Our Therapists / Our Business Staff

Our Therapists

With three offices throughout New Jersey, IPG employs almost thirty experienced and licensed therapists, including AASECT-certified Sex Therapists. This large variety of professionals enables IPG to match your unique needs with a therapist whose specialty can help you the most. We are very experienced in relationship counseling, family therapy, and working with children, from the very young through adolescence. We’re also internationally known for our work with the LGBTQ community, and have particular expertise working with transgender and gender non-conforming children and youth.

We have assembled a diverse staff, trained in a variety of treatment techniques. IPG therapists are trained in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), Imago relationship counseling, Gottman couples counseling, objects relations theory, mindfulness meditation, family systems theory, Gestalt therapy, and psychodrama. Several of us are AASECT-certified sex therapists. Many of our therapists are trained in EMDR and we have several trained in play therapy for the younger children. Others have specialized training and experience with young children, adolescents, and young adults. In recent years we have also created an eating disorder wing within the practice, training and supervising several of our therapists to treat dozens of clients with eating disorders.

All of our therapists participate in group and individual supervision as part of their work at IPG, and all take part in bi-monthly in-service professional trainings given at the IPG offices. In this way we keep current, not only in the techniques listed above, but in the ethical requirements of our profession, applications of neuroscience to psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, and other areas of knowledge that have a crucial impact on psychotherapy.

Our Directors

The IPG ship is steered jointly by Susan Menahem, LCSW, and Dr. Cory Nichols, PhD.

Susan is our Executive Clinical Director, and an IPG veteran, having first joined us in 2001 as a therapist. She assumed her current role in 2016, and now oversees the supervision and training of IPG’s dozens of therapists, organizes our in-services and in-house supervision sessions, oversees our clinical staff on a day-to-day basis, and much more. On top of all that, she also remains one of our regular therapists as well, maintaining a full caseload of clients herself, at both our Freehold and Highland Park offices.

Cory first worked for IPG designing web and marketing materials such as brochures, newsletters, online marketing campaigns, and content for our original website, back in the late 90s and early 2000s. After spending several years earning his MA and PhD from Princeton University, he partnered with Susan in 2017 to run the operational side of IPG as its Executive Business Director. As the son of our Founder Dr. Margaret Nichols and our previous Business Director Nancy Musgrave, he is doing his best to carry on his mothers’ legacy.

Susan and Cory have been officially in charge of IPG together since Dr. Margaret Nichols retired and sold the practice in August of 2018.

Susan Menahem - Clinical Director
Susan Menahem
Executive Clinical Director
Cory Nichols - Business Director
Cory Nichols
Executive Business Director

IPG Therapists

Alexandra Axel - MSW, LSW

Alexandra Axel
MSW, LSW
Licensed Social Worker
Kathleen Bakos - MSW, LSW

Kathleen Bakos
MSW, LSW
Licensed Social Worker
Kadeedra Browne - MSW, LSW

Kadeedra Browne
MSW, LSW
Licensed Social Worker
Sherill Cantrell - MA, LPC

Sherill Cantrell
MA, LPC
Licensed Professional Counselor
Colleen Canyon - MSW, LSW

Colleen Canyon
MSW, LSW
Licensed Social Worker
Evangeline Croix - MSW, LCSW

Evangeline Croix
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Jerome Croix - MEC, LAC

Jerome Croix
MEC, LAC
Licensed Associate Counselor
Lynnette Diaz - MA, LAC

Lynnette Diaz
MA, LAC
Licensed Associate Counselor
James Fedor - PhD, LCSW

James Fedor
Ph.D., LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Ronni Garcia- MS, LPC, NCC

Ronni Garcia
MS, LPC, NCC
Licensed Professional Counselor
Paula Grande - MSW, LCSW

Paula Grande
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Alison Grant - MSW, LCSW

Alison Grant
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Kate Harrison - MBA, MSW, LCSW

Kate Harrison
MBA, MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Giovana Hudson - MA, LAC

Giovana Hudson
MA, LAC
Licensed Associate Counselor
Michael LaSala - PhD, LCSW

Michael LaSala
PhD, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Jill Lavender

Jill Lavender
MFT, LMFT
Licensed Marriage
and Family Therapist
Bobbie McArdle

Bobbie McArdle
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Brian McCormick

Brian McCormick
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Susan Menahem

Susan Menahem
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Tina O'Sullivan - MSW, LSW

Tina O’Sullivan
MSW, LSW
Licensed Social Worker
Tamara Rosenberg

Tamara Rosenberg
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical
Social Worker
Lori Sequeira

Lori Sequeira
MA, LPC
Licensed Professional Counselor
Ibn Shakoor - MA, LPC

Ibn Shakoor
MA, LPC
Licensed Professional Counselor
Kelly Stolberg

Kelly Stolberg
MSW, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Scott Taylor

Scott Taylor
MSW, LSW
Licensed Social Worker
Larry Zimmermann - MSW, LSW

Larry Zimmermann
MSW, LSW
Licensed Social Worker

Affiliated Therapists

Deborah Teng

Deborah Teng
Psy.D.
Doctor of Psychology

Our Business Staff

Our excellent business staff assures that new clients are quickly matched to the appropriate therapists and scheduled for appointments. And our state-of-the-art IT infrastructure enables us to handle the financial and insurance sides of your therapy in a manner that maximizes efficiency, confidentiality, and consideration for your personal situation. The office staff handles everything from customer service to maintaining client accounts to coordinating daily operations in all the IPG offices so that everything runs smoothly. Our Operations Supervisor Art Manilio oversees all these operational aspects of IPG, with help from Office Administrator Robert Uibelhoer. Our Business Director Cory Nichols supervises the office staff, as well as directly handling web and marketing initiatives, accounting, contracts, legal and HR matters, and all other business-related aspects of IPG.

Cory Nichols - Business Director of IPG

Cory Nichols
Executive Business Director
Artie Manilio

Artie Manilio
Operations Supervisor
Robert Uibelhoer

Robert Uibelhoer
Senior Office Administrator
Estefany Lopez

Estefany Lopez
Office Administrator


Our Founder

Margaret Nichols, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and AASECT-certified sex therapist, is the Founder and former Clinical and Executive Director of the Institute for Personal Growth. She oversaw clinical supervision and training of all IPG therapists from our inception in 1983 until 2016. She also maintains a small practice, publishes regularly, and delivers lectures around the country. In addition to Dr. Nichols’ publications, many members of our therapy staff are well-known for their published writings in areas that include domestic violence, relationships, LGBTQ issues, kink, and polyamory.

Margaret Nichols

Margaret Nichols
Ph.D.
Doctor of Psychology
Founder, Executive Director Emeritus

OUR OFFICE LOCATIONS

220 9th St., Suite 380
Jersey City, NJ 07302
1119 Raritan Ave.
Highland Park, NJ 08904
90 West Main Street
Freehold, NJ 07728