JENNIFER GERLACH (She/Her)

One of the most meaningful pieces of the work I do is helping people improve their relationships with themselves. I have experience implementing DBT-informed therapy and compassion-focused therapies to help clients manage self-harm and related challenges. Through this, we can help you understand what leads to self-harm and get you to a place of not feeling a need to have to resort to harming yourself to feel okay.

Do you feel at times like you can do ANYTHING, and at other times like you can NOT do anything? Bipolar Disorder causes severe mood swings that can throw arrows through your plans. I love to help people create a plan for living a meaningful life with Bipolar Disorder. I have training in Interpersonal Social Rhythm Therapy, a newer intervention specifically for Bipolar Disorder as well as other approaches that can help you do this. I believe that recovery from Bipolar Disorder is possible.

Sometimes we experience things that might not make sense to other people, or even ourselves. People with psychotic disorders often struggle with things like hearing voices, paranoia, thoughts that get all tangled up and other things that feel so strange. I have worked as part of a first episode psychosis team in the past and have strong training in approaches including CBT for psychosis to help with each of these and get you back to life.

Do you ever feel like everyone else got some kind of instruction manual on social things that you never received? Coming to age with an Autism Spectrum Disorder can feel overwhelming. I have experience in helping people on the Autism spectrum/with asperger's come to a stronger sense of self-acceptance and build adaptive social skills. I am an advocate for neurodiversity and have a great deal of respect for my clients living on the spectrum.

When I first learned about EMDR, someone described it to me as "magic." I did not believe them. Still, since I have been trained in EMDR and began implementing it I have sparked strong respect for this method in helping a person reach back to find when a core negative belief (such as "I am a bad person" got formed and in processing through all the memories that piled onto that belief and resolving that trauma. I have seen EMDR help people heal and even make changes.

The stated purpose of DBT is to help a person create a life worth living. DBT utilizes skills training as well as specific therapy to help you do this. I have gotten more than 50 hours of training in DBT and have found it incredibly helpful to individuals who are struggling with emotions, relationships, being present, and dealing with tough stuff. I personally utilize every DBT skill that I teach my clients.

ACT is like a compass. In this therapy, we determine what matters to you, what is getting in the way, what might be distorting your view of yourself/the world, and basically---what's holding you up. And we sort through that and get you on a path to living a life you find meaningful. ACT is the modality of therapy that I have done the longest. I have gotten some training in this as well as mentorship from other ACT therapists. I find it helpful for a great variety of challenges.

One of the most meaningful experiences that I have had as a therapist is meeting a number of clients who have felt in such a dark place as to turn to self-harm or to to experience such a level of self-hate as to want to hurt themselves----and being a part of those client's healing. If interested in improving your relationship with yourself or being able to understand why you self-harm to feel better and no longer need it, we can begin therapy using strategies of DBT and self-compassion.

Have you ever felt on the outside? Maybe as if the people around you all had some secret no one let you in on. Or maybe, it's the opposite. You relate immensely to others, but feel that others do not relate to you in the same way. These are common experiences for Autistic clients. Meeting Autistic client where you can build self-acceptance, and strategies for dancing in this neurodiverse space is a passion of mine. I also have significant experience with women and teens with Autism.