Hi! I am an LCSW (licensed clinical social worker) in Pennsylvania. I earned my masters degree in social work from Columbia University and have over 25 years experience in the field. I am a compassionate and strengths-based therapist and have an integrative approach to therapy, which means I utilize a variety of approaches to best support what my clients need. I can help with varied problem areas including depression, anxiety, mood disorders, ADHD, insomnia, trauma, grief, relationship problems, and life transitions.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
In our first session, we'll start with brief introductions, explore what your specific goals are for therapy, and clarify what specific challenges you're facing. Gathering some of your history and background that you feel is important to share will help us create a tailored plan to work towards in follow up sessions.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I believe my greatest strengths as a provider are both my experience and also that I focus very much on meeting the individual needs of my clients. I am warm, mindful and supportive. I am compassionate and empathetic, and focus on resilience and strengths. I can utilize and have training in varied approaches and am also always learning new things to better serve my clients.
Describe the client(s) you are best positioned to serve.
I love working with clients who have good insight into their treatment needs, and can take an active role in the therapeutic process. I am happy to let you be in charge of getting what you need out of the session, and I am also willing to help shape that process so you can get the most out of your treatment. With my eclectic style, I appreciate when clients are open to learn more about how experiential practices like mindfulness, hypnotherapy, biofeedback, and trauma processing can help them with making progress towards their goals. I also appreciate when clients need a supportive style and want to have a space to process life stressors and positive coping strategies.
About Jennifer Matzner
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VirtualMy treatment methods
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
I have training in Solution-oriented hypnotherapy and treatment and utilize these approaches to work with clients on varied areas of change including managing chronic pain, improving mood/anxiety, and changing habits such as working on smoking cessation and weight management. Solution focused hypnotherapy helps by utilizing a state of focused awareness in which we collaborate to work on your identified goals and changes you want to make that may be rooted in long standing habits and beliefs. To clarify any myths - with hypnotherapy you will not be "put under" or do anything against your will and will always be aware of what the therapist is saying during the session. I also utilize guided imagery in sessions to improve internal resources to help people overcome problems and unconscious patterns that may be holding them back from change. Please ask me questions about solution focused hypnotherapy and guided imagery. I am happy to give more information about how it can be helpful to your personal healing journey.
Mind-body approach
I have training in varied mind/body approaches including the HeartMath Institute mind body method. I am a certified trauma-informed HeartMath practitioner. Mind body approaches are helpful because we teach you strategies for learning to better regulate your nervous system, increase resilience to stress, reduce distress, and can also prepare you to work on processing trauma. With Heartmath you can learn the techniques and feel benefit or you can also experience the biofeedback component through the Heartmath technologies that are offered on heartmath.com. Purchasing the biofeedback tools are not necessary but can add benefit by reinforcing the physiological results of practicing the techniques. I also utilize mindfulness and mindfulness based stress reduction approaches in treatment as well as teaching some somatic therapy skills.
EMDR
I have training in EMDR and have done extensive supervision with EMDRIA certified practitioner. I utilize guided imagery and resourcing to help strengthen qualities that individuals may need more of to better cope with current life stressors, and to prepare to process trauma. With trauma processing, you can start to connect with more present oriented and positive beliefs about yourself and decrease engagement with negative beliefs that may be connected to past adverse experiences and traumatic events in your life. With these new positive beliefs you can start to create a framework for a more desired future.
Grief Therapy
I worked in end of life care setting and have training and experience in grief therapy. I utilize grief therapy to help individuals process their emotions and thoughts about grief, move through the stages of grief, and work towards acceptance of the loss. I also work with complicated grief, and grief related to life transitions such as divorce or loss of job.
Integrative
I have over 25 years experience in the field of social work and psychotherapy and utilize an ecclectic approach that integrates varied treatment modalities to meet the needs of individual clients. I incorporate varied strategies including CBT, ACT, DBT, trauma informed treatment, experiential therapies (art, writing), and hypnotherapy.