Jennifer Robertson (she/her)

As an LGBTQ+ advocate and educator I strive to create affirming and inclusive spaces for all people highlighting the intersectionality of people's unique lived experiences and dimensional group identities. I educate mental health providers on Gender Inclusive Counseling™ treatment approaches, policies, procedures, and advocacy. In the past I've worked with LGBTQ+ organizations assisting folx and their loved ones to find greater support, connect with resources, and embrace authenticity.

Especially during the pandemic, parenting remains a challenging endeavor that offers us with an opportunity to heal our own childhood wounds. The role of parent can be ever-changing depending on the needs of the child/children, so I embrace a holistic approach that wraps around attachment, emotional regulation, and mindfulness to promote resilience.

As a trauma-informed therapist, I create a trauma-sensitive environment even before I start work with people. I remain mindful of assessing and addressing trauma using a biopsychosocial, spiritual and multicultural lens. Each person's experience of trauma is unique; therefore, I listen carefully and reflect back the person's reality. I remain strengths-focused while building resiliency depending on the person's timing. I often tell my clients to be gentle with themselves throughout our work.

My approach is to align with the person's needs, lived experience, and goals. This means that I may draw from psychodynamic, existential, CBT, person-centered, and/or feminist philosophies accordingly. I include the client on this journey and explain my process throughout so that we are working as a team.

My graduate training, clinical experience, and supervision has been grounded in psychodynamic therapy. The foundation of my work draws from honoring the therapeutic relationship, exploring the unconscious, identifying defense processes/ survival strategies, examining early attachments, important relationships, and core conflicts.

Since a person's multicultural group identity plays a defining and sometimes transitional role in their life, we examine the person's beliefs, core values, assumptions, biases, experience of oppression/discrimination, and cultural traditions that shape their unique lived experience.