Jessica Evans, LCSW, LCAS, Transforming Touch ® Level 1 Practitioner
Welcome! I am Jessica, a native from North Carolina, a nerd of psychology and the human experience, and an expert in addictions, trauma, and mood disorders. I have worked in the field of mental health since 2014, working in psychiatric hospitals, addiction treatment centers, with eating disorders, and severe mental illnesses. I obtained my Bachelor’s in Psychology from UNC-Chapel Hill and my Master of Social Work from Florida Atlantic University. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker as well as a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist. I believe in active, direct work after creation of trust and safety so that my clients do not feel stuck for months.
ADDICTIONS
I have worked with individuals and their loved ones struggling with various types of addictions for many years. I view addiction as not only a medical disease but also an attachment disorder in which individuals have found a highly effective but maladaptive way to cope with life that has resulted in changes to their brain. I also support those struggling with out of control and compulsive sexual behavior. I work with clients directly struggling and their spouses, partners, and families. Additionally, I support clients struggling with ways of self-soothing that may not specifically qualify as an addiction but interfere with their life. Many of my clients identify with the program of Adult Children of Alcoholic and Dysfunctional Families and struggle with codependency.
TRAUMA
I support clients who have experienced less than affirming relationships, environments, or experiences-meaning that I believe one can develop post traumatic symptoms from various experiences, not just “major” traumas like car accidents. Trauma is an experience involving all of our senses, emotions, bodily sensations, and memories, so the healing of it should include that. My role as a therapist is to create an environment safe enough to have a corrective experience for what happened during your trauma to reduce trauma symptoms and increase safety.
I use many types of treatment options for healing including EMDR, Brainspotting, Somatic Therapy, Internal Family Systems (ISF), Psychodrama and other Experiential methods.
MOOD DISORDERS
I support clients struggling with depression, perfectionism, burn out, and high functioning anxiety. Many of my clients “look good and feel bad” or are over functioning in many areas of their lives but struggle with loneliness, emptiness, feeling different, or not good enough. While I can certainly support by providing worksheets, apps, videos, etc. that might be helpful, I believe you are coming to therapy for an experience that you cannot find on the internet or in a workbook. I support with identifying the root cause rather than attempting to only solve the immediate issue so that you do not find yourself back in therapy again and again.
HOW I HELP
My personal experience with therapy began in high school, when I was a “behavioral problem” and experimenting with harmful ways to cope. I have participated in individual therapy, group therapy, workshops, intensive therapy, and support groups since then. I believe that I am unable to take my clients to places that I have not been myself in terms of depth and healing experiences, so I do my own work to make sure I am healthy for my clients and my wellbeing.
I treat from a strengths-based perspective, meaning I look for and utilize the innate gifts my clients been given or have nurtured, not focus on what they’re “lacking.” I believe that post-traumatic growth is real and possible and that all behavior makes sense in context. I offer individual, couple’s, and group therapy. I provide both traditional talk therapy and a type of therapy that integrates the body and the mind called experiential therapy. Experiential therapy is a broad term but an easy way to describe it is “show me, don’t tell me”, meaning I often have clients utilize art, music, guided imagery, props, sculpting, or role playing to create a corrective experience. I am proud to partner with the nationally recognized Onsite Workshops to provide Intensives for their clients. I also utilize Brainspotting, a therapy born out of EMDR that identifies, processes, and releases core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation, and a variety of other challenging symptoms. These opportunities equip me with unique skills to connect with clients who have difficulty accessing certain parts of themselves in traditional talk therapy.
MORE ABOUT ME
Outside of the office I try to be as congruent as I can with who I am inside the office. I chose social work as a profession because of its inclusivity and alignment with my personal beliefs. I read books, listen to podcasts, and love music. Currently I have a playlist for every mood, time of day, and favorite genres and lost count at 50. I consider myself a lifelong student and my Kindle library looks quite boring to those outside the field because they are filled with books relating to learning my craft. I love exploring North Carolina, finding every waterfall in the state, and spending time on the ocean where I was born. I’m a dog person and I’m not proud to admit that he gets the best spot in the bed and often the best scraps of food.
“Shame needs three things to grow out of control in our lives: secrecy, silence, and judgement. When something shaming happens and we keep it locked up, it festers and grows. It consumes us. We need to share our experience. Shame happens between people, and it heals between people. If we can find someone who has earned the right to hear our story, we need to tell it.” -Brene Brown