Trauma isn’t just about what happened to you; it’s about how your nervous system is trying to protect you today.

It takes an immense amount of energy to carry complex trauma, OCD, bipolar, depression, and anxiety, especially while navigating the overwhelming societal pressures of being a woman, teenager, or college student in a society that often feels like it’s pulling us backward.

My name is Jen. I’m an Associate Clinical Mental Health counselor in the state of Utah and I see clients on telehealth, primarily between the ages of 12 and 45, working with teenagers, college students, and adults. As of November 2026, I have fully opened up my availability, and have openings Monday-Friday, with early mornings and evenings available.

If you are exhausted from fighting internal battles, navigating external pressure, being in survival mode, or systemic burnout, you don’t have to do it alone. I help individual therapy clients process their trauma, reclaim their autonomy, and step into their authentic power. Therapy with me is compassionate, nonjudgmental, and supportive of your lived experience. I am a direct communicator, but a kind communicator. As a therapist, this means that I will call you out when necessary, but I will do so in a warm and kind way, always meeting you where you are. I strive to be a safe person you feel you can talk about anything with who will offer unwavering support as we collaborate together in your therapy journey.

Most often clients seek therapy with me for empowerment, healthy boundaries, women’s issues, LGBTQIA issues, complex trauma, PTSD, personality disorders, OCD, bipolar, and burnout from being in high performance spaces for a little longer than their bodies and nervous systems would have preferred.

As an LGBTQIA-affirming trauma therapist, I view you through a whole-person lens. Your lived experience matters to me and I center that in session. I offer a dedicated HIPAA compliant telehealth space for all clients.

Clients often resonate with me being someone who is adopted, someone who did “digital nomad life” for many years, and someone who is an avid snowboarder, runner, surfer, and rock climber. If any of this resonates with you, I warmly welcome high performance athletes, adventurous souls, clients who are adopted and battling internal identity conflict, and the LGBTQIA community. Many clients also find comfort knowing that I am not at all affiliated with the LDS church and never have been. With that said, I have worked with many ex-Mormon and current LDS clients, and I do have familiarity with religious trauma.

I do not believe that therapy is ever a one size fits all approach. I will use modalities that fit your therapy goals. In session I often pull from therapy frameworks such as CBT, psychodynamic theory, narrative therapy, mindfulness, aspects of feminist theories, and liberation psychology. I also use a systems approach, where we examine the systems and external environment you are living within rather than only focusing on what is going on for you internally.

Above all, I believe in centering my clients lived experience, leading with compassion, respect, and the belief that all humans have limitless potential. It is extremely important to me to create a warm, safe, welcoming space where you feel you can be your most authentic self.

To give you a better idea of my background, I have a masters degree in applied psychology/clinical mental health counseling from New York University, a masters degree in public policy and global health from Northwestern University, and have taken master’s level course work in human trafficking and exploitation, forensic psychology, and victimology. Before I chose to go the licensure route, I worked in crisis care environments for many years. I am a full member psychologist with the British Psychological Society in the United Kingdom, and will soon be registered there as a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol). Most recently I was a psychotherapist with an organization focused on culturally inclusive LGBTQIA+ care.

I am a person who stutters (PWS) and as a therapist, I love working with people who stutter. It is something that I find is largely misunderstood by society and having a therapist who “gets it” can make all the difference. I would love to work with you if you are a person who stutters.

I would absolutely love to work with you if you are looking for a therapist who will approach therapy with raw authenticity, warmth, and compassion with the utmost respect for your lived experience. I do not believe therapy is about “fixing” you, because you are not broken; you’re a human who is having a human reaction to things happening in your life. Everyone needs a little support sometimes, and I think therapy is the space where you can say all of the things you cannot say anywhere else, a space for unwavering support, and a space where you can grow as a person.

I look forward to fostering that safe space for you and working towards your therapy goals together in collaboration. Please email me: Jen@sandyshorescounseling.com or schedule a consult at the “schedule now” button on my bio on the Sandy Shores website, to get started. I would love to connect.