Dr. Aster-McKenna is a licensed psychologist specializing in providing cognitive behavioral therapie
10/28/2025
Do you ever feel like a bad mom for needing a break — or missing who you were before kids?
You’re not alone. Moms everywhere wrestle with these feelings — that quiet mom guilt that whispers you’re not doing enough, even when you’re giving everything you have.
Here in New Jersey and the NYC Metro area, I hear this often from working moms trying to balance career, family, and self. But no matter where you live, this struggle is universal.
That guilt isn’t proof you’re failing — it’s proof you care deeply.
And through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), we can learn to make space for guilt instead of fighting it — to pause, breathe, and choose what really matters: your values, your peace, your presence.
Whether you’re in Montclair, Manhattan, or miles away, know that The Montclair Therapist is here to support working moms finding calm in the chaos.
💛 You are not a bad mom for needing balance. You’re a human one.
✨ Save this as a reminder or share it with a mom who needs to hear this today.
Learn more at themontclairtherapist.com.
10/24/2025
Two months into the school year, many parents are running on guilt, caffeine, and calendars 📚☕️
If that sounds like you, pause here.
Your kids don’t need perfection — they need presence.
Try one of these five gentle resets when the pressure peaks:
🌿 Gratitude pause
💛 Self-compassion phrase
🧘♀️ Slow breath
🪞 Values check-in
🌙 Rest trade
Because calm, connected parenting starts with how you care for yourself.
✨ Save this for your next busy night
🧠 More ACT-based mental-health tools → themontclairtherapist.com
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Dr. Aster is a licensed clinical psychologist in both New Jersey and New York, with more than five years of experience. She specializes in treating adolescents and adults suffering from anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and substance abuse difficulties. Dr. Aster works from an evidence-based framework, with an emphasis on mindfulness practice, acceptance of difficult internal states, and valued-based living to increase quality of life. This approach to treatment is otherwise known as acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), which is a newer, more contemporary, or “third wave” type of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
Dr. Aster graduated magna cm laude from Seton Hall University in 2010, where she received her B.A. in Psychology. During her undergraduate training, she focused her education on abnormal psychology, psychological development across the lifespan, psychological research and practice, and the role of attachment in the development of severe emotional distress. She co-authored and co-conducted a qualitative research study titled “Adult children of gay and le***an parents: Religion and the parent-child relationship” which was published in The Counseling Psychologist in May of 2013. In 2010, Dr. Aster was awarded the Seton Hall University Department Service Award, the Seton Hall Experiential Education Award, and was awarded Phi Beta Kappa membership for her academic achievement.
Dr. Aster received her doctoral degree at Kean University, an APA-accredited educational institution, in Union, NJ, where graduated summa cm laude with an M.A. in Educational Psychology and Psy.D in School and Clinical Psychology. Dr. Aster’s doctoral training concentrated on the research and implementation of mindfulness skills and the reduction of intense emotional distress among individuals who have experienced chronic complex trauma. Her doctoral dissertation was entitled “Mindfulness as a mediator of post-traumatic stress disorder and depressive symptom change in trauma-exposed adult females”. It was during her graduate training that Dr. Aster began to research, study, disseminate with clients, and practice on her own, a daily mindfulness regimen.
Dr. Aster completed her predoctoral internship, as well as her post-doctoral fellowship, at the Brattleboro Retreat, in Brattleboro, VT. Here, Dr. Aster provided psychotherapy to patients on a full continuum of care, from traditional outpatient psychotherapy to the partial hospitalization level of care. A majority of her clinical work took place in a specialized Trauma and Addiction treatment center for active and retired Law Enforcement, Fire, Military, Veterans, EMTs, and Corrections Personnel. Dr. Aster’s work in this program consisted largely of running ACT-based psychotherapy groups, leading Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Nidra, and leading Mindfulness Groups. Most notably, she provided intensive trauma and recovery-focused therapy from a unique blend of evidenced-based treatment interventions including ACT, cognitive processing therapy, and dialectical behavior therapy. Given her passion for implementing such treatments, Dr. Aster co-developed a 3-day mindfulness and compassion workshop for the Connecticut State Police in April of 2017.
Dr. Aster is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA), the New Jersey Psychological Association (NJPA), the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), the Association for Contextual Behavior Science (ACBS), and the Morris County Psychological Association (MCPA). She is an active member in the NJ and NY Chapters of ACBS as well, and currently serves as the Manager of the NYC Association for Contextual Behavior Science Board of Directors. Dr. Aster is also an adjunct professor at Kean University in the Combined School and Clinical Psy.D Program. Furthermore, she provides clinical consultation to the Fire Department of New York Counseling Services Unit.
Dr. Aster has attended numerous training seminars to continue her education from experts in the field of trauma, acceptance and commitment therapy, written exposure therapy, compassion focused therapy, and acceptance-based behavior therapy for generalized anxiety disorder. She is available to give presentations to professional and non-professionals on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, and Trauma, with a focus clinical, non-clinical, and Uniformed Services populations.
Dr. Aster enjoys the challenge of helping her clients understand their emotional worlds, as they develop insight into how their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors make sense given their histories. It is her hope that her clients may view the inevitable instances of human pain in life as essential building blocks in their unique journeys.
“I am deeply committed to helping my clients maximize their emotional and psychological strength. I truly believe that therapy can help foster individuals to be more than just “okay”. Using integrative therapeutic strategies, we work together to navigate challenges that impact your access to a more complete and meaningful life. Watching the process of growth and change in my clients is my passion, and my life’s work.”
