(she/her)
Life can feel overwhelming — whether you're carrying the weight of anxiety that won't quiet down, navigating a depression that's dimmed what used to feel bright, or sitting in the middle of family conflict with no clear path forward. You don't have to figure it out alone. I'm Dr. Jennifer Kendrick, a licensed therapist with deep roots in both individual and relational care. I hold licensure as a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) in Minnesota, as well as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist — a dual credential that means I'm trained to support both the struggles you carry personally and the ones that live between you and the people you love most. At Ad Astra Collaborative Therapy, I offer telehealth therapy for individuals and couples across Minnesota. Whether you're dealing with persistent worry, a low mood that's hard to shake, or communication patterns that keep leading you and your family back to the same painful places — I provide a thoughtful, evidence-informed space to slow down, make sense of what's happening, and move toward something better. My approach draws on years of clinical experience, advanced training in trauma and relational therapy (including EMDR certification), and a genuine commitment to meeting you where you are. I believe healing is collaborative — we work together, at your pace, toward goals that actually matter to you.
Starting therapy can feel like a big step, and it's completely normal to feel a little nervous going in. My hope is that by the time our first session ends, you feel more settled than when you started. Before we meet, I'll send you a brief intake form. It covers some basic background — nothing overwhelming — and completing it ahead of time means we can spend our time together actually talking, rather than covering administrative ground. If you don't get to it beforehand, that's okay too; we'll work with what we have. When we connect for our first session, there's no agenda you need to arrive with. You don't have to have the "right" words for what you're experiencing or know exactly what you want out of therapy. That's part of what we'll figure out together. I'll ask you questions — about what brought you here, what's been feeling hard, what you're hoping might be different. I'll want to understand not just the problems but the fuller picture of your life: your relationships, your history, the things that matter to you. Some questions might feel easy to answer. Others might take some sitting with, and that's fine. You're always welcome to say "I don't know yet." By the end of our first session, my goal is that you have a clearer sense of what working together could look like — including whether I feel like the right fit for you. That's not just something I assess; it's something you get to assess, too. A good therapeutic relationship is built on genuine mutual fit, and I take that seriously. You should also feel free to ask me anything — about my approach, my background, how I typically work, what to expect going forward. I want you to leave feeling informed and, most importantly, like this could be a space where you can actually breathe. The first session is about connection and orientation, not solving everything at once. We're laying a foundation. And that foundation is worth taking the time to build well.
I've spent more than two decades in clinical practice across very different contexts. Early in my career, I worked with survivors of intimate partner violence, political trauma, and family abuse — people navigating not just emotional pain but real danger and displacement. That work gave me a foundation in how trauma lives in the body, in relationships, and in the stories we construct to survive. For the past twelve years, my focus has been neurodiverse individuals and their families. I've come to understand that neurodiversity doesn't just change how someone processes the world — it changes how families communicate, how couples experience conflict, and how individuals come to understand themselves. Working at that intersection has made me a more careful, more adaptive clinician. I also bring an unusually deep academic foundation. My PhD in Social Work — combined with licensure as both a clinical social worker (LICSW) and a marriage and family therapist (LMFT) — means I'm trained to hold the individual and the relational at the same time. I don't have to choose between asking "what's happening inside you?" and "what's happening between you and the people in your life?" I can do both. I don't run sessions from a script. I'm adaptive, genuinely curious, and I pay close attention — not just to what you say, but to how you say it and what you leave out. I use humor intentionally. Not to deflect from difficult things, but because laughter is data. The moments when something strikes you as funny, or painfully familiar, or absurd — those are often the moments closest to something real. I lean into them. I use storytelling because human beings are narrative creatures. The stories we've inherited — about who we are, what we deserve, what's possible for us — often do more work than we realize. Part of what we'll do together is examine those stories with some curiosity and, where needed, rewrite them. And I keep your strengths at the center. Always. Whatever brought you to therapy, you arrived with more resources than you probably recognize right now. My job is to help you find them, trust them, and use them. That's not just a philosophy. It shapes every session.
I am committed to helping individuals, couples, and families process through life's challenges. Whether you have recently experienced grief, have a new diagnosis, or are facing a life transition, I am excited to work with you to create a life worth living. I offer individual mental health therapy, miscarriage/stillbirth support for couples, and therapy services for newly-diagnosed neurodivergent people (autism, ADHD, etc.).
Other specialties
I identify as
Cognitive Processing (CPT)
I find CPT to be very helpful for processing trauma. Combined with EMDR and feminist therapy, I have found that clients are able to make peace with their trauma.
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
Who doesn’t need more skills to deal with life’s stressors? I’ve been integrating DBT with clients for five years, and find that it helps address behaviors and thoughts that have been learned from dealing with trauma.
Grief Therapy
I have specialized training as a loss doula, and am particularly focused on people who have experienced perinatal loss (miscarriage and/or stillbirth).
2 ratings with written reviews
May 19, 2025
Omg I can’t say enough how ridiculously blessed I am to have this (literal) life-saver as a therapist! She has been a mentor, compassionate support system and just one of those people who will go above and beyond to provide help! She found me treatment for my eating disorder when all hope was gone in my journey to find a place. I owe my life to her and she is just too notch as an amazing therapist and person!
February 26, 2025
Was very helpful