Approach to Therapy

Jen helps her patients understand their symptoms and provides them tools to help them live a fulfilling life. She utilizes a direct, yet empathic approach to help confront her patients’ fears by dedicating time and patience to understanding an individual’s strengths, goals and values. As a Licensed Professional Counselor, she skillfully utilizes a patient-specific combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) including mindfulness and exposure based interventions to help people overcome the fears and anxieties that have held them back from living their fullest life. Throughout treatment, she will assist patients in gaining knowledge of their own anxiety triggers and symptoms by teaching them skills that they can use to increase their ability to tolerate distress and regulate emotions. She believes an essential part of this process is developing a therapeutic relationship that establishes a safe space with trust and collaboration with the patients’ support system including family, friends, school, and other treatment providers in order to help them reach their goals. 

Experience and Training

Jen earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and went on to earn her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at DePaul University. Prior to joining The OCD & Anxiety Center, Jen has provided care in community mental health settings, to children in schools, and to adolescents and adults with anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, and other mood disorders. Most recently, she worked in an intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization program providing care with adolescents and adults struggling with anxiety disorders, depression, OCD, mood disorders, school refusal and family conflict.  She has completed the Cognitive Behavior Institute’s extensive Exposure and Response Prevention Training and is a member of the International OCD Foundation. 

More About Jen

Jen was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago. In her spare time, she enjoys staying active, going on walks with her two rescue dogs, attending sporting events, and spending time with family and friends.