WELCOME

If you are browsing through our website and are considering our services, we want to personally thank you for contemplating on entrusting us with your presenting personal issue. We want you to know that Journey Counseling Center is a "Judgement Free" type of environment. We understand that things in life do not always go as planned and it would be an honor and privilege to provide you with clinical services. If this is your first time seeking professional services or if you are thinking of using our services for continuation of care we commend you for taking the initiative, responsibility, and ownership of your mental health.

Our team is fully committed to “walk life with you”. At Journey Counseling Center we feel that ultimately it is the desire, willingness, and personal effort of an individual, combined with the professional assistance of a clinician that will yield the best possible outcomes.

We look forward to hear from you soon.

Ofrecemos servicios en Español

WHO WE ARE

Our Background

Journey Counseling Center is located in Hudson County in the state of New Jersey. We provide professional mental health services in the NJ/NY tri-state area to individuals and families who are in need of them.

We believe that a person’s mental well being is an integral component of his/her social environment, physical health, and spirituality. For this reason we have established our services and our desire is to assist. Our motto, “Walking life with you” describes our view on mental health services. We think that everyone needs support in life at any given time. We strongly feel that such is the case with mental health.

Unfortunately, there are many issues, stigmas, and misconceptions associated with mental health and mental health services. Our services aim at helping our clients deal with these issues and unravel some of these myths and misconceptions.

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OUR MISSION

The mission of Journey Counseling Center is to make professional mental health services and support accessible to all individuals and families in need of them.

OUR GOAL

Our goal is to provide our clients with professional and adequate clinical services through counseling and supportive services.

OUR CORE VALUES

Journey Counseling Center’s core values are founded on the profession of social work:

Service: Our primary goal is to help individual who are in need of services. Our clinicians will draw on their personal knowledge, values, and skills to help and address their clients.
Social justice: Our clinicians are sensitive and knowledgeable about cultural and ethnical diversity. We ensure access to needed information, services, and resources needed to assist your situation.
Dignity and worth of the individual: We respect the inherent dignity and worth of every person that receives our services.
Importance of human relationship: We engage our clients as partners in the helping process. We value the importance of relationship between our clients and clinicians.
Integrity: We place high value in the importance of ethical practices. Our clinicians are responsible, honest, and will act in a trustworthy manner.
Competence: Our team is composed of professional and competent clinicians with a diverse and rich background in the field of mental health services. We continually strive to increase our professional knowledge and skills to apply in our practice.

VICTOR H. LLERENA

LCSW, M.A.T.S., CSAM

I am a licensed clinical social worker in the states of New Jersey and New York. My specialty and area of concentration is marriage/relationship counseling. As the founder of Journey Counseling Center I have 20 years of experience providing mental health services. I have worked with adults, children, adolescents and families and have experience in the areas of marriage and relationship counseling,substance abuse, mental health, HIV, life coaching, and pastoral counseling. I am a graduate of Rutgers’s School of Social Work. I believe that every couple and case is unique and the modality of treatment should reflect this. I apply the “eclectic” (various modalities) approach of treatment with the couples that I meet. I am convinced that this type of approach allows the clinician to have more options to choose from and this ultimately benefits the client. I am an active member of the National Association of Social Workers. I stay current with best practices and modalities by attending various courses and workshops throughout the year offered in my field of expertise. I strongly feel that no one should be denied access to mental health services and this was a major drive to establish and open Journey Counseling Center.

SERVICES PROVIDED

Individual counseling (sometimes called “psychotherapy” or “counseling”) is a process through which clients work one-on-one with a trained therapist—in a safe, caring, and confidential environment—to explore their feelings, beliefs, or behaviors, work through challenging or influential memories, identify aspects of their lives that they would like to change, better understand themselves and others, set personal goals, and work toward desired change.

Couples counseling helps couples recognize and resolve conflicts and improve their relationships. Through marriage counseling, you can make thoughtful decisions about rebuilding your relationship or going your separate ways.

