Anxiety, Grief, & Trauma Therapy in Kansas City, MO
816-710-6785
The Therapy Garden, LLC
Mental Health Counseling in Kansas City
Welcome to The Therapy Garden
I’m a psychotherapist who believes healing works best when it feels safe, warm, and authentic. I specialize in anxiety and stress, grief recovery, and trauma, as well as increasing emotional connection and attachment with couples. I’m often found by folks seeking a safe place to move through life’s most tender moments.
Sometimes life moves us along to a breaking point where we know we need help; Other times we feel a quiet knowing that something important is left unexplored. Whether your symptoms are loud or hushed, our goal together, in psychotherapy, is to help you build a deeper understanding of who you are and engage consciously with life. My work is depth-oriented and aimed at looking beyond the surface of your symptoms to address what’s really fueling the pain. While the human capacity for growth is remarkable, like plants, we require a healthy environment to flourish. I strive to provide this in our time together and offer you a chance to explore the question, “Why am I the way I am?”
I'm a good fit for supporting adults with anxiety disorders, chronic/acute illness of self or family, PTSD/trauma, grief & loss, life transitions (relocation, retirement), and existential depression. I also provide depth-oriented and attachment-based couples therapy for those seeking deeper understanding of one another and their relationship, better communication, and those experiencing relationship distress.
I love working with individuals who are ready to take the next step in feeling better. Together, we work to create lasting change and foster resilience.
If you’re ready to take the next step, reach out. I’m excited to join you.
What is Psychoanalytic Therapy & Who Does It Help?
Also called depth-oriented or psychodynamic therapy, psychoanalytic therapy works to address the root of recurring patterns, not just the symptoms showing on the surface. While skill-based therapy asks, “What can we do about this behavior,” psychoanalytic therapy asks, “Why is this behavior here at all,” believing that this understanding is key to long-lasting change, not just a simple re-route or interruption of symptoms.
What to Expect & How Psychoanalytic Therapy Works
The heart of this work is exploration of relationships, early experiences, and patterns that may exist outside of awareness. As these connections become clearer, new perspectives and possibilities for change begin to emerge. Over time, this understanding can lead to meaningful and lasting change growing beyond the time spent in therapy itself. A keystone to psychoanalytic therapy is the belief that as one experiences an increased and integrated awareness of self and one’s own development, the effort becomes self-sustaining, continuing to work long after therapy is finished. Folks often report noticing changes in the way they make every day decisions, show up in their relationships, and choose to act as they become more consciously aware of who they are and what they want.
A session with me looks less like working through homework pages, and more like having a deeply attuned conversation. Early sessions are aimed at getting to know you and understanding your story: Your history, your wants out of therapy, relationships that shaped you, and what therapy has looked like before. Then, the work moves between what you experienced and how you are experiencing what is happening in your life right now. Insight leads to choice, which leads to change.
Because psychoanalytic therapy is depth-oriented, I’ve found it works best when we meet regularly. This allows sessions to be focused on more than simply what events have happened over the past couple of weeks. Sessions occur anywhere from 1-4x per week, with the frequency and duration of therapy being discussed ongoing throughout treatment.
You May be a Good Fit If...
You've tried short-term therapy with little or partial relief, and feel there is still more to be explored beneath the surface.
You're seeking deeper understanding of your identity, personal meaning, and what you want out of life.
You feel a persistent sense of dissatisfaction or feeling stuck in life
Despite trying to change, the same relationship patterns keep showing up.
You're facing impactful life transitions: Loss of loved ones, places, careers; Retirement and aging; Chronic illness for self or family, bringing up earlier, present, or anticipated feelings of grief.
You're seeking relationship-oriented therapy instead of something that feels rigid and regimented.
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Everyone has a story worth sharing and listening to. Though we all have a different catalyst for therapy, I've learned life is best lived authentically and am passionate about helping others live their most engaging life.
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I've trained in individual and couples therapy and experienced time and again the power that deep, inner work has on our lives. I spent my early years training during the the beginning of the pandemic, providing therapy for those navigating painful change, loss, and uncertainty. I saw the many forms grief takes in our lives, and was inspired early-on to help others process this and find new ways forward while honoring and remembering what was lost. I began training in EMDR after realizing how helpful this evidenced-based treatment can be for symptoms of PTSD.
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I then began facilitating skills and psychoeducation groups on grief recovery and self-esteem, as well as therapeutic process groups. Here, I learned the powers of sharing and listening, and that knowing you are not alone in your pain is important medicine. During this time, I also worked with adults in recovery from substance use and facilitated group therapy for those in intensive-outpatient recovery programs, while also providing outpatient therapy for those with anxiety disorders, depression, and PTSD/trauma.
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For the past seven years, I've been honored to sit with clients as they've shared the most tender pains and joys life brings. Today, I am a candidate at the Greater Kansas City Psychoanalytic Institute, where I've committed to continuing my engagement with this important work.
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I've experienced firsthand the significance of connecting consciously with life and remain committed to the ongoing journeys of personal and professional development.
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About Jennifer
