Why I do this work:

I understand the challenges that can often hinder seeking support. Although I couldn’t realize it at the time, fear and un-safety characterized my early years. The feelings of being unseen and unsafe were common experiences as a child. For many reasons, my small nervous system always registered a threat. I learned at an early age to attune to others to gauge my safety but to disassociate from my own experience to deal with pain and loneliness. 

As I grew older I found ways to cope that helped me to survive including extreme busy-ness, travel, and overworking. These well-meaning strategies brought me to a place of disconnection from myself and others that was not healthy or rewarding. It was from this place of isolation that I laid a foundation for my early adulthood and eventually I found myself in a disconnected and volatile home life. Dating and marrying a marine through three combat tours who later became a firefighter added a unique set of stressors. I found myself always tight, bracing and losing my hair. I wanted to believe things could change, and it was in the lows of this season where hope grabbed me. 

Through my pain, I was propelled, almost forced to reach for help for myself which led to healing and expansion that I never in my wildest dreams could have imagined. I have seen my relationship with myself, God, and others deepen immensely to a place where I never thought possible. Through somatic therapy and education, I have found safety in my body and relationships and have seen my family and community evolve and grow through the ripple effects of my own healing. I believe that each of us as individuals has the capacity to heal and live rich rewarding lives that display the individual skills, gifts, and design that we were created for. A common thread I see in my story and many of my clients is a waiting period of suffering into which a sliver of hope is introduced. It is from this place that the lived experience of redeemed pain can emerge, and it is almost always alongside a safe empathic other. 

I am passionate about humbly stepping into this role for clients. The most rewarding experience in life is holding a candle of hope in another’s dark season and then watching it grow into its own redemptive healing force within the individual.  I do this work to help others hold onto the hope of embodiment of deep inner healing and restoration. I seek to come alongside individuals and couples and empower them to find the resources and resiliency that are innate to all humans and thrive. I believe my gift is to attune to my clients in a way that allows them to feel seen, heard, safe and strengthened to grow out of the cycles that are often the most familiar but which are no longer working for them to yield the results they are seeking in life. 

My approach to therapy is empathetic and hopeful. I will create a safe space where I will guide you in your quest to transform holistically-- mind, body, heart, and spirit. True healing is to integrate all the parts of your story and yourself, this allows us to experience the vibrant life that is possible. I will help you to find inner and external resources you may have never considered before and help you to grow your capacity to handle life’s challenges and help you to attune to yourself and your experience in new ways. I look forward to joining you in any part of your journey you find yourself.

with tons of care,

   Jessi Eckert