Individual and Family Psychotherapy

Individual Therapy:

• Individual therapy provides an opportunity to gain support and understanding, have space to process your experiences, build further insight and self-awareness, and identify specific struggles and goals to work toward. Therapy is a collaborative process in which Dr. Jen uses an individualized approach to offer feedback and support that can help you understand yourself better, work toward your goals, identify how to use your strengths and resources, and learn new skills and action steps to make healthy changes.

• Dr. Jen prioritizes the therapeutic relationship and uses a variety of evidence-based approaches to address mental health symptoms. Dr. Jen also includes creative, somatic, and sensory-based interventions in her work, as she believes in not only the benefit of talk therapy but also the profound impact of play, art, music, somatic, and sensory interventions to assist individuals in experiencing positive change.

What to expect:

• After your initial consultation call, Dr. Jen will send along practice information, consent to treatment paperwork, and questionnaires to share about your background and needs.

• Your first session will last approximately 45-60 minutes and is a “get to know you” session. Dr. Jen will ask questions about your background, experiences, symptoms, and goals. Dr. Jen will work with you to create a starter plan for therapy with the goal to check in each session on your priorities and goals.

• After your initial session, each session will last approximately 45-50 minutes and focuses on your ongoing goals as well as offering any support that you need at that time. As you progress in your goals, session frequency can be flexible and adjusted based on your needs.

• For children/adolescents: each session is flexible and based on your family’s needs, goals, and availability. Sessions can be individual only (child/teen only) or include family participation (which could include parent-child dyads, sibling sessions, entire family, extended family with your consent/request). Child therapy often includes parent check-ins (at the beginning and/or end of session) to offer guidance on how to best support your child through the week. Dr. Jen will work with your child/teen and family to create a flexible plan that fits best for your needs.

Family Therapy:

• Family therapy offers an opportunity to explore communication dynamics that may not be serving family relationships, help family members build greater understanding and empathy for one another, navigate hardships as a team, and increase healthy communication and strengthened connections together.

• Family therapy is often incorporated in working with children and teens, but it is sometimes recommended to see a separate family therapist who can be objective and support the family as a unit.

• Dr. Jen has extensive experience in providing traditional family therapy for families who need extra support in coming together, healing, and growing as a unit. Dr. Jen utilizes evidence-based family systems interventions that include creativity, playfulness, and depth. Dr. Jen aims to build connections with each family member to support each voice being heard and respected through the process.

What to expect:

• The process to initiate family therapy is very similar to the process for individual therapy listed above. The main difference includes the perspective of seeing the family as the “client,” rather than any particular individual, with an explicit focus on family goals.

• Initial family therapy sessions may include the entire family, but may also start with parents only for families with children involved.

• Family therapy sessions are approximately 50-60 minutes with the option to add additional time if scheduled in advance (with a prorated session rate of the amount of time scheduled).