Jennifer Whipple

Hi, I'm Jen and I use she/her pronouns, and I have been working as a therapist with people of all backgrounds in Western Washington for the last 13 years. My work has included outpatient community mental health counseling, outpatient substance abuse counseling, outreach and case management, and college based mental health services. I work with individuals and couples, and my passion has been serving queer and marginalized communities. I have significant experience working with coming out, gender identity, transgender/non-binary identities, kink/poly, sexual orientation, queer parenting and conception, and intersectional identities. I have an interest working with parents, queer or straight, and walking alongside them as they navigate the various issues that can come with becoming a parent or trying to start a family. ​My background in athletics as both an athlete and coach has put me in positions to help current and former athletes through ways in which athletic identity impacts mental health and though transitioning to life outside of sport. I am a Certified EMDR Therapist, I am trained in Dialectical Behavior therapist, and I am a Level II trained PACT therapist. PACT stands for the Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy and developed by Stan Tatkin, PsyD, LMFT. PACT is an experiential, effective therapy that combines neuroscience, arousal regulation, and attachment theory to help partners become a securely functioning system. Partnerships can re-create environments reminiscent of our earliest relationships with attachment figures, which is a root of most issues that bring couples into therapy. PACT holds that there is exceptional healing power in our adult partnership(s) when there is acceptance, understanding, and practices that couples engage in that can help regulate one another and bring each other into a state where they can feel connected and safe. My approach to therapy recognizes the impact of privilege and oppression both on one's mental and physical health, and on the therapeutic relationship. I work hard to have awareness of my own privilege in the therapeutic dynamic and invite conversation around the impact of privilege and oppression at the interpersonal, institutional, and internalized levels. I recognize the ways in which racism, transphobia, homophobia, sizeism, ableism, white supremacy, and classism create disconnection from self and others. My hope in therapy is to work with a client's innate strengths to heal the wounds of trauma and disconnection. ​Outside of therapy I love being in nature with my family, immersing myself in books, and nourishing my body through exercise, meditation, and meaningful involvement in my community. ​