Hello and welcome!
I’m Jess (she/they). I’m a therapist specializing in the care and treatment of eating disorders and the challenges that often accompany them in adolescents and adults. I’m especially passionate about providing care for folks at the intersections of LGBTQIA+ and/or neurodivergence and EDs.
Many therapists use this space to discuss accolades and work history. At one point, this area of MY website discussed accolades and work history. And, though these things have their place (for those interested, I have more of that info below), I don’t believe that giving you a run down of why I have letters after my name is the best way to help you identify if I’m the best therapist for you. I want you to leave this page thinking, “she’s the one for me!” or “nah, I’ll pass” instead of, with ten tabs of therapist profiles open, “which one is she again?”
Most people who land on my website, and in my office, often do so with some understandable questions: 1) can you help me?, 2) what makes you qualified to help me?, and a frequent addendum, 3) why do you do this work? I’ll tackle 1 & 3 and some of 2 will be covered below.
I come to this work honestly, and with a wealth of lived experience. I wouldn’t do this work if I wasn’t acutely aware of the ins, outs, ups, downs, and corkscrews of recovery and healing, and frankly, I don’t know that I’d want to. Though my own experiences have allowed me to empathize with my clients in ways that are unique and expansive, I don’t hang my hat on them. If I’ve seen x number of clients with eating disorders throughout my career, I’ve seen x number of EDs and x number of recoveries - no person’s experience is the same, even if there are similarities (and this is especially the case when considering race, gender identity, sexuality, disability, etc.) Thus, applying my own recovery roadmap to a client’s experience would just leave both of us lost - and unsuccessful.
My goal, as your therapist, is to help you to create your own roadmap, in your own way. And, though I can’t draw the map for you, I’ll happily be there in the muck with you, sleeves rolled up, helping you to carve a path toward healing, recovery, and a life worth living. It will be hard, and it will hurt when you stumble into some ditches or catch your clothes on some brambles. There may be many moments of confusion and despair. But, there will also be laughter, levity, and a few f-words for good measure.
So, can I help you? Trick answer - I can, but you are already the expert of you, and you have the inherent capacity to grow, flourish, and heal. You begin your roadmap, perhaps unknowingly, before you come to work with me. You will continue it, hopefully, long after, with an even better sense of direction and inner wisdom.
If it weren’t already clear, I am fiercely, fiercely passionate about what I do, and I love that I get to do it. After nearly a decade of this work, I continue to feel very fortunate to be, and to have been, a witness, guide, cheerleader, advocate, holding space, and chaos manager (we all need one!) for such incredible people and their families.
Folks with eating disorders and other presentations I enjoy working with are often identified as “difficult,” “resistant,” or “too much trouble.” To that I say: good. The best of us are. My hope is that, through our work together, you can think so, too.
“Transformation is not magic. It’s hard work. But, it is also doable work. When we can see another person’s labor toward their transformation, we know it is not some secret sauce but instead a daily commitment to a new way of life.”
