Frequently Asked Questions

A Wholesome Me offers somatic therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy for women and teens in Toms River, New Jersey, serving Lakewood, Jackson, and nearby communities. Chani Gerstel, LPC, works with you to choose approaches that fit your needs. You can explore the Somatic Therapy and IFS pages or request a free consultation to discuss what you are looking for.

Yes. A Wholesome Me is based in Toms River, New Jersey, and welcomes women and teens from Lakewood, Jackson, and nearby Ocean County communities. Chani Gerstel, LPC, offers trauma-informed therapy using approaches such as IFS, EMDR, and somatic therapy, tailored to the person. You can request a free consultation to discuss what you are looking for and whether the practice is a good fit.

If something brought you to this page, that is already a sign. You do not need to be in crisis to begin therapy, and you do not need to have it all figured out before reaching out. Many of the women and teens Chani works with come in feeling stuck, exhausted, disconnected, or simply knowing that something needs to change. Readiness looks different for everyone. The only requirement is a willingness to show up.

When you submit the contact form on the website, Chani personally reviews your message and responds within 24 hours. There is no automated system, no intake coordinator, and no long wait. From your very first point of contact, you are already in caring and attentive hands. Once connected, Chani will answer your questions, learn a little more about what brings you in, and together you will decide if working together feels like the right fit.

Your first session is a gentle conversation, not an interrogation. There is no pressure to share everything at once. Chani will take time to get to know you, understand what brought you in, and begin exploring what healing might look like for you specifically. The pace is always yours to set. Many clients describe leaving their first session feeling heard in a way they have not experienced before.

Yes. While the heart of A Wholesome Me is rooted in supporting women, Chani also works with teen girls and young women navigating anxiety, trauma, identity, self-worth, and the unique challenges of adolescence. Many families find it meaningful that both a mother and her teen can receive support within the same practice, with a therapist who understands the full picture of what the family is carrying. Teen sessions are warm, patient, and tailored to meet young women exactly where they are, with a genuine understanding of what adolescent girls face today.

Yes. Complex trauma and PTSD are at the heart of Chani's clinical specialization. She has more than 15 years of experience working with women and teens whose trauma is layered, long-standing, and often invisible to the people around them. Using an integrative combination of IFS, EMDR, somatic therapy, and trauma-informed care, Chani supports clients in processing what has happened to them, understanding how it has shaped them, and creating real and lasting change.

Yes. A Wholesome Me offers specialized, trauma-informed therapy for clients experiencing dissociation, Other Specified Dissociative Disorder (OSDD), and Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Chani approaches this work with deep respect for the complexity and courage it takes to seek support. Sessions are paced carefully, built on a foundation of safety, and designed to honor the full and nuanced inner experience of each client.

Yes. Pregnancy, birth, and the transition into motherhood can bring unexpected pain alongside joy. Chani works with women navigating postpartum depression, birth trauma, pregnancy loss, and the emotional complexity of new motherhood. This is a space where you do not have to pretend everything is fine, where your full experience, including the parts that feel impossible to say out loud, is welcomed with care and without judgment.

Research increasingly reveals a profound connection between unresolved trauma, chronic stress, and the body's immune and nervous system responses. At A Wholesome Me, I recognize that physical symptoms are often part of a larger story worth exploring. If you have been living with autoimmune conditions, chronic pain, fatigue, or physical symptoms that medicine alone has not fully explained, therapy that works with the body and nervous system may offer a meaningful and often missing piece of your healing.

Yes, and this is some of the most sacred work I do at A Wholesome Me. This kind of trauma is carried in ways that are deeply personal, often invisible, and frequently misunderstood. It can live in the body long after the mind has tried to move on. It can shape the way you see yourself, how safe you feel in relationships, and how connected you feel to your own sense of worth and identity. Chani approaches this work with the utmost care, patience, and respect. There is no pressure to talk about what happened before you are ready, and in many cases the most powerful healing happens without ever needing to recount the details of your experience. Using an integrative combination of IFS, somatic therapy, EMDR, and trauma-informed care, we work gently with what your mind and body are holding, at a pace that always feels safe. You are believed here. You are not defined by what happened to you. And healing is absolutely possible.

Yes, and this work is especially close to Chani's heart. Addiction is never viewed here as a moral failing. It is understood as a coping mechanism, a way the mind and body learned to survive pain that had nowhere else to go. And when you understand it that way, the path forward becomes much clearer. Relying on willpower alone only goes so far. The triggers, the cravings, the moments that make staying clean feel impossible, they come from unresolved pain that is still looking for a way out. Healing that pain is not just part of recovery. It is the foundation of lasting recovery. Clients who do this work with Chani don't just stay sober. They begin to actually want to, because they are no longer running from something they haven't yet faced. Please note that A Wholesome Me works with clients who have already achieved sobriety. If you are in active addiction and need immediate support, SAMHSA's National Helpline is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-662-4357, free and confidential.

Yes. In addition to individual therapy, A Wholesome Me offers three small, carefully held therapeutic groups for women. Ground & Flow is a gentle somatic movement group. The Art of Healing is a somatic expressive art group. Many Parts, One Space is a specialized support group for women with a formal DID or OSDD diagnosis.

Individual therapy will always be at the heart of the work at A Wholesome Me. But for some women, something shifts when they are witnessed by others who genuinely understand what they are carrying. If you have ever felt completely alone in your experience or sense that your healing is ready to expand beyond the one on one space, a group may be exactly what is missing. Groups are small, boundaried, and always trauma informed. Reach out to Chani for a no pressure conversation about whether a group might be the right next step for you.