About Marilyn
Marilyn Rukaj provides calm, practical support for people dealing with stress, anxiety, relationship struggles, trauma and abuse, low self-esteem, and depression. She introduces straightforward ways to manage symptoms and rebuild confidence. Marilyn speaks plainly and focuses on small, achievable steps that fit into daily life.
Marilyn holds the Licensed Mental Health Counselor credential and also lists Licensed Professional Counselor. She has seven years of clinical experience in New Jersey and New York settings.
Background and approach
That background includes work with people facing complex situations such as chronic illness, caregiver stress, attachment and abandonment concerns, and dissociation. Sessions are collaborative. Marilyn tailors conversations and plans to each person’s needs rather than using a one-size-fits-all method.
She listens for patterns that drive worry, avoidance, or conflict and helps clients experiment with practical ways to change those patterns. She pays attention to relationship dynamics, communication problems, and issues around commitment and codependency. Marilyn also supports people coping with aging-related concerns, blended family stress, and the emotional aftermath of disasters.
Her style is respectful and compassionate. Marilyn encourages steady progress through achievable goals and regular check-ins. She aims to help clients notice small shifts that add up to clearer thinking and improved day-to-day functioning.
How therapeutic methods meet online care
Evidence-based therapeutic techniques focus on patterns of thought, behavior, and relationship interaction. One approach emphasizes practical skill-building to reduce anxiety and depression by teaching concrete coping strategies and short, doable exercises that can be practiced between sessions. This helps when daily symptoms make routine tasks harder.Another approach centers on understanding attachment and relationship patterns. It looks at how early experiences shape current responses to closeness, trust, and abandonment, and then works on changing unhelpful patterns through guided conversation and communication practice.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to choose methods that match their goals, needs, and comfort level, and will adjust the plan as progress unfolds.
Online formats offer flexibility for people with busy schedules or mobility limits. Video calls let therapists observe nonverbal cues and run longer sessions, while phone sessions use less bandwidth and can be easier when the client prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging support brief check-ins, quick skills practice, or ongoing reflections between longer sessions. Together these options help make consistent care easier to fit into real life.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Trauma and abuse
Also works with
- Abandonment
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- Guilt and shame
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Life purpose
- Multicultural concerns
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Somatization
- Traumatic brain injury
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
- Experience
- 7 years
- Licensed
- New York, New Jersey
- Languages
- English