Jessica Jobaris

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. Two decades as a professional dancer, choreographer, and non-denominational yogi, I think outside the box 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 fostering change. I have extensive training in both of these fields of relational psychodynamic "talk" therapy, movement/somatic therapy and expressive arts therapy. 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.