Megan Jones LCSW

While I manage heavy subjects, it's important to me that therapy not be a constant bummer. I want my clients to feel better in their day-to-day, to have moments of relief, laughter, and fun, & so we balance the heavy by honoring the light. Humor has as much a place in therapy as empathy and compassion.

• New Jersey, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 44SC06158100
• California, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 100407

I started work in the mental health field as a case manager for families in rural Appalachia back in 2012. While there, I witnessed the profound impact trauma has on children and families and realized that I wanted to work in a more therapeutic role. I sought out Boston University's social work graduate program specifically because it offered a specialization in trauma, something that continues to be under-taught on the graduate school level. Because of the specialized track, I had the opportunity to deepen my own understanding of how both stress and trauma impacts our day-to-day lives and learn methods of managing and relieving the symptoms most closely associated with it, like anxiety, panic, depression, and dissociation - zoning or checking out, feeling numb, distracted or simply not present. Upon graduation in 2016, I used these skills working as a clinician for a mental health non-profits, serving people struggling with severe mental health symptoms, substance use, and complex histories of trauma. Eventually, I managed and led a team of mental health workers in an outpatient mental health and substance use program, training my team in compassionate, trauma-focused care. Then COVID happened, and I became a mom. I had to switch gears, a little, and having the lived-experience of both becoming and just being a parent during stressful times, I also realized a passion for helping other parents who may be managing symptoms of stress, anxiety, and trauma while trying to create, support, and maintain loving relationships with their children. My previous experience helped me learn how to apply my skills and training to a wide-range of needs, and now in my current practice, my work is rooted in forming a collaborative relationship focused on my clients' goals, building on strengths, and increasing their ability to savor moments of calm, peace, and joy. Together, we create a felt-sense of safety, perhaps exploring and processing the origins of their issues, while also building tools to manage and enjoy life in the here and now.