Jennifer Acker, LCSW, CSAT-S, CPTT-S, SP Certified, EMDR

Education and training

After 20 years as a clinical social worker and clinical social work supervisor, I opened my private therapy practice in  2002. I specialize in family of origin, trauma resolution, attachment disorders, intimacy disorders, and core issue work, with a focus on helping adult clients develop and maintain authentic and fulfilling relationships.

Education:

           M.S. IN CLINICAL SOCIAL WORK                     

                    Fordham University

             B.S. IN CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY RELATIONS      

                    University of Arizona

Trainings and certifications

             Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT-S)          

                         Trained by Patrick Carnes, PhD, founder of the International Institute for Trauma

                          and Addiction Professionals (IITAP)

              Certified Partner Trauma Therapist (CPTT-S)

                         Trained thru IITAP- (International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals)

                           I am certified as well as a supervisor in betrayal trauma. Working with partners of

                           betrayal trauma is a very tender and sensitive area. Clients experiencing such must be

                           handled with extreme care. The impact of betrayal affects the client mentally,

                           physically,and psychologically. Leading, guiding, and supporting a partner through

                           this trauma is delicate.               

            EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing) training

                         Trained with William Zangwill, PhD, founder and director of EMDR and Training.

                          EMDR emphasizes disturbing memories as the cause of psychopathology, and is

                          used to help alleviate symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

            Intensive somatic attachment training and experience

                         Trained with Diane Poole Heller, PhD, specialist in adult attachment theory and

                          models, integrative healing techniques, and trauma resolution.

                          Intensive somatic attachment training focuses on helping people attain deeper

                          connection and meaning in their adult relationships by working to heal early

                          attachment wounds or disruptions

             Post-induction therapy training

                         Trained and certified by Pia Mellody, internationally recognized lecturer on the childhood

                          origins of emotional dysfunction, and faculty member at The Meadows Treatment

                          Center, a residential center for victims of trauma, emotional abuse, and addictions.

                          Post induction therapy is designed to treat the effects of childhood trauma and

                          resulting issues of developmental difficulties.

              Sensorimotor psychotherapy training

                         Trained and certified by Pat Ogden, PhD, founder of the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy

                          Institute.  Recognizing the effects of trauma on the body, sensorimotor psychotherapy

                          integrates sensorimotor processing with cognitive and emotional processing in the

                          treatment of trauma.

              HeartMath

                           Certified in Trauma-Sensitive HeartMath - The heart sends more signals to the brain

                           than the brain sends to the heart.  These heart signals have a significant effect on brain       

                           function.  The effect of heart activity has been researched for over 40 years and has

                           found that different patterns of heart activity have distinct effects on cognitive and

                           emotional functioning ie during times of stress and negative emotions, the heart rate

                           iserratic and disordered, the corresponding pattern of neural signals traveling from

                           the heart to the brain inhibits higher cognitive functions  and limits our ability to think,

                           remember and hear and learn.  Different patterns of heart activity have different

                           effects on your thoughts and behaviors.  Accumulated stress is often the underlying

                           cause of common challenges, such as anxiety, anger, depression, lack of sleep

                           and so on. Learning and connecting to heart coherence can help relieve these

                           symptoms as well as balance your emotional energy resulting in more resilience,

                           joy, patience and mental clarity.

              Dana Childs    

                           On going training with nationally recognized intuitive and energy healer Dana Childs,

                           with whom I study the intricacies of our energy systems, how they connect to

                           corresponding nerves, organs and other areas of the body and how attention

                           to the energy they generate can be integrated into a therapeutic context.

                           Every emotion - fear,  anger shame, joy, love and gratitude to a name a few,

                           carries energy.  Using intuitive energy work I help people rebuild that trust in

                           their own capacity to know and understand ultimately bring more love and

                           joy into their lives

                  Mother Hunger

                           I have had both the honor and privilege to have a long standing relationship

                           with Kelly McDaniel extending back to before Ready To Heal to today with her

                           ground breaking Mother Hunger work. Mother Hunger defines “the constant

                           search for mother love” that can be “a lifelong emotional burden, but healing begins

                           with knowing and naming what we are missing.  Working with clients experiencing

                           Mother Hunger helps them to demystify the search for love and provides a compass

                           that each woman needs to end the struggle with aching, lonely emptiness and

                           come home to herself”.