Elaine Hughes, LICSW, LCSW

Elaine Hughes is a licensed clinical social worker practicing in New Jersey. She holds LICSW and LCSW credentials and brings 19 years of experience to supporting people through major life stresses. Elaine focuses on helping people manage anxiety, stress, grief, trauma, and depression with a direct, compassionate approach.

She views each person as the expert on their own life and builds on existing strengths. Sessions are practical and down to earth. Elaine helps people name what feels hard, notice unhelpful patterns, and try small changes that can make daily life easier.

Her work often includes attention to attachment and relationship patterns that shape how people cope. She uses techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness to help slow racing thoughts and reduce overwhelm. Strategies from dialectical behavior therapy support emotion regulation and tolerating distress when things feel very hard.

Elaine also brings a trauma-informed lens to conversations about past hurt and loss. She helps people process grief, navigate major life transitions, and address health-related or caregiver stress. Aging and geriatric issues are listed among the areas she focuses on.

Sessions aim to be collaborative and paced to each persons needs. Elaine encourages practical steps between meetings so progress carries into everyday routines. To begin, people complete a short matching questionnaire and schedule according to therapist availability.

Approaches you can try in online sessions

Attachment-Based work focuses on how early and current relationships shape emotions and needs. It helps people understand patterns in close relationships and reduce repeating the same hurts. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at how thoughts affect feelings and actions and teaches clear skills to change unhelpful thinking and behavior. Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, offers practical tools for regulating strong emotions and tolerating distress without acting on it.

Finding the right approach is part of the process. Elaine will work with each person to decide which combination of strategies fits their goals and preferences. That choice is collaborative and may change as therapy progresses.

Confirm current session options before booking, as formats are not listed here. Online work can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter or more flexible check-ins when needed. Many people find that using talk work alongside skill practice helps carry gains into everyday life.