Dr. Jessica SimonsLMFT

For many years I taught dance and directed adolescent ballet companies around the country. When my husband deployed for 18 months to Afghanistan, leaving me with 7 children (including two who had just been adopted from Liberia), I fell apart and attended therapy for the first time. It made a huge difference for me and I felt a strong pull toward helping people as a therapist. I decided to go back to school for my master's and then my PhD, and since then, I have really found my calling within the field of Marriage and Family therapy.

I believe I am a very calming force for my clients. I am very easy going and easy to talk to about anything. I laugh a lot and help clients find humor and joy in many difficult situations. I believe that some things in life don't need to be taken so seriously. However, there are times that problems are very serious and very painful, and I feel I am very effective at helping clients process through those emotions and the meaning various situations have to them. There are also times when solutions, change, and self-motivation are necessary to deal with certain situations. I help clients break down the process of change to achievable and logical steps, and then supportively hold them accountable to themselves as they make those changes.

One of the most central philosophies I hold is that compassion changes everything--in marriage, in parenting, and especially in ourselves. So many of the problems we experience from anxiety, to depression, to marital miscommunication, to relationships with our children, to self-medicating (or self-sabotaging) behaviors stem from a lack of compassion and respect. I believe that changing our internal dialogues about ourselves and our self-expectations to be kinder and more forgiving, the more we will fill our lives with the positive, supportive people and situations that we truly deserve. It will be much easier to find joy in life and enhance our relationships with others. As we learn to have compassion for others, we become better listeners, better compromisers, better and effective boundaries, better partners and parents.

• Utah, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 13188885-3902
• Texas, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 204937

For the last 12 years, I have been helping couples, families, children and adults overcome many different challenges in their lives. I have lived and worked all over the world and have loved working with such diverse life experiences. My specialty is helping couples overcome difficulties ranging from normal communication and connection problems, to recovering from infidelity, or making the decision to divorce and co-parent. As a family therapist, I work extensively with families (especially parents and teens) trying to improve communication and closeness. Additionally, I am EMDR trained and work with all forms of trauma healing and overcoming negative self-beliefs that lead to self-medicating and self-sabotaging behaviors. I have helped countless individuals address problems such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, and low self-worth using Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, strengths-based and person-centered therapy, as well as looking at how relationships, family, and social situations are impacting one's well-being.