Therapy and Nutrition Counseling in Austin, Texas

Hi and welcome! I'm glad you landed on my page. My name is Jennifer/Jen Kim, and I am a Korean-American Licensed Professional Counselor Associate here at Austin Counseling and Nutrition. I specialize in eating disorder treatment and am passionate about helping those who may have lost hope in being able to manage their never ending thoughts and inner dialogue.

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If you'd like a free 20-minute consultation call, please reach out through email or text and I'd be happy to send over some days/times we can schedule a chat.

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Who are you?

This is a question that I continue to reflect on as I'm moving through the journey called life. I am a highly sensitive person (HSP) that has found understanding and strength within my ability to notice and feel deeply for others.

 

I like to think that I'm a good balance of genuineness, empathy, and humor... but I'll let you determine for yourself whether you think that's accurate or not (warning - answers may vary). 🙂

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What will we do in therapy?

During the first few sessions, we'll be exploring your current and/or previous struggles and reflect on how those experiences may correlate with your individual life story and your presenting concerns. 

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I may utilize various activities/interventions, games, and/or expressive art activities to spark greater insight into finding and empowering your inner authentic self. Together we will unlock the chains of emotions and thoughts that are restraining you, all while addressing and healing areas that may still need some attention.

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What is your therapy style?​

The foundation of my therapy practice is based in my training and education in psychology, neuroscience, and evidence-based therapy practices such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Overall I practice with trauma- and social justice- informed care.

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Now that I got all of the scientific-y formal description out of the way, a more casual way to put it is that I am a very relational therapist that has a passion for making sense of the human mind and helping you gain understanding of your mind, body, and soul.  As you gain more self-awareness of how your individual brain may be impacting different areas in your life, I'll help you identify and learn how to utilize and apply coping skills to help release your mind and body so you can pour into searching for your most authentic self. 

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What is your lived experience?​

Growing up being highly attuned and sensitive to people and society took a heavy toll on my mental health and led me down a path of being consumed by my failures, negative experiences, and just life all together.

 

Growing up with immigrant parents never provided me with the option or belief that therapy could help, which in turn led me down a path of blindly trying to find my way through my 20s. Like many others, I didn't even acknowledge how much I was struggling because I genuinely didn't even know that I was suffering from a mental health disorder (yes it is ironic because I majored in psychology in college and helped run a mental health awareness organization...but even then I couldn't acknowledge it within myself).

 

The people around me didn't notice because I was good at masking it or I would go into periods of isolation all together. My high levels of attunement and anxiety were rewarded through the appeasing of my "desperate people-pleasing nature."  The spirals didn't stop because I kept finding myself in these highs where everything "should" have been fine, but then I would enter these very dark lows that were all-consuming. I didn't consciously acknowledge that I was living in a constant state of fight-or-flight. Of course even with the lows there were the periods of highs that I felt like the world was finally giving me enough air to breath, until the next shoe dropped and I entered a period of drowning. 

 

I feel that it's important to share my own experience with mental health because it can feel impossible to find peace. I won't lie to you, it's not easy. But that's where I come in! 

 

Having come out the other side, the release and the sense of confidence is something I had continued to deny for myself because I did have a long period of time where I just accepted that "this is how I am." At the start of my journey I don't expect you to trust in the process, but I hope that you'd be willing to give it a try with me. Therapy is a collaborative process and I'll be there with you every step of the way being your guide, educator, accountability partner, and cheerleader! 

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