I practice in a culturally informed and sensitive way, celebrating diversity and uniqueness of identity and lived experience. I take an emotion-focused, flexible, and insightful approach to the guidance and healing that you are looking for. We will build strong therapeutic alliances to help hold and encourage you along your individual or relationship journey.
Outside of work, I am married and a mom to two amazing, joyful, and strong kids. Prior to becoming a therapist, I spent ten years in the corporate sector as a researcher, which involved extensive world travel. Years of business experience enables me to broaden my lens as a therapist to understand corporate environments and the individual and organizational impacts of work/life balance and mental health.
My own therapy has informed both my personal and clinical contexts. I maintain a strong belief in the power of therapeutic experience as a catalyst for change, even in micro moments.
“Emotional dependency is not immature or pathologic; it is our greatest strength.”
- Dr. Sue Johnson
My philosophy of therapy is informed by a set of evidence-based theories, but these are never considered the only way to approach therapy. As a highly trained and experienced clinician, I am able to pull from other theories to create a tailored approach that fits your needs.
Impactful therapy begins with a trustworthy therapeutic alliance. I build strong working alliances that are based on empathy, trust, loyalty, mutual respect, and honoring differences. A good sense of humor is always an added bonus.
My approach includes but is not limited to utilizing my own theory of Attachment-Based Therapy integrated with Contextual Theory of Therapy (see Coppola, 2019). This theory is grounded in emotional bonding and attachment theory and integrates a systemic style of therapy (i.e., contextual theory) that bases problems within the multigenerational and societal contexts of couple and family systems, and the experience of balance/imbalance within these systems.
Additional psychological theories that also inform me and may “show up” in therapy include: Emotion Focused Therapy, The Gottman Method, Narrative Theory, Humanistic Therapy, Structural Theory, Psychodynamic, and Feminist Family Therapy.
New York State Marriage and Family Therapy License #001637
Ph.D. Marriage and Family Therapy – Syracuse University
M.A. Marriage and Family Therapy – Syracuse University
M.S. Human Development – University of Rochester
B.A. Economics – University of Rochester
Certificate of Management Studies – University of Rochester
Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy – Clinical Fellow
American Family Therapy Academy
World Professional Association for Transgender Health
Coppola, J., Gangamma, R., Kawar, C., Patton, R., & Ramadoss, K. (2021). Romantic attachment and relational ethics: a dyadic analysis of couples in therapy. Contemporary Family Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1007/s1059-021-09574-w.
Coppola, J. Unpacking femininity: supporting trans feminine clients and inhibiting clinical bias. Invited publication for AAMFT Family Therapy Magazine, March/April 2021
Coppola, J., Gangamma, R., Hartwell, E. (2020). “We’re just two people in a relationship”: A qualitative exploration of emotional bond and fairness experiences between transgender women and their cisgender partners. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 1-16. doi.org/10.1111/jmft.12467.
Coppola, J. (2019). An integrated EFT-contextual approach for couples therapy: suggested model and ideas for practice. Journal of Family Therapy, 42: 588-612. doi: 10.1111/1467-6427.12282.
Kawar, C., Coppola, J., Gangamma, R. (2018). A contextual perspective on associations between reported parental infidelity and relational ethics of the adult children. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 45 (2). 354-363. doi: 10.1111/jmft.12331.
Gangamma, R. Glebova, T., & Coppola, J. (2016). Fairness in couples and families. In J. Lebow, A. Chamber, & C. D. Bruenlin (Eds.), Encyclopedia of couple and family therapy (pp. 1-7). Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-319-15877-8_416-1.6.
Gangamma, R., Stone Fish, L., Coppola, J., Daneshpour, M., & Hall, C. Applying contextual therapy to working with populations experiencing social injustice. Workshop presentation at the International Conference on Contextual Therapy (ICCT), Budapest, Hungary, October 2021.
Martin, T.K., Coppola, J. & Coolhart, D. Transgender inclusive training issues and experiences in MFT programs. Workshop presentation at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) conference, Louisville, KY, November 2018.
Gangamma, R., Glebova, T., Coppola, J., Tor, S. & Watson, D. Relational Ethics Mediating
Stressful Events and Psychological Distress. Poster accepted for presentation at the National Council on Family Relations Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, November 2018.
Coppola, J. & Martin, T.K. A profile of therapy-seeking transgender clients and implications for therapists. Paper presentation at the LGBTQ Research Symposium, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, May 2018.
Coppola, J. Merging Models: Integrating attachment, EFT and contextual theories. Workshop presentation at the International Conference on Contextual Therapy (ICCT), The Netherlands, April 2018.
Kawar, C., Gangamma, R., & Coppola, J. A contextual perspective on associations between reported parental infidelity and relational ethics of the adult children. Paper presentation at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) conference, Atlanta, GA, October 2017.
Watson, D., Coppola, J., Gangamma, R., & Coolhart, D., & Coppola, J. Gender as a moderator of relational ethics and romantic attachment orientation. Poster presentation at the International Family Therapy Academy (IFTA) conference, Kona, Hawaii, March 2016.
