who we are
The staff at Advanced Behavioral Counseling of Northern NJ, believes in tailoring treatment to each patient’s individual goals. As such, we have adopted an integrative care model in our practice, utilizing complementary/integrative medical approaches when appropriate. We have experience in the nutritional, vitamin, and herbal supplementation to treat certain mental health conditions when there is evidence to support their use. However, there are many psychiatric conditions that require pharmacological management first, and the complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) options may be integrated later on.
The Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse provides comprehensive psychiatric evaluations, prescribes psychiatric medication, and conducts psychotherapy/individual, group, marital, and family counseling in a variety of settings.
A Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse is first educated as a registered professional nurse with additional graduate education in psychiatric-mental health nursing at the Master's or Doctoral level. Psychiatric APNs are licensed by the NJ Board of Nursing to practice under the Nurse Practice Act and Nurse Practitioner/Advance Psychiatric Practice Nurse Act of the State of New Jersey. They are nationally certified in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing by the American Nurses Association.
In addition to passing a National Examination and meeting high standards for supervised clinical practice, the Psych APN is required to remain current in the latest knowledge and methods of providing expert mental health care through continuing education and rigorous re-certification requirements.
Please visit www.spapn.org for further information on Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurses
our staff
Deborah Drumm
Deborah graduated with a BS in nursing from SUNY Stony Brook and is a board certified Psychiatric-Mental Health Advanced Practice Nurse. She received an MA in Gerontological Advanced Practice Nursing from New York University and a post Masters from SUNY Stony Brook. She has been a psychiatric provider for the majority of her 44+ year professional career….
Kathleen Kilcoyne
Kathleen received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Rutgers University. An RN since 1989 and APN since 2008, she has over 30 years of experience in Psychiatric nursing. She has worked at Saint Clare’s Hospital and is now affiliated with Atlantic Health System, Hackettstown Medical Center. She provides medication management in private practice at Advanced…
Sandra Winters
Sandra started her nursing career in 1987 working in a variety of hospital settings. She earned her Master of Science as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Scranton in 2003 and her Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Wilkes University in 2015. Seeing a need for mental health care in our area and to…
Molly McGoldrick
Molly is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Approved Clinical Supervisor who has been providing mental health services in Sussex County since 2006. She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the College of New Jersey and Master’s degree from William Paterson University, where she graduated #1 in her class. Molly uses cognitive-behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy…
Joseph L. Zvirblis
In a career of over 40 years providing caring mental health treatment, Dr. Zvirblis has worked in Pennsylvania, Los Angeles and New Jersey. He brings a unique mix of traditional counseling techniques as well as recent complimentary alternative treatments. Doctor Joe holds certifications in Hypnosis, EFT (Tapping), Trauma Informed Care and Meditation. He understands that challenges can arise…
Judy Leonard
Judy has over 30 years of nursing experience caring for patients across the lifespan with multiple physical, emotional and mental health needs. She earned her Bachelors of Science degree in 2001 from St. Joseph’s College in Maine and completed her case management certification in 2010. Working in various settings, her education, training and experience has…
Julie VanNess
I have been working in mental health and the medical field for over 21 years. I graduated with mybachelor’s degree in psychology, then obtained my bachelor’s degree in nursing, and most recently mymaster’s degree as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. The first part of my career I worked as a psychiatricscreener in the ER and then…
Elizabeth Patterson
Elizabeth Patterson, MSW, LCSW is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over a decade of experience in the mental health field. Throughout her career, she’s had the privilege of working with diverse clients, including children, adults, families, and couples in different settings (hospitals, non- profit agencies, and private practice.) Her passion lies in promoting mental…
“Norie” Pereira
Norie has worked in the mental health field as an insurance administrator and an office manager for over 16 years. She corresponds with patients and generally keeps the office running by taking over many administrative responsibilities. She has kept up to date with the many changes affecting the medical health field, such as new billing (CPT…
Christina Schmitt
Christina has worked in healthcare most of her adult life. She was a nurse’s aide at Twin Cedars AssistedLiving in Shohola, PA and worked in home health care. In 2021 Christina graduated with honors with hercertification in both Health Information Management and Medical Coding and Billing from DeVryUniversity. That same year she received her Certified…