About Olayinka
Olayinka "Mary" Akeju is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) based in New Jersey who uses practical, evidence-informed approaches to help people manage anxiety, stress, and life changes. She brings 17 years of clinical experience to sessions and focuses on clear, doable steps rather than jargon. Mary emphasizes collaboration and treats each person as the expert on their own life.
She works with adults facing a wide range of concerns, including trauma and abuse, mood difficulties like depression and bipolar symptoms, and problems with anger or emotional regulation.
Background and approach
She also supports people dealing with relationship strain, grief, parenting challenges, addiction, and questions about identity or intimacy. Phobias are among the specific concerns she addresses. Mary draws on approaches such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Attachment-Based Therapy to shape practical plans.
Sessions are conversational and goal-oriented, with tools tailored to day-to-day life. She emphasizes skills people can use between sessions to manage stress and stay on track. Her work also covers focused topics like caregiving stress, body image, adoption and foster care concerns, and co-occurring conditions such as ADHD or dissociation.
She pays attention to patterns in relationships and how early attachment experiences can affect current behavior. People who choose Mary can expect respectful listening, direct feedback, and collaborative problem solving. She helps clients set small, measurable goals and tracks progress over time.
Her style balances empathy with clear guidance to help people move forward. Sessions are offered in English and Mary takes clients in New Jersey and internationally through online formats. Getting started involves a short matching questionnaire and scheduling once a plan is chosen.
Practical approaches for online therapy and daily life
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on helping people notice difficult thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them, then clarifying values and taking steps that match those values. It can help with anxiety, phobias, and making choices during life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact and teaches concrete skills to change unhelpful patterns; it is often useful for anxiety, depression, and managing mood swings. Attachment-Based Therapy pays attention to how early relationship experiences shape current patterns and supports people in building healthier ways of relating and regulating emotions.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences and then try methods that fit those needs. That process is collaborative, with adjustments over time so the plan stays useful and realistic.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video lets people work face-to-face from anywhere and use visual cues during skill practice. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when a shorter check-in fits a busy day. Live chat and text messaging are useful for quick check-ins, homework support, and ongoing coaching between longer sessions. These options make therapy more flexible and easier to fit into everyday life.
Questions people ask
What concerns does this therapist address?
What is the therapist's approach or style?
How much clinical experience does she have?
What credentials and location are listed?
Which languages and international options are available?
What session formats are offered?
How does cost and payment work?
How do I begin working with this therapist?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Parenting issues
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Existential Therapy
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Somatic Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Systemic Therapy
- Experience
- 17 years
- Licensed
- New Jersey
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.