Elizabeth Bracey, MA, LPC

Elizabeth Bracey, MA, LPC Elizabeth Bracey, MA, LPC
Therapist | School Counselor | Author of Mount Evelynn Erupts

Healthy child and adolescent development is the foundation for lifelong resilience and well-being. As both a Licensed Professional Counselor and school counselor, I specialize in working with children, teens, and young adults through life’s pivotal transitions — from early childhood to adolescence and beyond. My approach blends person-centered play therapy, art-based interventions, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), solution-focused techniques, and mindfulness practices. I believe in “out-of-the-box” therapy — creative, individualized methods that allow young people to express themselves freely, discover their strengths, and build healthy coping skills for emotional and social challenges. By fostering a supportive and empathetic environment, my goal is to help clients shift negative thought patterns into positive ones, encouraging growth, confidence, and self-understanding. "To my mind, empathy is in itself a healing agent... If a person is understood, he or she belongs."
— Carl Rogers

This month holds so much—hope, heaviness, and new beginnings. As Advent starts, I’m reminded of how deeply this year has...
12/01/2025

This month holds so much—hope, heaviness, and new beginnings. As Advent starts, I’m reminded of how deeply this year has changed me, personally and professionally. 2025 was full of transitions, grief, and growth, and December invites us to close the chapter gently. It’s okay to look in the rearview mirror without staying there. It’s okay to create new traditions while still grieving the old ones.

The holidays can feel overwhelming, and our kids feel our energy more than we realize. Slow your pace. Set the boundaries you need. Offer yourself the same compassion you give everyone else.

This season, choose what feels grounding: fewer commitments, more connection; simple routines, soft moments; naming feelings, taking breaks, and letting joy arrive in small, honest ways.

Thrilled to add “My Brain Is a Home” book set to the office bookshelf!A wonderful, kid-friendly way to teach brain basic...
11/28/2025

Thrilled to add “My Brain Is a Home” book set to the office bookshelf!

A wonderful, kid-friendly way to teach brain basics and emotional awareness. 🧠 ✨
books

The science is clear ➡️ gratitude is a simple habit with powerful benefits 🤎
11/27/2025

The science is clear ➡️ gratitude is a simple habit with powerful benefits 🤎

The holidays can be wonderful—but they can also feel overwhelming for little ones. New environments, changes in routine,...
11/27/2025

The holidays can be wonderful—but they can also feel overwhelming for little ones. New environments, changes in routine, big emotions, excitement, and family dynamics all play a part.

If your child is feeling overstimulated or out of sorts, you’re not alone. Here are some simple, in-the-moment grounding techniques to help them feel safe, calm, and connected during the holiday hustle. 🍂

It isn’t always graceful. Sometimes it’s the masked, shaky, surviving-anyway strength. & in healing, that version of you...
11/24/2025

It isn’t always graceful.
Sometimes it’s the masked, shaky, surviving-anyway strength.
& in healing, that version of you deserves to be seen.

If therapy always feels comfortable, you might be avoiding the conversations that lead to real change.Healthy confrontat...
11/21/2025

If therapy always feels comfortable, you might be avoiding the conversations that lead to real change.

Healthy confrontation isn’t harsh—it’s honest. Real growth happens when you face what you don’t want to hear and confront what’s keeping you stuck.

A skilled therapist knows when to challenge you with compassion.

That’s where growth begins.

Stuck in the overwhelming brain loop? 🧠 Here’s what helps: • regulate first, respond second • validate the feeling(s), n...
11/18/2025

Stuck in the overwhelming brain loop? 🧠

Here’s what helps:
• regulate first, respond second
• validate the feeling(s), not the behavior
• give limited, simple choices to restore control
• keep directions short, clear and concrete
• use predictable routines
• teach feelings, like any life skill
• be proactive - engage before the overflow
• reconnect before you correct
• reflect & celebrate progress (not perfection)

Worries can feel HUGE — like a monster living in our brain taking up all the space. But here’s the secret: we can shrink...
11/16/2025

Worries can feel HUGE — like a monster living in our brain taking up all the space. But here’s the secret: we can shrink it. We can outsmart it.

Just like Dawn Huebner teaches, worries grow when we “water” them with attention — but they shrink when we challenge them, ignore their tricks, and take back control.

| Outsmart the Worry Monster |

🧠 Draw your brain: How much space is your Worry Monster taking up? How big is it today?
👻 Create your monster/bug/bully: Use pom poms, pipe cleaners, googly eyes — make it something you can talk to.
🐜 Write down the worry thoughts: “You’re not smart enough,” “They won’t like you,” “You’ll mess up.”
🎭 Role-play: Read the worries in a silly “monster voice” and have your child talk back with strong, clear truths:

💬 “I am smart.”
💬 “I do have friends.”
💬 “I’m learning and getting better.”

CBT Skills to Outsmart the Worry Monster:
✔ Externalize the worry (monster, bug, bully)
✔ Talk back to ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts)
✔ Challenge the thought with facts
✔ Reframe: “This is a worry — not the truth.”
✔ Use art & play to shrink its power
✔ Grounding + shifting attention

When kids learn to recognize the Worry Monster’s voice — and talk back — the monster shrinks, confidence grows, and the brain finally gets its space back for calm, joy, and fun.

Holiday cheer is bubbling up!🫧•Give your kiddo the gift of emotional understanding with Mount Evelynn Erupts—a heartwarm...
11/14/2025

Holiday cheer is bubbling up!🫧
•
Give your kiddo the gift of emotional understanding with Mount Evelynn Erupts—a heartwarming story about what happens when feelings build and finally explode.
•
Grab your copy (link in bio) & use code FESTIVEFEELINGS now through 12/25 for 10% off!

🌪️🌳 Sometimes kids draw their feelings long before they can speak them. A tree standing tall beside a tornado may look s...
11/14/2025

🌪️🌳 Sometimes kids draw their feelings long before they can speak them. A tree standing tall beside a tornado may look strong, but the story behind it can reveal cracks, broken branches, and pain too big to put on paper.

Many children struggle to show vulnerability — they stay “standing,” even when the storm has already shaken them deeply. Art gives them a safer way to share what hurts, at their own pace, one mark at a time.

It’s a reminder that scars don’t make them weak… they show what they’ve survived.

11/14/2025

Whether it’s your first Christmas without a loved one or your 30th — whether they’ve passed, you’re divorced, the family unit has shifted, someone moved away, or you’re starting over — the holidays can bring up memories of the people and moments we once held close.

Be kind to yourself. Give yourself grace. Be gentle with others — you truly never know what someone is carrying. This may not be their easiest season. ❤️‍🩹

Coping strategies for holiday grief ⤵️

| Create a small ritual to honor the person or the past you’re grieving — a candle, a photo, a favorite song | Set boundaries around events or traditions that feel overwhelming this year | Let yourself feel what you feel: joy, sadness, anger, numbness — all of it is valid | Spend time with people who bring you comfort and safety | Start a new tradition, even a tiny one, that reflects where you are now | Keep your routine grounded: rest, hydration, fresh air, movement | Ask for support — from a friend, family member, or therapist — if you need it |

You’re not alone in this season, even if your heart feels heavy.

Like volcanoes, we all have limits. When emotions stay bottled up, the pressure builds — until we erupt. Healing begins ...
11/13/2025

Like volcanoes, we all have limits. When emotions stay bottled up, the pressure builds — until we erupt. Healing begins when we learn to name, express, and cool what’s bubbling beneath the surface. 💭🌋

Address

1360 US 22 W
Hackettstown, NJ
08833

Telephone

+19085091373

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