“…. in the space between the compulsion to cling to the edge and courage to let go, I loosened my grip and came home.”
Jessica has been a part of the therapeutic community for over 20 years, specializing in mental health using holistic and community based approaches. Since childhood she carried an innate desire to help others, and an enormous capacity to create and hold space for deep healing. Formally beginning her career in 2000, she worked with foster care youth following a spark in social justice and began to deeply explore the etiology of mental health diagnosis. Jessica attended Washington State University, studying both Human Development and Political Science, developing greater interest and skill in reforming institutional structures to prevent psychological harm. Jessica later received her Masters in Social Work from University of Southern California in 2006, graduating Magna Cum Laude specializing in the field of trauma, beginning at Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health in Disaster Services. She later went on to receive her clinical social work license in 2009, specializing in trauma and community mental health. Since licensure, Jessica has worked to expand, advocate and provide training, consultation, and supervision for trauma informed mental health services both locally and globally. She received a Certificate for Mindfulness-Based Contemplative Psychotherapy from Nalanda Institute in 2018 for greater knowledge and skill practicing traditional healing.
The commitment to improve mental health services led Jessica to Co-Own and be the Clinical Director for a mental health agency in Vancouver, WA. She assisted in expanding community mental health for those with severe and persistent mental illness and made strides in expanding care for those most vulnerable. She continued to deepen her work with survivors of complex trauma, strengthening her work in integrative treatment and post traumatic growth.
The Lilith House was born out of Jessica’s return to more intimate clinical work and desire to build community structures that facilitate growth through the natural cycle of change. She has placed emphasis on assisting others to reach personal wellness beyond Western therapeutic approaches while meeting gaps in current healthcare. Jessica’s work offers a complete experience of restorative care, helping others return to their natural rhythms for sustained healing and growth.
Jessica meets others as an individual with a lived experience of trauma, as well as one who has discovered personal alchemy and ongoing evolution. She maintains accessibility and realness through her transparency in self-discipline, ongoing self development and use of daily practices to maintain health. Her work is rooted in the raw human experience and the power of connection and compassion for all phases of change. She thrives working alongside other people, navigating dark and light themes with equal importance and value. Jessica has an innate sense of guiding others to transcend pain with comfort, curiosity and strength, to live with purpose and ease.