"I searched from Manhattan to Brooklyn for a therapist and never found the right fit. Everyone I met was competent at their job, some were actually quite good but I never personally connected with anyone until I moved to Maplewood and met Dr. Manning.
What is it about Dr. Manning that makes her so distinctly different from everyone else? Of course it is a given that she is extremely knowledgeable in her field and deeply empathic. Dr. Manning is different because she really takes a personal interest in my narrative. She is engaged, she is 100 percent present and invested in my life and wellbeing.  Her approach forged a trust that I was never able to cross with other therapists. Talking to Dr. Manning is like talking to a good friend with an added bonus of knowing that I am with a consummate professional. Her method is goal oriented so I also know that on top of understanding my feelings, tracing the source of my issues, she provides me with the tools that I need to tackle the problem.
Dr. Manning plays a significant role in my healing. I have a strong and knowledgeable support group and Dr. Manning is part of that core team." 

-ML, Maplewood, NJ

"Growing up I was bullied and teased by peers.  As I grew older, I always felt that in life you either “sink or swim”.  My version was swimming was to be aggressive towards anyone who wanted to “mess with me”.  At the time I thought it was the best way to protect myself.  Growing up from a pre-teen to a teenager it “seemed” to work for a while.  As I got older, and began to engage in adult relationships at work and in my personal life those same coping skills were failing me.  Everyone knows that if you yell at your boss you would surely get fired.  As such, I found it difficult to confront “sticky” situations in which I felt I was being disrespected but couldn't defend myself as I normally would in the past.  This too also affected my personal life as close family members would distance themselves from me by the way I was acting.  For the first time I felt I was at a loss in my life.  Communicating to others which I thought was a strength, was becoming what I perceived, my biggest weakness. 

Within the last two years, I had an intense verbal altercation with a family member.  I just knew that I took it too far.  Other family member stopped talking to one another, people seemed to take sides, and all I could do was blame myself.  In addition to my personal life, I found myself being stumped when addressing things I didn't like at work.  The confident me was over-shadowed with an insecure shell of a person that would allow others to say what they wanted.  The little girl that used to be bullied as a child began to re-emerge….. the coping mechanisms I once used to appear confident and secure were falling apart right before my eyes.  Anxiety crept its way into my very being and appeared to almost consume my life… that is until my met Dr. Natasha Manning. 

With all honesty, I was ashamed.  I thought to myself…I’m not crazy.   I don’t have a problem, the problem is others.  As time went on and I felt so safe within the comfort of her office I began to really look within and realize that my power came from me.  Furthermore the only person who could change me was me.  When I first started seeing Dr. Manning she seemed so happy to meet me.  It’s as if she knew something I didn't.  During our sessions she would often refer to the “work” that we would embark on would help me see things differently.  My inner being used to give the side eye… like really “what work”?  And why wasn't I in on this life changing experience.  I look back and laugh now at my old self.  The old me always wanted to rush to the finish line. I compared working on myself like getting to the end of a good book.  What I have later learned is that, like a good book, I am still being written but in order for me to be written with absolute perfection I need to take time to experience the journey……

Walking into her office, smelling the freshness of the candles in the office and sitting back on her magnificent couch to share some of the most shameful moments of my life that I am not proud of was the best decision I made in my life.  I am who I am today because someone took the time to do for me what I could not do for myself.  But please, don’t take my word for it, try it for yourself, put it to the test and you will see you will pleased.  But always keep in mind, true change does not come from the therapist, it comes from within.  You see, I wanted to change…but Dr. Manning was the guiding light that helped make that desire become real and ever so possible.  Thank-you Dr. Manning." 

- VP, Elizabeth, NJ

"Initially working with Dr. Manning I was a tad apprehensive, reason being that I've never had a therapist before.  In the beginning stages of our sessions I wanted to play "tough" and act like nothing was wrong , but she had an aura about her that just made me feel comfortable around her. From then I began to open myself up more as we began to examine the root of the problems that landed me on her couch in the first place. I can truly say that working with Dr. Manning has really opened my eyes really see the way I view situations in my life. She has honestly helped me mature emotionally and mentally, to point that when I'm faced with certain situations I will ask myself " W.W.D.M.D. "( What would Dr. Manning do? ) She has become a part of my family in the sense that I don't feel like I'm going to talk to a "doctor" but I feel like I'm talking to a Sister or an Aunt which is comforting. Anyone who works with Dr. Manning will have a great experience just as I did."

-CC, Maplewood, NJ