Jersey Medical Care

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Jersey Medical Care offers compassionate mental health services that include therapy and psychiatry regardless of race, ethnicity, s*xuality, or gender identity.

12/22/2025

Just because it’s common doesn’t mean it’s healthy or inevitable.

Relationship patterns you might have normalized:

✨”We never resolve conflicts, we just wait until we’re not mad anymore.” Unresolved conflicts accumulate resentment. Healthy couples reach resolution, even if imperfect.

✨ “We’re fine as long as we avoid certain topics.” Chronic avoidance of important topics (money, s*x, future plans, feelings) creates distance and resentment.

✨ “Fighting is just how we communicate.” Frequent intense conflict isn’t “passion” it’s a sign communication skills need development.

✨ “My partner needs space after arguments; I don’t hear from them for days.” Needing brief cool-down time is healthy. Days of silent treatment is stonewalling, a destructive pattern.

✨ “We’re both just stubborn, so someone has to win.” Relationships aren’t competitions. If someone has to “win” arguments, you’re both losing.

These patterns are common, but they’re not inevitable. With awareness and skill-building, couples can develop healthier communication, genuine conflict resolution, and deeper emotional intimacy.

Stephanie Quiroga, LCSW helps couples recognize patterns they’ve normalized and replace them with healthier ways of relating. You don’t have to accept dysfunction as “just how relationships are.”

Book your appointment today.

"We were fine until we had a baby/moved/changed jobs. Now we fight all the time. Are we incompatible or is this normal?"...
12/21/2025

"We were fine until we had a baby/moved/changed jobs. Now we fight all the time. Are we incompatible or is this normal?" 👇

It's normal and it's fixable.

Major life transitions stress even the strongest relationships because they require renegotiating everything: roles, responsibilities, expectations, schedules, priorities. When both partners are stressed and adjusting, you have less patience, less emotional bandwidth, and less capacity to support each other.

Common transition triggers:
🙀New parenthood: Sudden role changes, sleep deprivation, loss of couple identity, unequal division of labor, different parenting philosophies surfacing.

👩‍⚕️Career changes: Income shifts affecting power dynamics, schedule disruptions, identity questions, one partner's sacrifice creating resentment.

📍Geographic moves: One wanted it, one didn't. Different adjustment timelines. Loss of support systems. Starting over socially.

🩺Health challenges: Role reversals (caregiver vs. patient), financial stress, fear and uncertainty, changed physical intimacy.

The expectation gap makes it worse. You imagined this transition differently. You thought your partner would respond differently. Neither of you is wrong you just had different mental pictures that you never explicitly discussed.

Under stress, attachment styles intensify. Anxious attachers seek more closeness (which can feel suffocating to stressed partners). Avoidant attachers need more space (which feels like abandonment to anxious partners). This creates the pursue-withdraw cycle that damages relationships.

What actually helps:
• Naming the stress explicitly
• Communicating needs instead of expecting mind-reading
• Regular check-ins before issues explode
• Recognizing you're on the same team, fighting the stress, not each other

If transition stress has lasted more than 6 months, if resentment is hardening, or if you're becoming roommates instead of partners couples therapy can help you navigate the transition together.

Relationship researcher John Gottman has studied thousands of couples and can predict with 90% accuracy whether a relati...
12/18/2025

Relationship researcher John Gottman has studied thousands of couples and can predict with 90% accuracy whether a relationship will last based on specific communication patterns he calls "The Four Horsemen."

The good news? These are learned patterns, not fixed personality traits. With awareness and practice, couples can replace destructive communication with healthier patterns.

The Four Horsemen:
✨Criticism: Attacking your partner's character instead of addressing specific behaviors. "You're so lazy" vs. "I'm frustrated the dishes are still in the sink."

✨Contempt: The most toxic pattern. Eye-rolling, sarcasm, mockery, name-calling. Contempt communicates disgust and superiority—poison for relationships.

✨Defensiveness: Refusing to take any responsibility, deflecting blame, making excuses. It escalates conflict instead of de-escalating it.

✨Stonewalling: Shutting down emotionally, giving silent treatment, refusing to engage. Often happens when someone feels overwhelmed, but it makes partners feel abandoned.

👉The antidotes exist: Gottman's research also shows exactly how to counteract these patterns through specific communication techniques, repair attempts, and building cultures of appreciation.
This is what couples therapy teaches. Not generic "communicate better" advice, but actual tools for breaking destructive patterns and building healthier ones.

Stephanie Quiroga, LCSW is Gottman Trained couples therapy approaches that help partners recognize their patterns, understand why they're happening, and develop new ways of relating that actually work.

