Terri DiMatteo (She/Her)
Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Professional Counselor
Online in New Jersey
(Online Only)
I'm Terri DiMatteo, a Licensed Professional Counselor based in New Jersey, and for more than a decade I've been helping individuals and couples navigate the most painful and disorienting chapters of their relationships. The people who find their way to my practice are often in one of three places.
Some are surviving betrayal. The affair has been discovered — or confessed — and now every assumption about the relationship, the future, and even the past feels uncertain. The grief is enormous. The questions are relentless. And the idea of trusting again feels almost impossible to imagine. These clients come to me exhausted, heartbroken, and quietly hoping that what they had can somehow be rebuilt.
Others are living with a love that has gone quiet. There's no dramatic crisis — just a slow, creeping distance that has turned a once-close partnership into something that feels more like a business arrangement. They still care about each other. They may even love each other. But they can't remember the last time they felt truly seen, desired, or emotionally safe with the person they chose. They come to me wondering whether what they have can be restored — or whether they've simply waited too long.
And some are in the process of naming something they've suspected for a long time: that the relationship they're in isn't just difficult — it's harmful. They're untangling themselves from a partner, parent, or family member whose behavior has left them questioning their own perception, their own worth, and their own reality. They come to me disoriented, depleted, and ready — finally — to start finding their way back to themselves.
If you recognized yourself in any of those descriptions, I want you to know something important: you are not overreacting, and you are not alone.
Client Focus
Session Format: Couple, Family, Individual sessions.
Age Specialty: Adult
Demographic Expertise: Men, Women clients.
Languages: English
Treatment Approach
- Compassion-Focused Therapy (CFT) Builds skills in self-kindness and compassion toward others. It is especially helpful for people who struggle with shame or self-criticism.
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Focuses on strengthening emotional bonds in couples or families. It helps people identify negative cycles and create more secure connections.
- Family Systems Therapy Looks at problems within the context of the family as a whole. It aims to improve communication and balance in family relationships.
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT) A short-term approach focused on improving relationships and social support. It is often used for depression and grief.
- Psychoeducational Therapy Provides education and coping tools about mental health conditions. It empowers clients with knowledge and practical skills.
- Relational Psychotherapy Emphasizes the healing power of the therapist-client relationship. It uses trust and safety as a foundation for change.
Approach Description: My work is grounded in attachment theory — specifically, the understanding that romantic love is not simply a feeling or a social skill. It is a biological bond, as essential to adult wellbeing as the maternal-infant bond is to a child's survival. That belief shapes everything I do in the therapy room.
Out of more than a decade of clinical observation, I developed The Intimacy Bond™, my proprietary framework for understanding romantic relationships. At its core, The Intimacy Bond™ holds that a healthy romantic relationship is a mutual protective attachment built from two intertwined strands: emotional intimacy — being known, felt, understood, and responded to with care — and sexual intimacy — desire, touch, physical closeness, and the unmistakable feeling of being wanted.
These two strands are not separate systems. They are mutually reinforcing. When emotional closeness is strong, physical desire deepens. When physical connection is alive, emotional openness follows. When both strands are active together, the bond becomes resilient — a genuine source of safety, comfort, and protection against the inevitable stresses of life. When one strand is chronically neglected, the whole bond becomes vulnerable. And when the bond weakens significantly, couples become susceptible to the very things that bring them to therapy: drift, resentment, betrayal, and disconnection.
This framework gives me a clear and useful lens for understanding what's actually happening in a struggling relationship — beneath the arguments, the silence, the hurt feelings, and the competing narratives. Rather than asking only who is right or who is at fault, I ask: what is happening to the bond itself? That question almost always gets us somewhere real, and somewhere useful, far more quickly than rehashing the surface conflict.
Fees & Insurance
Fees
- Average Session Fee $200
- Out of Network
Education & Credentials
Terri DiMatteo Licensed Professional Counselor
- Female
- License # 37PC00460600
- Licensed in New Jersey
- Practicing Since 2013
Education: Master of Arts in Counseling, Seton Hall University: 2003
Terri DiMatteo Practice Details
Therapy Sessions
- Available Online for residents of New Jersey
- Online Therapy Details: Sessions conducted via secure, HIPAA-compliant platform for New Jersey residents. Evening and weekend appointments available.
I am the sole clinician at Open Door Therapy, my private practice in New Jersey. When you reach out, you reach me — not an intake coordinator or an associate therapist. The relationship we build is personal, and I believe your care should reflect that from the very first conversation.
I offer flexible evening and weekend hours for working professionals and busy individuals who need consistency without sacrificing the rest of their lives to get it. Sessions are available both in-person and via secure telehealth for clients located anywhere in New Jersey.
My work has been featured in national outlets including Vogue, The Today Show, and Newsweek, where I am frequently consulted on infidelity, attachment, and the deeper dynamics of modern relationships. I also write about these topics on my blog, LoveBonds, for readers who want to understand romantic love at a deeper level than most relationship advice reaches.
I offer a complimentary initial consultation — no pressure, no obligation — so you can get a genuine sense of how I work and decide whether we're the right fit before committing to anything.