Jessica Garratt

My first vocation was as a poet and teacher of poetry. In poems, I love the way questions, uncertainty, doubts, and difficult feelings are not bad things to be sped past, but rather the beginning of everything—an opening or invitation. In poems, questions can take us on a wandering path, cause us to discover something we didn’t know we felt or knew. As a therapist, and just as a person in the world, I find myself drawn to a similar path and philosophy. It can feel tempting to try to hurry toward answers to difficult questions in our lives, and it is natural to want to “fix” things that are causing us pain. It’s my goal to help you honor and explore the questions themselves, and for us to be with them together. Doing so with patience, care, and a spirit of curiosity can naturally lead to a more meaningful relationship with yourself (and then with others), and a more crystalline sense of connection to life. The intention to allow more space for uncertainty can also begin to ease the edges of anxiety, shift the energy of depressive symptoms, help integrate longstanding hurts, and help form greater trust in your own capacity to navigate life’s challenges. The more we’re able to be with and accept the different parts of ourselves fully–as well as reflect on our patterns of thinking, feeling, and relating in the world–the more space there is for real & lasting change to happen. A strong bond between therapist and client is one of the surest environments for this process of discovery and change to unfold. My approach to therapy is empathic, direct, and creative. I bring a warm, collaborative presence and non-judgmental curiosity to sessions. I’m genuinely interested in the textures of your daily life in the world, and also the images, metaphors, and sensations that texture your inner life. It would be my honor to get to know you and accompany you! ~ Jessica “Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions themselves… ” – Ranier Maria Rilke Before earning an MA in Counseling Psychology and becoming a therapist, Jessica earned an MFA in Poetry from the University of Texas at Austin and a PhD in English & Creative Writing from the University of Missouri – Columbia, and has had experiences as a published poet, a teacher of writing and literature, and an editor. Jessica has a certificate from the 2-year Psychoanalytic Studies Program through the Washington Baltimore Center for Psychoanalysis, and completed a Perinatal Mood Disorders training through Postpartum Support International (PSI). Her master’s thesis at Pacifica Graduate Institute was related to maternal mental health. She has taken trainings in Internal Family Systems and is looking forward to further IFS training. Jessica also has interest in and experience with meditation and Buddhist psychology.