that something is catastrophically wrong. As a Bergen County anxiety therapist specializing in panic disorder, I've worked with clients across Englewood, Ridgewood, Tenafly, and Paramus who spent months, sometimes years, living in fear of the next episode. In this post, I break down exactly what a panic attack feels like physically and psychologically, how long they actually last, why they happen at night without warning, and how to tell them apart from a cardiac event. Understanding your nervous system is the first step toward taking your life back.

If anxiety, OCD, phobias, stress, or an eating disorder have made your world feel smaller, you're not alone, and you're not stuck. Dana Colthart, LCSW, clinical director of Clear Light Therapy in Englewood, NJ, recently joined the Real Health Radio podcast for a 90-minute deep dive into why these conditions take hold, why willpower and avoidance make things worse, and what evidence-based treatment like ERP and ACT actually looks like. Serving Bergen County, Monmouth County, and all of New Jersey. Out-of-network provider.

Do intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, or relentless "what if" spirals feel impossible to escape? You're not alone, and you're not broken. In this guide, the specialized therapists at Clear Light Therapy in Englewood, NJ break down what OCD, anxiety, phobias, and rumination really look like, why traditional therapy often falls short, and what evidence-based treatments like ERP and ACT actually do to create lasting relief. If you're in Bergen County or anywhere in New Jersey and ready to stop managing and start healing, this is for you.

If you’ve spent years thinking about food, weight, and your body, trying diets, positive thinking, or therapy, and still feel stuck, the Workbook for Healing Your Relationship With Food & Body can help. At Clear Light Therapy, we combine this 50+ page workbook with therapist guidance to help you understand eating disorders, challenge unhelpful thoughts, and practice practical strategies for lasting change.

Eating disorders do not look the way most people expect them to. They do not announce themselves, and they do not live in a single body type. The person struggling might be sitting across from you at school pickup in Ridgewood, or quietly skipping dinner again in Tenafly, and no one around them has any idea how much of their life is being consumed by it. At Clear Light Therapy, we treat anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, and ARFID using CBT-E, DBT, and ACT within a HAES-informed framework that treats every person with dignity. And because eating disorders rarely travel alone, we are one of the few practices in Bergen County equipped to treat the co-occurring anxiety, OCD, and depression that so often sit underneath them. Recovery is possible. You do not have to be in crisis to deserve help.

Ridgewood looks like a place where people have it together. And most of the people who reach out to us from Ridgewood do, in every way that is visible to the world. What is not visible is the thought they cannot stop replaying, the panic attack that quietly reorganized their driving routes, or the intrusive thought that arrived one ordinary Tuesday and has not left since. If any of that sounds familiar, you are not alone and you are not stuck. At Clear Light Therapy, we specialize in OCD, anxiety, phobias, and panic disorder using ERP and ACT, the treatments the research actually supports. You do not have to keep managing this quietly.

There is a version of anxiety that nobody around you can see. You show up, you function, you keep going. But inside, something is constantly running in the background. A thought you cannot shake. A what-if you cannot answer. A panic attack that came out of nowhere and has quietly been reorganizing your life ever since. If you live in Tenafly, Alpine, or Englewood Cliffs and any of that sounds familiar, this page was written for you. At Clear Light Therapy, we specialize in OCD, anxiety, social anxiety, phobias, and panic disorder using ERP and ACT, the treatments the research actually supports. You do not have to keep carrying this alone.

OCD is not what most people think it is. It is not just washing hands or checking locks. It is the exhausting loop of doubt, the intrusive thought you cannot shake, the ritual that brings temporary relief and then quietly asks for more. If you have been living inside that cycle in Englewood or anywhere in Bergen County, you already know how much energy it takes just to get through a regular day. At Clear Light Therapy in Englewood, NJ, we treat OCD the way the research says it should be treated, with structured ERP, ACT-based skills, and a level of specialization that most general therapy practices simply cannot offer.

Spring in New Jersey brings longer days and warmer weather but for those living with anxiety, OCD, or depression, the seasonal shift isn't always a relief. From the jet-lag effect of losing an hour of sleep to the way summer heat can mimic the physical sensations of a panic attack, this time of year affects your nervous system in ways most people don't realize. The good news? More sunlight genuinely helps your brain, and with the right skills, you can navigate the season without losing ground.

