LPCC, 18 years of experience
Hello! I have been a counselor for 18 years. I love meeting and working with people of all communities. This often includes clients focusing on mood disorders, self-esteem and anxiety. I also love working with people who are LGBTQGIA2S+ and have provided multiple referral letters for clients seeking gender-affirming procedures. I have a casual approach and use a lot of humor in sessions, but don't let that fool you. I take my work with my clients very seriously and work hard to help them move out of pain, suffering and difficulty. The hope is that they are then able to realize, accept and take responsibility to define and live out the life to which they aspire.
Clients can expect a number of things to happen in the first session. First and foremost, I want you to feel as comfortable as you are able. It's really tough for clients to finally decide to come to counseling, and when they do there are 137 things thrown at them before they get access to anything that even starts to make them feel better. I just ask "Why did you decide to meet today?" And off we go. Clients' experiences are tailored to them because our focus starts with what they need. Everyone is different. At the end of the hour, I ask clients if they want to come back and talk some more.
I am the same me as a counselor, me with my friends, me at home. I am a casual, funny (I like to think) and down to earth person. I am also compassionate and caring. I have been in the client seat many times and for many years. I know this is difficult and scary. I also have 18 years of experience, some in larger cities and some in smaller towns, so I have worked with a lot of different people who I have learned a great deal from. I am the eternal optimist - if what we are doing isn't working, we'll evaluate and try again. I know there's always an answer, always a way. I absolutely love being a counselor. I believe it's what I was made to do in this world.
I enjoy working with adults of all communities, cultures, backgrounds, traditions. I love to learn about people, hear their stories. I find people are often weighed down by pain and struggles or stuck in old ways that no longer fit their values and goals. They may need someone to guide them toward a new way of looking at things, identifying the steps necessary to travel a different road. My clients often have trouble seeing and defining the path they truly want because they are blinded and overwhelmed by what they are currently facing. In counseling, clients gain understanding of the influence and contributions of their choices as they work to construct their own stories and paths.
We use ACT to help you come to a place of acceptance - acceptance of self, thoughts and feelings. We help you find connection with your authentic self - the essence of what makes you you, your values, your dreams. We do a lot of work to be mindful, awareness in the present, without judgement but with a sense of curiosity.
I work with many folx who identify as members of trans, nonbinary, genderqueer and other communities. I have provided referral letters for many clients who were seeking gender-affirming medical procedures.
RET is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy I use primarily in the beginning sessions of counseling, when appropriate, to help clients understand how thoughts and feelings interact. Personally, I think it's a simple and easy to understand structure that accomplishes goals similar to most forms of CBT.
Along with ACT, existential counseling focuses on assisting clients in finding meaning, the why that speaks to them and makes them get up and walk this earth every day. I believe having some idea of what this might be is essential for everyone. Clients often develop ways to keep their main thing the main thing.
Coping skills, strategies, relationship analysis, none of it matters if it's not with the right counselor. Clients need to feel that they are accepted, cared for and never judged. I enter all counselor-client partnerships with the knowledge that my client is a human being deserving of care and assistance and an end to their suffering first and foremost in my mind. I form an alliance with that person, and together as equals, we do the work important to them.
1 rating with written reviews
July 21, 2025
Today was my first session with Jennifer and feels very comfortable and safe when speaking, she’s a really great listener with great feedback