Caitlin C. Regan, Honored By Influential Women, Turns Experience Into Compassionate, Trauma-Informed Mental Health Care

FREEHOLD, NJ, UNITED STATES, October 26, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Owner and Therapist at Caitlin’s Counseling Corner & Caitlin’s Counseling Center Brings More Than 15 Years in Teaching and Counseling to Trauma Recovery, Mood Disorders, and Expanding Access to Care Through a New Nonprofit

Freehold, New Jersey – Caitlin C. Regan is the owner and a therapist at Caitlin’s Counseling Corner, a private mental health practice that provides trauma-informed care to adolescents, young adults, and adults. A licensed professional counselor, advocate, and educator, she has spent more than 15 years in teaching and counseling. Her specialties include mood disorders and trauma therapy, for which she is certified in Accelerated Resolution Therapy. She also supports clients living with personality disorders and psychotic disorders, as well as individuals and families facing complex emotional challenges through the parent coaching program ARC Grow. Her work is guided by a simple philosophy she calls Choose Your Healthy, which encourages people to build resilience, strengthen their emotional wellness, and move from surviving to living and thriving.

Caitlin began her career as a high school English teacher before discovering her calling in mental health. She earned her counseling license and became a mental health and addiction counselor specializing in trauma therapies down in Florida for her first few years. She later founded Caitlin’s Counseling Corner in Freehold, NJ, where she now serves clients through individualized, compassionate care. This June, she opened Caitlin’s Counseling Center, a nonprofit Mental Health Community Center in Monmouth County, NJ, designed to help individuals and families who face financial and other barriers to receiving treatment.

Caitlin’s education reflects her dedication to both teaching and counseling. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in Education from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She went on to earn a Master of Arts in School Counseling and an Education Specialist degree in Professional Counseling from Seton Hall University, where she now teaches as an adjunct professor. She is a National Certified Counselor, a Licensed Professional Counselor in New Jersey, and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Florida. She is also a certified Accelerated Resolution Therapy therapist and a trained trauma specialist.

Trauma-informed care recognizes how past experiences can shape a person’s emotions, relationships, and responses to stress, and it prioritizes safety, trust, and choice in every therapeutic interaction. Accelerated Resolution Therapy, one of the approaches Caitlin is certified to provide, is an evidence-based therapy that uses eye movements and guided imagery to help clients process distressing memories, often in fewer sessions than traditional talk therapy. By combining these methods with her broader clinical training, she gives clients practical paths toward healing. As an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University, she also helps prepare the next generation of counselors to provide that same compassionate, informed care.

Beyond the therapy room, Caitlin writes and advocates for mental health awareness, social justice, and wellness. Her work has been published in the online magazine of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and in Counseling Today, the publication of the American Counseling Association. She is a proud supporter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and The Trevor Project. She also gives her time to her community through Pop’s Farm, We Are the Future, the Memorial Day Parade Committee, and the Human Relations Advisory Committee.

Caitlin’s commitment to her clients is shaped by her own journey. After seeking treatment for mental health struggles and trauma that began at a young age, she was diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder. Rather than hiding her diagnosis, she chose to share it openly, finding the courage to use her experiences to help others. She manages her health through medication, maintenance electroconvulsive therapy, and close collaboration with her treatment team, and her openness offers hope to clients who may be facing similar challenges. Her candor has also helped reduce the stigma that so often surrounds mental illness.

In her Influential Women article, Bipolar Is My Superpower, Caitlin describes discovering strength and purpose in living well with Bipolar II Disorder. She explains that she does not wish to cure her condition because when her moods are well managed, she experiences what she calls her Spark, a capacity for creative thinking and making connections that she considers her greatest strength. She describes depression and hypomania as her kryptonite and her treatment plan as a protective suit that keeps her safe. Because she now reaches out to her treatment team early, her episodes have become shorter and more manageable. She encourages readers to learn about their own conditions, work closely with professionals, and build treatment plans that fit their lives, and she writes that she is grateful for the way her brain works.

Caitlin attributes her success to her personal journey, her resilience, and her determination to overcome trauma and mental health struggles. Her diagnosis gave her the courage to turn her experiences into a source of help for others. She also credits her education at Fairleigh Dickinson University and Seton Hall University, which prepared her to make an impact as both a clinician and an adjunct professor.

The best career advice Caitlin has received came from the mentors who believed in her, including her high school teacher, Mrs. Banerjee, Dr. Judy Kulstad at Seton Hall University, and Dr. Shaw and the team at Carrier Clinic. She credits her parents, Janice and Brian Regan, with teaching her compassion and service, and her husband, Roy, and her brother Liam with supporting her on this journey. She is also grateful for the friends and community members who have supported her at every stage of her life and her three board members for Caitlin’s Counseling Center, who make the Community Center possible.

For young women entering the mental health field, Caitlin’s advice is to build a strong support system of people who accept them fully. She has observed that young women often try to fit an idea of what is appropriate rather than showing who they truly are. Self-acceptance and self-love, she believes, attract the right people and provide genuine strength. She also stresses the importance of self-care, which for her includes yoga, meditation, reading, music, and time with loved ones. A balance of self-love and support from others, in her view, is the key to thriving.

Caitlin sees funding as the biggest challenge in her field because it limits how many people professionals are able to help. She and her team actively pursue grants and other funding sources, but finding resources remains difficult, especially as so many people face financial strain. Her hope is that Caitlin’s Counseling Center will bring together compassionate professionals who share her mission and allow them to serve more people in need.

Compassion, empathy, advocacy, and spreading love and awareness are the values that matter most to Caitlin. She shares her experience with Bipolar II Disorder to inspire hope, and she draws on more than 15 years in family and mental health care to guide her work. Through her private practice and her developing nonprofit, she aims to expand access to treatment. She firmly believes that mental health care should not be limited to those who can afford it and that everyone, regardless of background or income, deserves compassionate support.

From the high school English classroom to her own counseling practice and a university lectern, Caitlin has built a career rooted in education, advocacy, and lived experience. Her willingness to share her story has turned a diagnosis into a source of strength for herself and for the people she serves. By expanding access to compassionate care and showing others that recovery and fulfillment are possible, Caitlin C. Regan is helping her community choose healthier, more hopeful lives.

Learn More about Caitlin C. Regan:

Through her Influential Women profile: https://influentialwomen.com/connect/caitlin-regan or through Caitlin’s Counseling Corner, https://caitlinscounselingcorner.org/

Influential Women

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