You are unique. Your agonies are unique. Your life story and your longings are unique. Yet, you are not alone.
Welcome to Good Grief Therapy,LLC - Jessica Jobaris,LMHCA
Philosophy
Good Grief! Life’s unpredictability, traumatic experiences/losses, even plain ol’ shitty relationships, can leave us feeling confused, stuck, perhaps anxious, depressed, and even…hopeless. As a relational therapist (as in, we relate in the ‘here and now’), my purpose is to move with you, through your pain, discovering together how the grief, the brokenness you are experiencing might strangely be the good medicine and your precise path towards redemption and wholeness. After all, the whole human project is the journey of transforming our suffering into a life well lived. This is the hero’s journey. Sometimes, we need compassionate support and help remembering we are our own hero!
Expertise
I specialize in helping clients navigate difficult life transitions, trauma and grief, and feelings of being stuck.
Two decades as a professional dancer, choreographer, and non-denominational yogi, I think outside the box in order to help foster the client's agency and ignite their personal growth.
I've worked with the full spectrum of humanity in class, race, religion, age, gender and ability. My professional experience as a movement arts educator from middle school through University, as well as adult community outreach programs, have all taught me the healing power of personal expression. Just as in talk psychotherapy, the arts can become a vehicle for awakening self-awareness and instigating change. I have extensive training in the fields of relational psychodynamic talk therapy, movement/somatic therapy and expressive arts therapy.
Approach
My approach is holistic and collaborative. I consider my client's unique worldview to provide a safe place for them to explore the person they want to become. My work is influenced by relational psychodynamic therapy, trauma-informed expressive arts therapy, and somatic in nature. These modalities center around a two-way exchange of being courageously truthful, present, and curious while holding the client's pain, complexity and paradox. I work with clients in identifying their goals and develop a personalized treatment plan that incorporates a variety of techniques, including mindfulness, somatic, and creative practices, polyvagal therapy, all of which are trauma informed. We can simply sit and talk and discover together. At times when talk therapy proves ineffective, art/somatic therapy can provide an alternative pathway to express and transform our pain without re-traumatizing. Whether deciding on traditional or art/somatic therapy, I uphold that the client leads the way.
Hope and Healing with Good Grief Therapy
Areas of Experience & Interest:
Depression/Anxiety/PTSD
Grief Counseling - Suicide & Sudden Loss Bereavement
Life Transitions-Divorce/Romantic/Friendship Endings/Career/Relocation
Survivors of Child Abuse & Neglect / C-PTSD
Women’s Infertility
Self-Esteem
General Boredom and Stuckness - Wanting more creativity and joy in life!
Emotional Regulation Skills for Stress, Anger & Grief
"It is in the space between inner and outer world, which is also the space between people--the transitional space--that intimate relationships and creativity occur." ― D. Winnicott
RESOURCES and Trusted Refferals
Trusted Referrals
- Chandra Travers, NBC-HWC: Chandra is a national Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach. https://www.nurturewellnesscoaching.com/
- Patrice Hapke, M.A.c, L.A.c: Patrice is a well renowned acupuncturist focusing on fertility. Voted Top Doctor in Seattle Met Magazine, 2012. http://www.acupunctureforpregnancy.net/
- Robert Weinstein L.A.c, E.A.M.P: Robert has decades of experience as a licensed acupuncturist. https://thesourcepoint.net/
Books for the Hard Times
- When Things Fall Apart - Pema Chodron
- A Buddhist Grief Observed - Guy Newland
- Survivor Cafe - Elizabeth Rosner
- The Body Keeps The Score - Bessel Van der Kolk
- The Long Grief Journey: How Long-Term Unresolved Grief Can Affect Your Mental Health and What to Do About It - Pamela D. Blair & Brady McCabe Hansen
- The Trauma of Everday Life - Mark Epstein
- My Grandmother's Hands - Resmaa Menakem
- Missing Out/In Praise of the Unlived Life - Adam Phillips
- Mating in Captivity - Esther Perel
- Awakening the Heroes Within - Carol S. Pearson
- The Deepest Well/Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Adversity - Nadine Burke Harris
- Salt - Nayyirah Waheed
- Amplified Heart/An Emotional Discography - Bryn Gribben
- All About Love/New Visions - Bell Hooks
Podcasts for Inspiration
- The Divorce Field Guide - Ani Mason, Esq.
- Magic Lessons with Elizabeth Gilbert
- The One You Feed - Eric Zimmer
- Against the Stream - Noah Levine