In private therapy practice since 2002, I focus on helping clients develop and maintain authentic and fulfilling relationships, first and foremost with the self, and then with others.
I began my work in mental health with children and adolescents as a counselor and then as a clinical supervisor at The Youth Shelter (a teen shelter in Connecticut). I then went on to work with Legal Aid as a forensic social worker and subsequently as a social worker supervisor for the family court system in New York City. There, my role was to investigate the circumstances that brought each child into court and to represent the child's interests. Working with children who were abused or neglected, I got a close-up look at what happens when essential emotional needs are not met. As I began working more with children labeled "delinquent," I realized that most of them were only doing what they needed to in order to survive their childhood. As a result, I spearheaded an initiative to shift the court's focus from punishment to treatment.
Using the insights gleaned from those earlier experiences, and my extensive training in a wide range of modalities, I now work exclusively with ad11lts as individuals, in couples, and in groups. I treat relational trauma, complex trauma, love addiction and avoidance, intimacy disorders, betrayal trauma, and sex addiction. I use a variety of techniques that are particularly effective with these issues. In addition to being certified as a practitioner and supervisor in sex addiction treatment (CSAT-S), my certification and training includes sensorimotor psychotherapy (SP), trauma sensitive HeartMath, postinduction training (PIT), intensive somatic attachment and trauma resolution and eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR). I am also a certified supervisor in partner trauma training (CPTT-S). Most recently I have been trained by Dana Childs in energy healing and Kelly McDaniel in Mother Hunger work. I have found that these techniques dovetail to complement one another, enabling me to use them all organically to create an appropriate course of treatment for each client. Each client, therefore, gets their own unique recipe of treatment.
My focus as a therapist is on obtaining a comprehensive understanding of each person's background so that, together, the client and I can address and resolve core issues that lead to unsatisfying and unhealthy behavior patterns. As I work with clients, I continuously look for opportunities to evolve and grow in ways that will add to my effectiveness, and value as a therapist, and to explore new ways to meet my clients' needs.
Jennifer Acker, LCSW, CSAT-S, CPTT-S, SP Certified, EMDR
