Meet Jessica Jacoby | Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Anxiety and Existential Therapist for Millennials

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Jacoby and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
For most of my career, I had always worked for large companies, schools, and group practices. I learned a tremendous amount from these experiences as a whole and am so grateful for the opportunities I had. But, at a certain point you start to get this intuitive sense of what type of client feels best to work with and who you want to find you, and running my own business fully allows me to do that. I can be my silly, authentic, humorous self, and attract the exact clients that I know will love working with me. This has allowed me to feel energized by my work and ultimately a better therapist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I graduated in 2013 from California State University, Northridge, and then spent a few years working as an associate in schools, community agencies, group practices, and even in equine centers working alongside horses and clients. I’ve been a therapist for 13+ years, and guide individuals in questioning, getting curious about, and understanding their patterns of behaviors, thoughts, and emotional responses. I work most often with millennials who are deep in their career and pattern of living, but are beginning to question certain aspects of their lives. Maybe it’s wanting to assess their current relationships and explore a sense of disconnection from others. They may have been living with undiagnosed ADHD, OCD, panic disorder and other functional limitations for most of their lives and are ready to address them. Throughout my career, I’ve learned that clients are no longer satisfied with a therapist who is passive- they want someone who can challenge them and help them find constructive solutions to problems. Therefore, when I work with clients, I am fully ‘in it’ with them — I ask a lot of questions, respond and react frequently, and share a lot about my own experiences, when it feels relevant, as a way to cement a lesson or perspective. In sessions with my clients, we’ll frequently laugh together in between having those big revelations. That’s the vibe and energy that I bring to my work. It’s fun, it’s real, it’s active, and it’s intelligent. That’s what sets me apart from other therapists.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would describe myself as equal parts foodie and equal parts lover of the outdoors in the sense that, to me, my perfect day involves eating a wonderful meal in a nice locale with fresh air and a view. To start the day, we’d have to have a breakfast burrito — my favorite is Black Heart Coffee in Lake Balboa, where they are known for their breakfast menu and variety of flavored coffee beverages. For lunch, I am a huge fan of Topanga Canyon so I would take them to one of the many cute cafes in the canyon on the way to the beach and then go for a nice beach walk after, perhaps with an iced coffee in hand. For dinner, my pick would be sushi. Living in the valley, we are absolutely spoiled with options for sushi, so it’s hard to pick just one place. When friends and family come to visit, it’s essentially a week that centers around what we will eat, and finding great places to enjoy the good weather.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I have so much love and gratitude to my parents for all of their support over the years and believing that my business would be successful. I will also always remember my first clinical supervisor as a trainee while attending the MFT program at California State University, Northridge: Michael Laurent. Michael was the first therapist who showed me how to be both humorous and compassionate towards clients. I also want to give a shoutout to my supervisor at Two Chairs, Lindsey Luebe. Lindsey, thank you for all of your support and trust in my clinical decision making – it truly helped me build my confidence as a clinician. Lastly, I feel constant support from the therapist community I lead, called Mental Health Mingles – San Fernando Valley. It’s a community for valley-based therapists who want to connect and have quality time and support from other therapists in the area through coffee chats, brunches, dinners, and other in person gatherings.

Website: https://www.jessicajacobytherapy.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessicajacobytherapy/?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA%3D%3D