Finding the right eating disorder therapist can feel overwhelming, especially when many providers claim expertise but lack specialized training. If you’re searching for an eating disorder therapist in Bergen County, NJ, this guide explains how to identify clinicians who truly understand eating disorder recovery, evidence-based treatment approaches, and what questions to ask before starting therapy. Whether you’re struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, or disordered eating patterns, the right therapist can make a powerful difference in your recovery journey.

Do you replay conversations, analyze decisions, or obsess over the same thought for hours? Rumination is a common mental loop seen in anxiety disorders, OCD, panic disorder, depression, and even ADHD. While it feels like problem-solving, it often increases anxiety and reinforces doubt. In this blog, Bergen County therapist Dana Colthart explains why rumination happens, how it functions as a mental compulsion in OCD, and how evidence-based treatments like ACT and ERP help you shift attention instead of trying to stop your thoughts. If overthinking is exhausting you, there is a different way forward.

When a major snowstorm hits New Jersey, it’s not just roads that shut down, our sense of control can feel frozen too. Being plowed in or stuck at home can trigger panic, obsessive “what if” thoughts, low mood, and restlessness, especially for those with anxiety, OCD, depression, or ADHD. In this blog, I explain why winter storms can intensify mental health symptoms and what you can do to cope safely and effectively.

ADHD and OCD often overlap, yet many people don’t realize they’re dealing with both. ADHD can look like time blindness, executive functioning struggles, emotional reactivity, and difficulty starting tasks. OCD involves intrusive, ego-dystonic thoughts followed by compulsions that temporarily reduce anxiety but keep the cycle going. When these conditions co-occur, treatment needs to address both. At Clear Light Therapy in Bergen County, NJ, we provide specialized ERP for OCD and executive functioning support for ADHD, with virtual therapy available across NJ.

Struggling with driving anxiety or fear of driving in New Jersey? From the Parkway to Route 17, NJ roads can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve experienced panic attacks while driving. Learn how Bergen County therapy using ERP and ACT can help you overcome fear of driving and regain confidence.

Eating disorder recovery is not just about food, it’s about how you speak to yourself when food feels hard. For individuals struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge-eating disorder, ARFID, and co-occurring OCD, self-criticism often fuels restriction, bingeing, and shame. Self-compassion offers a different path. By learning to respond to hunger, intrusive thoughts, and body image distress with steadiness instead of punishment, recovery becomes more sustainable. At our practice serving Englewood and Bergen County, NJ, we integrate evidence-based therapy, HAES-informed care, and collaboration with dietitians to support lasting healing.

Relationship OCD (ROCD) causes constant doubts about your partner, your feelings, and whether you should break up, even when there’s no real evidence of a problem. Learn how ROCD differs from normal relationship anxiety and how specialized anxiety therapy NJ and OCD therapy NJ can help you stop compulsive reassurance seeking and regain clarity.

Guest Post - Molly Stremba. Molly Stremba is the owner and founder of Internal Compass.Many adults with OCD understand their fears logically yet still feel trapped by urgency, self-doubt, and compulsive patterns. This article explores how early emotional experiences, chronic stress, and grief can shape the nervous system and contribute to obsessive-compulsive cycles and how combining ERP with trauma-informed therapy can support deeper, lasting change.

Many people are diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder when they are actually experiencing OCD. Because OCD can involve mental compulsions like rumination, reassurance seeking, and overanalyzing thoughts, it is often mistaken for chronic worry. When OCD is treated as general anxiety, therapy can unintentionally reinforce the cycle and keep people stuck. In this blog, Dana Colthart of Clear Light Therapy explains why OCD is frequently missed, how reassurance and traditional talk therapy can worsen symptoms, and why ERP and ACT are effective treatments for both anxiety disorders and OCD. If you’ve tried therapy before but still feel trapped in intrusive thoughts or constant analysis, understanding the difference between GAD and OCD can change the direction of treatment.

Many people in Bergen County and Monmouth County, NJ, struggle with anxiety, panic attacks, and OCD despite attending traditional talk therapy. While conversation and reassurance may feel supportive, they often don’t reduce fear, compulsions, or avoidance. At Clear Light Therapy in Englewood, NJ, we specialize in ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) and ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), evidence-based approaches that teach clients how to face anxiety, tolerate discomfort, and regain control over their lives. Unlike traditional therapy, ERP and ACT focus on practical skills, in-office exposures, and actionable plans to address panic attacks, intrusive thoughts, and avoidance behaviors.