Jennifer Tolley

Hello. I am amongst other things, a wife, mother, teacher, school counselor, and mental health clinician. I earned my Bachelors degree from Skidmore College, my Masters from Lesley University, and I currently live in southeastern Massachusetts. I have advanced certifications in anxiety, trauma, collaborative problem solving, and more. I know how important it is to tap into strengths, think positively, and find just the tiniest snippet of hope, in order to spark change. What are you waiting for? Everyone should have someone to talk to, especially if that someone is impartial and nonjudgmental. None of us walks around with a sign that displays our challenges and struggles; yet we all have them. You are not alone. That means we can normalize how you're feeling, and still set out to make positive changes. Through listening and getting to know you and your goals, we'll take action to make each day a little better, one step at a time. We'll identify your hopes and harness your strengths, to empower you to make positive, healthy choices. I believe that we all possess tools, and sometimes just need to add a few more to our toolboxes to facilitate changes that will lead to improved self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, and overall happiness. Feel impossible? I don't know the meaning of the word. I can help you find HOPE, and it only takes the tiniest bit. Ready? Let’s get started then. Let me help you reach your goals. I promise to work as hard as you do, and to not give up. My guidance and support in helping clients to find solutions to life problems is one of my greatest gifts that I am proud to be able to share with you. Together, we can break down problems into more manageable pieces, prioritize what needs to come first and what can wait, exploring and critically analyzing the potential outcomes of our choices, and then choosing carefully but confidently, you will gain the skills necessary for being a problem solver, one of the most important qualities one person can share with another. I acknowledge that life is full of problems. It is full of problems, all with solutions, if we are creative and determined and don't give up, and I assure you that I will NOT give up. We've got this! In case you don't know it yet, our thoughts, feelings, and actions are closely knitted together, sometimes knotted together. What you may not know is that while emotions come naturally, and we can learn to manage them, it's not necessarily easy or automatic. And our actions are often a reactive response to our feelings, often creating ineffective habits or patterns of behavior, making those take time and targeted effort to change. But the great news is that our thoughts can be quite easy to change once we learn how. It's like changing a channel, or sending our brain a different message. And that means once we are able to learn how to rethink and reframe our thoughts, it can impact our feelings, and thus, the actions that follow. I know it's easy to point out someone's faults, and it is really easy to identify all of our own, sometimes thinking that we can't change, but I know we CAN. So, let's start with your strengths- identify them, acknowledge them, support them with specific examples, providing irrefutable evidence that we do have strengths. And we can use them to build new skills that will help us not only acquire the ability to go through life more healthily and happily, but we can do so like a superhero, or a rock star, or whatever kind of role and identity you imagine is strong enough to overcome life's obstacles. When you forget your goodness and your strengths, I will be there to remind you, provide evidence, and convince you that YOU ARE GOOD, incredible, smart, beautiful, amazing even! And I'll keep reminding you until you are able to remind yourself when it needs to be remembered.