WELCOME TO JEFF JOHNSON THERAPY SERVICES
Better Mental Health and Relationships
Greetings,
if you are here on this page it means that you are curious or hurting. Whether hurting emotionally, in your relationships or in your own self, hurting alone creates suffering, and none of us should suffer.
As a therapist and as a person, I understand that life will always provide some kind of hurt and it is inevitable, but you don’t need to be alone or suffer.
One part of great therapy is to provide a safe space for all people and all ways of life and I work at providing that space.
After speaking with countless people about the many hurts in their lives, mixed with my personal experiences and unique background I have learned one crucial truth: That none of us is better than another. I work every session and in my life to have all people feel equal, heard, understood and considered.
Another part of great therapy is to understand the science and current theories of attachment, trauma, mindfulness, spirituality, medicine, etc. that impact our lives and impact our physiology, biology and neurology.
With over 20 years working in many different mental health settings, working with different treatment populations and continued studies I have learned a lot about how the mind/body interact and the detriments to prolonged stress, anxiety, and negative emotions can have. I work hard on incorporating these understandings into my work to ensure a systemic and holistic perspective to the hurts and challenges in our lives.
I also have learned a lot about the mental health system and it brings me to the third part of great mental health treatment which is understanding that the mental health system is broken.
This is why I don’t accept insurance, which often dictates treatment.
My sessions are limited to an hour max for time reasons but I am not limited to length of treatment, diagnostic limitations, or other complications.
I believe that mental health, like physical health, is a lifelong journey with varying times of need and severity and treatment should be adjusted to support individuals through this lens rather than what has traditionally been followed due to insurance constraints.
This however, puts me squarely as part of the problem and I understand this and I work hard at trying to meet financial needs while also maintaining my practice.
If you have made it this far and are interested in taking the next step towards working on healing, growth and improved relationships then schedule a consultation or an initial session with me and I look forward to helping you heal and being a part of your journey on improving your own mental health.
Services
I offer individual, partners/couples, and limited family therapy sessions. Currently, I am only available virtually and a stable internet connection is necessary for effective care.
How I work with Individuals:
I take a holistic approach to working with individuals and work through a systemic and trauma informed lens and perspective. I have extensive experience working with individuals with a variety of struggles and needs including: Depression, anxiety, trauma/CPTSD, autism spectrum struggles, relationship, work, life and family stresses, BPD and personality disorder struggles.
The goal of therapy is to reduce and resolve issues but it can also be used to help with understanding, education, insight and healing from past traumas and wounds.
How I work with Relationships:
I take a systemic, interactional and emotional approach to couples work and find ways to recognize and resolve conflict, determine ways to improve connection and intimacy and improve communication by changing how you express but also interpret each other's verbal and non-verbal communication.
Systemically, I look at the impact of your upbringing, culture, values, power dynamics and individual struggles to help couples and relationships have a better understanding and improved interactions and responses to improve communication, connection and resolve conflict in healthier ways.
I utilize theories and modalities including Emotionally Focused couples therapy, Gottman, CBT, trauma informed, structural and systemic to help couples and relationships heal, understand and make changes to improve how they function and interact within their relationships.
Telehealth:
I am exclusively practicing virtually and do not have a physical office at this time. I have found that telehealth is as effective for therapy working with most individuals and relationships. However, providing care for family or adolescents can be challenging and you can reach out to schedule a consultation to see if I would be an appropriate fit for your needs.
Personal and Professional Background
I have over 20 years of mental health experience and started my career in Boston, MA as a mental health outreach worker and a program coordinator for a group home. This experience taught me about the severity of mental health, the impact of the systems in our lives to help and also hurt us and gave me a glaring look and understanding of how the mental health system could be so amazing and helpful but how it woefully falls short and is inadequate, antiquated and non-systemic in treatment.
My formal education and training as a marriage and family therapist began in 2006 and I attended the University of Massachusetts, Boston where I learned to be systemically minded in theory, conceptualization of problems and treatment. This systemic thought permeates all parts of my work and is the foundation of how I approach and think about mental health and relationships.
For the last 14 years I have worked in a variety of settings including home based family/parenting therapy, school based outpatient therapy, individual, couples and family outpatient therapy and played a variety of roles in leadership, management, training and supervising. This experience has helped me understand family systems, relationship dynamics and patterns and created deep insight into people's lives and the complexity and uniqueness to everyone’s struggles and hurts.
More recently, I have worked with hundreds of couples and helped them work through infidelity, conflict, emotional dysregulation, medical trauma, separations, divorce, communication and connection issues, intimacy struggles and many other issues.
I have training in Ecosystemic Structural Therapy, Gottman, Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy, EMDR, and have provided training in systemic theory, mindfulness, ethics, and many other topics. I have also supersived many clinicians and an approved AAMFT supervisor.
Get in Touch
My starting rate is 160$ a session but use a sliding scale based on need and clinical challenges. I do not accept any insurance but offer a superbill that can be possibly used for “out of network” reimbursement.