Jennifer Austin, LMSW, MDiv.

“Nothing but truth can really free us. Comforting lies are never as beneficial as loving truth.

Even when the truth is not whAt we want to hear, we can’t expect to make good decisions or the

best choices operating under the control of a lie.”

I probably don’t know you, but what I am most positive about is that your truth is that you are

good. You would do things differently if you knew how to. You are looking for a way to do life

better. You are going to be okay. Your truth has nothing to do with whether or not your life

looks like an Instagram picture. It is not at all about what the mean girls or the seniors on the

football team said about you. It is not based on a list of ways you are or are not abiding by your

faith tradition’s rules. There are so many things we have been told to base our truth on, and the

reality is, most of that is a crock.

Uncovering your truth happens very pragmatically in the beginning of our work when I will tell

you that you have full freedom to press pause and tell me the truth if I am doing or saying

anything that is making you uncomfortable. As we get to know each other, I will share what is

true about me when I think it will help and I do hope that you start to see me as someone who

welcomes and can handle any truth you want to share about yourself. As part of the truthful

relationship we build with each other, anything I say to you is truly what I mean. If I praise you, I

mean it. If I offer difficult feedback, it’s a truth I think you’re ready to hear. There may be times

when I honestly don’t know what to say. I’m going to tell you the truth about that. I will sit with

you and help hold your emotions rather than try to make up something and tell you it will help

you feel better even if I know that in that moment, that’s not true.

The forms of therapy I use are ultimately hinged on finding your truth. Did you know that it is

possible for two things that seem like total opposites to be true at the same time? You can feel

absolutely miserable and yet live a life that allows you to fully experience what is going on inside

right now as well as fully experience living a life that still has meaning and purpose, based on

what matters most to you. As we work together to unearth your truth, we will absolutely honor

and explore whatever from the past that led to you pursue therapy, but more importantly, we will

honor and explore the strengths and values you bring to the table that will help propel you

forward.

I have both an LMSW and an MDiv. This unique combination has equipped me with the ability

to provide evidenced based and fully researched treatment to improve the lives of clients who

are struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma, a major life transition or culture shock. It also

provides me with a way to discuss a variety of issues related to many faith and cultural

traditions. Lastly, it allows me to express part of my own truth which is that I’ve got a lot of

intuition, am guided by my own spiritual experiences and am sarcastic and irreverent too.