Most couples don't even realize they're stuck in these patterns until someone points them out. Recognition is the first step toward change.

12/17/2025

You can love someone deeply and still need professional support to improve how you relate to each other. 🤯

Couples therapy isn't about determining if you should stay together. It's about learning to communicate better, understand each other more deeply, and build a stronger foundation whether you're happily together and want to stay that way or struggling and need tools to reconnect.

Signs couples therapy could help:
✨You have the same argument repeatedly without resolution
✨Communication patterns are stuck (one pursues, one withdraws)
✨ You're intimate but not emotionally connected
✨ Life transitions are creating unexpected tension
✨ Past hurts haven't been fully processed
✨ You want to strengthen your relationship before problems develop

Stephanie Quiroga, LCSW works with couples at all stages of their relationship, from engaged couples building strong foundations to long-term partners rebuilding after challenges.

What sets relationship therapy apart from venting to friends: A trained therapist can identify patterns you don't see, teach communication skills that actually work, create safe space for difficult conversations, and help both partners feel heard without taking sides.

The couples who benefit most from therapy are often those who come before they're desperate. Don't wait until you're considering separation to invest in your relationship.

Boundaries aren’t selfish, they’re essential. Say no to chaos and yes to calm this holiday season.If your anxiety spikes...
12/17/2025

Boundaries aren’t selfish, they’re essential. Say no to chaos and yes to calm this holiday season.

If your anxiety spikes around family, therapy can help you practice setting limits that stick. Book your virtual or in-person appointment to get started and have peace this holiday, finally.

"We're not in crisis, but we keep having the same arguments. Is it too early for couples therapy?"It's not too early, it...
12/16/2025

"We're not in crisis, but we keep having the same arguments. Is it too early for couples therapy?"
It's not too early, it's actually the perfect time.🏆

The biggest misconception about couples therapy is that it's only for relationships on the brink of divorce. In reality, couples therapy is most effective when you come BEFORE you're in crisis, when resentment hasn't hardened into contempt, when you still have goodwill toward each other but need better tools.🛠️

Times when couples therapy is especially helpful (even when things are "fine"):

✨During major life transitions: New baby, job loss or career change, moving, financial changes, health diagnoses. These stressors strain even strong relationships.
✨Before getting engaged or married: Premarital counseling helps you discuss important topics (finances, kids, conflict styles, expectations) before making a lifelong commitment.
✨When communication patterns aren't working: You have the same fight repeatedly. One person shuts down while the other pursues. You can't discuss certain topics without it escalating.
✨When you want to be closer: You're roommates more than partners. Intimacy has faded. You're not unhappy, but you're not deeply connected either.
✨After betrayal but before resentment hardens: If there's been infidelity or broken trust, early intervention makes repair more possible.

Stephanie Quiroga, LCSW specializes in couples therapy and helps partners strengthen their relationship, improve communication, and navigate life's challenges together. She works with couples at all stages from "we're fine but want to be better" to "we're struggling and need help now."

What patients say about couples therapy: "We learned to actually hear each other." "It gave us tools we use every day." "We wish we'd come sooner." "It saved our relationship." 💙

The best time to invest in your relationship is before you're desperate to save it or totally checked out.

What an insightful post by Tracey Marks, MD
12/15/2025

What an insightful post by Tracey Marks, MD

12/15/2025

The word "just" minimizes real suffering. Have you noticed that?

"It's JUST work stress." "It's JUST a difficult family situation." "It's JUST temporary financial pressure."
But if that stress is causing panic attacks, sleep disruption, relationship conflict, physical symptoms, or making it hard to function, it's not "just" anything. It's a real mental health concern that deserves real support.

Yes, lots of people experience work stress, family conflict, and financial pressure. That doesn't mean you're supposed to white-knuckle through it without support. When stress is interfering with your quality of life, it's time to get help. Not when you hit rock bottom. Not when you have a breakdown. Not when everything falls apart. Now. While you still have the capacity to implement better coping strategies.

Our team specializes in exactly this: helping people navigate situational stress before it becomes chronic anxiety, depression, or burnout. Short-term therapy focused on specific stressors can make a tremendous difference.

You deserve support, not because your stress is "bad enough," but because you're human and humans aren't meant to carry everything alone.