Family counseling is counseling focused on family dynamics, immediate concerns, and the near future. Family counseling, which brings together the members of a family as a group, is similar to group counseling. An issue that affects a family, like disease, death or simply people not getting along, may all warrant family counseling.

Christian counseling focuses on intertwining the disciplines of faith and psychology to provide an approach to mental and emotional health that pulls from biblical teachings. Practitioners of this style of counseling incorporate religious scripture and teachings to guide you through challenging life issues. When facing turbulent life events, incorporating and strengthening your faith may be the missing piece in finding proper treatment.

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TESTIMONIALS

All names have been changed to keep confidentiality

"When I was going through a very hard time in my life I had lost my emotional stability and was in need of help, and I was recommended Victor when I had mentioned I was potentially looking for a therapist. Through my time receiving counseling with Victor I was able to gain clear perspective on my problems which helped build stability for moving forwards towards improving. He's very good at communicating and helping someone feel comfortable with his friendly disposition and thoughtful responses. I can very confidently say that beginning sessions with him was the turnaround towards betterment in my situation and I couldn't be happier with the service and work put forward by victor in helping me through my difficult time."

Mike

"... my husband and I were going through what I call “ a dry season” in our marriage, we had a lot of change happened the year prior and we were also struggling with disciplining our youngest , there were a lot of past issues that we never addressed. Unbeknown to us these issues were consuming us both, we didn’t speak about the things that were affecting us for many reasons, it took a little time for me to think about seeing a counselor. I finally asked my Pastor if he knew of a counselor and he recommended Victor Llerena, at first my husband was very hesitant to meet with a counselor but after our first visit with Victor my husband felt very comfortable and agreed it was a good idea to go back for more sessions. Victor made us feel at ease and was able to pin point the issues, he corrected us in areas we both needed correction and gave us the necessary tools to work on our marriage and our parenting skills. We are forever grateful for his guidance and wise counsel during a time of need".

Sincerely

Mr. & Mrs. R

"Quiero agradecerle al terapeuta Victor por el apoyo y compromiso que tuvo con mi hijo y conmigo, dado que su acompañamiento fue fundamental para el proceso de mi familia. Un terapeuta con ética y amor por su profesión. Gracias".

"I want to thank Victor for the support and the commitment he offered my son and I. His services were crucial for my family and the process we went through. He is a therapist with ethical values and love for his profession. Thank you."

Ana

"My son and I were honored to meet Mr. Victor through the PerformCare program. He was assigned as a Therapist/Mentor to my pre-teen son 2yrs ago at a time when he was experiencing some depression and our mother/son relationship was being challenged. Whether he took my son for a walk, to the basketball courts, or for an ice cream run, he always displayed positive professionalism and ethical behavior to both of us. He not only provided hands-on problem solving and decision making ideas on life situations that challenged my son but he also showed his teamwork skills by including me in some of them so that my son could benefit. At the bittersweet conclusion of Mr. Victor’s time with us, his self-management and communication skills proved him to be a great leader. Both my son and I have improved in our challenging areas because of Mr. Victor’s guidance, advice, honesty, and patience; we highly recommend his services. One thing that stuck out the most is, ‘no matter how fast or slow, big or small - any progress is still progress’. We wish him many success in his future endeavors."

Best Regards

G & R

Rates

Our counseling fees are between $145.00 and $250.00 dollars per session.

We also offer a sliding scale fee option based on income and number of people living in the household . We accept cash, personal checks, and credit cards as format of payments.

We accept the following insurances:

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Horizon BCBS Medicare Advantage
Horizon BCBS Commercial Managed Care Horizon BCBS Traditional Network
Beacon Health Options (formerly ValueOptions)
GHI
United Health Care
Medicare
Cigna
Aetna
Optum
Out of network

JOURNEY COUNSELING CENTER

80 Avenue C

Bayonne, NJ 07002

info@journeycounselingcenter.org

201-243-6109

AVAILABILITY

Monday 1 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Tuesday 2 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Wednesday 2 p.m.-8 p.m.

Thursday 11 a.m.- 5 p.m.

Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.