Supporting early childhood relationships that fuel healthy social emotional development now and across the lifespan.

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I am a licensed clinical social worker and infant mental health expert currently based in Alexandria, Virginia. I graduated with a Master’s in Social Work from Smith College in 2011. I have extensive clinical experience working directly with young children and their families in a variety of settings, including early care and education centers, in homes, and in a private practice setting.

Over time, I found that the roots of many of the issues I was seeing in older children stemmed from concerns that started in infancy or early childhood. Many of the parents I worked with in these settings described early concerns with behavior, relationships, parenting challenges, or developmental trauma. Lacking support, these early challenges set them and their child on a trajectory that eventually led to therapy years later. 

As such, I started to become interested not only working with younger children, but developing the knowledge and resources to do so. Over the last decade, I have engaged in specialized training in infant and toddler mental health. 

I obtained my Infant Mental Health Specialist endorsement through the Alliance for the Advancement of Infant Mental Health’s Endorsement for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health (Endorsement) in 2017. This recognizes my specialized skill and training to provide relationship-based clinical services to infants, toddlers and their families.

In addition to my work as a therapist and mental health consultant, I have been providing Reflective Supervision/Consultation (RSC) and infant mental health-focused training to early childhood professionals over the last 6 years. I enjoy supporting early childhood professionals in shifting the ways they view, understand, and respond to the pregnant people, infants, young children, and families whom they serve. 

Given the scope of this work, in early 2020, I also sought out Endorsement as an Infant Mental Health Expert (Mentor Clinical). This reflects my work as a mentor, trainer, and supervisor for early childhood professionals, including those in early care and education, early intervention, early childhood therapists, parent educators, and other home-visiting professionals. 

On a more personal note, I am also a proud military spouse and mother to two young children (ages 9 and 5).  With 8 moves in our 13-year marriage, our life together has led to many transitions, both personal and professional. Like many of those I work with, I am constantly in the process of trying to balance the needs of young children, the demands of work, and personal relationships. If I can snag a few free moments, you might find me catching a yoga class, running, enjoying a hike with my family, or listening to podcasts.

I’d love to work with you

Parent Consultation

For parents that want the supportive guidance of an early childhood professional to address developmental hiccups and help them feel confident scaffolding their young child’s healthy social emotional development

Newborn Behavior Observation (NBO)

Observe and discover the unique strengths of your infant (ages 0-3 months) alongside a caring, supportive professional

 
Reflective Supervision/Consultation

For the early childhood professional that wants to transform the way they approach their work with young children and their families

Training 

Professional development for early childhood professionals across disciplines tailored to your specific need


Want to work with Jess?

 

Kind Words

Testimonials

Jess provides a safe, welcoming, and empathetic environment to discuss challenges and successes I'm experiencing with families. Her openness and reflective presence give the space to process feelings of countertransference while feeling supported. My work with Jess has deepened my ability to approach all families from a place of curiosity, compassion, and empathy.

— Kristin, Early Intervention Social Worker

I have participated for two years in a peer supervision group with Jess as our Reflective Supervisor. On an interpersonal level, I have found her to be warm, genuine, and caring. She is also knowledgeable and skilled as a supervisor. She is especially good at linking and integrating our issues with important infant mental health principles. She is a good listener, is insightful, and is able to guide our group process in ways that have been very helpful to me. Working with her has definitely increased my competence and confidence as an infant mental health reflective supervisor.

— Debbie, Reflective Supervisor

Jess has guided and supported my professional development in reflective supervision by providing current research, skills training, and nurturing guidance. Her positive attitude and meaningful support have helped develop both my confidence and my knowledge in the field.

— Melinda, Early Childhood Special Education Coordinator

I have read a lot of parenting books, but nothing compares to getting real help from a parent consultant. There was so much happening underneath our toddler’s behavior and we were having trouble coming up with how we wanted to respond. Jess spent the time thinking with us about what might be happening, listened to our beliefs about parenting, and we thought together about what might work for OUR family to address the concerns. Jess is thoughtful, supportive, and took her time coming up with interventions that worked for us.

— Lindsay

Jess is a very warm, knowledgeable, and patient consultant. She provided some much needed encouragement, guidance, and validation to my husband and me during a tough time with our toddler. She made sure we knew that we were not alone in the challenge we are experiencing and provided some concrete ideas for changing our language and approach with our daughter. We are grateful to know her and to be able to seek her wisdom in this crazy journey of parenthood.

— Robin and Ed

The Newborn Behavioral Observation Jess completed with my son and I was such an interesting experience! I was surprised how much we could learn about his personality and our relationship at only a few weeks old. Our bond, and my ability to connect with him, was certainly enhanced. I’m so glad we were able to do this with Jess!

— Hayley

Having Jess conduct our Newborn Behavioral Observation was an amazing experience! My baby having a personality, communicating, and responding to the world around him was something I had not given much thought to before. Jess was able to observe subtle changes in my son with each [item], point them out to my husband and I, and explain why each was important. I find this observation to be an extremely powerful tool that will help us engage more readily [with him] and create a deeper bond with our baby and each other.

— Katie

I really enjoyed meeting with Jess, our session really opened my eyes to the behavior of my new baby. Being able to understand more of her behaviors allowed me to find some calm in the first few weeks of her life. Knowing some of her movements were actual communication allowed me to see my baby differently, in a time when I was so tired and unsure as a new mom.

— Carlie