If you dread Sunday nights so intensely that it affects your sleep, your mood, and your whole weekend, that's not just "...
12/14/2025

If you dread Sunday nights so intensely that it affects your sleep, your mood, and your whole weekend, that's not just "not wanting to go to work." That's your nervous system telling you something is wrong.💀

Sunday scaries aren't the same as Monday morning blues. A little reluctance to end the weekend is normal. But if you're experiencing physical symptoms, intense anxiety, racing thoughts about everything that could go wrong at work, or fantasizing about quitting every single week, that's a signal worth paying attention to.👇

What Sunday scaries might be telling you:
• Your job stress has become unsustainable
• You're experiencing workplace anxiety or trauma
• You're burned out
• Your work-life boundaries are non-existent
• Your work isn't aligned with your values or strengths

Ignoring chronic Sunday scaries has real consequences: sleep disruption that affects your entire week, increased risk of anxiety disorders, physical health problems from chronic stress, decreased work performance (creating a vicious cycle), and strain on your personal relationships. 💙

Therapy can help you sort through what's happening. Is it the specific job? The field? Your coping strategies? Your boundaries? Sometimes it's about developing better stress management tools. Sometimes it's about recognizing you need to make a change. 🏆

You spend roughly 1/3 of your life working. If Sundays are consistently filled with dread instead of rest, something needs to shift. We can help you figure out what and how.

One of the most common questions we hear: "How do I know if I need medication or just therapy?" The answer isn't always ...
12/11/2025

One of the most common questions we hear: "How do I know if I need medication or just therapy?" The answer isn't always clear-cut, and that's okay. That's why having experienced prescribers who take time to understand your full picture is so important. 🏆

Our psychiatric prescribers— Sandra Masino-Kallinowski, Felix Ramos, Melanie Saray, and Dara Madden, bring decades of combined experience and a shared philosophy: Medication is one tool in the toolkit, never the only answer, and always your choice.👇

Here's what sets our prescribers apart:

💙 They actually listen. Initial evaluations are 45-60 minutes, not rushed 15-minute appointments.
💙 They want to understand your history, your symptoms, and your goals.
💙 They collaborate, not dictate. Medication decisions are made together, based on your preferences, concerns, and how you're responding to treatment.
💙 They work with your therapist. With your permission, our prescribers and therapists communicate directly, so your care is unified and effective.
💙 They understand nuance. Not everyone with anxiety needs medication. Not everyone with depression responds to the same treatment. They personalize care based on YOUR experience.

What patients consistently mention in reviews: "She/he actually cares." "They listen and don't rush." "They helped me find medication that works without making me feel like a different person."

If you're wondering whether medication might help, our prescribers can evaluate your situation and give you honest, informed recommendations. No pressure. No judgment. Just professional guidance from people who genuinely care about your wellbeing.

Holiday stress can build slowly — until it doesn’t. Pay attention to your warning signs.If your mood or energy has shift...
12/11/2025

Holiday stress can build slowly — until it doesn’t. Pay attention to your warning signs.

If your mood or energy has shifted, reach out. Medication adjustments or therapy check-ins can make all the difference. Our clinicians and providers are here to help. Book your appointment this week > Link in bio.

"I'm so stressed that I'm yelling at my kids over tiny things, then feeling terrible about it. I know they need me to be...
12/10/2025

"I'm so stressed that I'm yelling at my kids over tiny things, then feeling terrible about it. I know they need me to be calm, but I don't have anything left to give. If this resonates, you're not alone - and you're not failing as a parent. 😘

The reality of parenting during your own stress: You're expected to be emotionally regulated, patient, and present for your children while dealing with work pressure, financial stress, relationship challenges, or health concerns. It's an impossible standard.😒

What happens in reality: Your stress tolerance drops. Small things trigger big reactions. Your kids sense your stress and act out more, which increases your stress, which decreases your patience. It's a cycle that feels impossible to break. 😱

The guilt makes it worse. You know your kids need you to be calm and present. You see other parents who seem to manage better. You feel like you're failing them. This guilt doesn't motivate change it just adds another layer of stress. Here's what actually helps:👇

✨Address your own stress first. You can't pour from an empty cup. Talking to a specialist about your stress isn't selfish, it's essential for your family's wellbeing.

✨Learn stress-specific parenting strategies. How you parent during calm times doesn't work during high-stress periods. You need different tools.

✨Understand your kids' stress responses. They're not trying to make your life harder, they're reacting to the stress they're sensing from you and their environment.

✨Consider family therapy. When the whole family system is stressed, working together can create faster, more lasting change. David Cooper, LCSW has 25 years of experience helping families navigate stress and rebuild connection.

You're doing the best you can with what you have right now. Getting support isn't admitting defeat, it's choosing to get better tools so you can be the parent you want to be. https://www.jerseymedicalcare.com/

Address

Matawan, NJ

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 6pm
Tuesday 9am - 6pm
Wednesday 9am - 6pm
Thursday 9am - 6pm
Friday 9am - 2pm

Telephone

+17327074100

Website

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