Hi, I’m Jennifer Padre, LICSW (License #120318). I am an independently licensed clinical social worker/therapist with more than 30 years of experience supporting teens, adults, and couples through life’s challenges and transitions.
Reaching out for support can feel difficult, especially when you’ve been carrying anxiety, stress, trauma, or emotional pain on your own for a long time, and I strive to create a space where you feel genuinely heard and understood so that you can start to feel better. I understand how exhausting it can feel to constantly overthink, feel emotionally overwhelmed, struggle in relationships, or feel stuck in survival mode while trying to manage the demands of everyday life.
My areas of expertise include helping teens, adults and couples, who are feeling overwhelmed, emotionally stuck, disconnected, or worn down by trauma, stress, and long-standing patterns that no longer serve them. Many of the clients I work with come in feeling exhausted from trying to hold everything together, unsure why their reactions feel so intense, or frustrated that general therapy alone hasn’t fully helped in the past.
Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with a wide range of individuals across outpatient therapy, crisis intervention, trauma-focused care, including first responders coping with trauma and PTSD. I am trained in evidence-based treatment approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Motivational Interviewing, and Solution-Focused Therapy.
I tailor treatment to each client’s unique strengths, needs, and goals, recognizing that no two people experience healing the same way. My goal is to help clients feel more confident, balanced, connected, empowered and with internal peace. Therapy is a collaborative process, and I believe you are the expert on your own experiences.
Together, we can work toward helping you feel more grounded, supported, and hopeful about the future. I believe healing happens when we look at the whole person, not just the symptoms. Whether you are experiencing anxiety, trauma, grief, relationship challenges, emotional dysregulation, or major life transitions, I work alongside you at a pace that feels safe and comfortable while helping you build practical tools for meaningful and lasting change.
You can become the driver in your life again!
Outside of my practice, I enjoy spending time with family, children and friends, being outdoors, traveling, and exploring new places.
It may be time to start therapy when stress, sadness, worry, or relationship difficulties are taking up more of your life than you want. Changes in sleep, motivation, or your ability to manage everyday responsibilities can also be signs to seek support. You do not need to wait for a crisis or have a diagnosis. Therapy with Jen offers space to understand what is happening and decide what you want to change.
Your capacity can change when demands build up or you have less time to rest and recover. Grief, anxiety, depression, life transitions, and physical health changes can also make familiar tasks feel harder. Therapy can help you understand what has shifted and find manageable ways to respond. If the change is sudden or includes new physical symptoms, a medical evaluation can also be useful.
Therapy can help you notice the rules and assumptions behind self-criticism, such as believing you must always be productive or never disappoint anyone. With CBT, you can examine these thoughts and develop more balanced responses. Relational work can explore where your expectations came from. The goal is to respond to mistakes and needs with fairness while still working toward what matters to you.
Yes. Therapy can help you identify early signs of emotional overload and practice ways to pause, name your feelings, and choose a response. DBT skills can support distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and clearer communication. You can also explore why certain situations feel especially intense. Together, you and Jen can practice skills that fit real moments of conflict or stress.
Familiar relationship patterns can be shaped by past experiences, beliefs about yourself, and strategies you learned to protect connection. You might avoid conflict, take responsibility for everyone’s feelings, or pull away when you feel hurt. Relational therapy can help you recognize these patterns without blaming yourself and experiment with clearer communication, different expectations, and more intentional choices.
You can learn to set boundaries even if guilt shows up at first. Therapy can help you clarify your limits, practice direct language, and distinguish caring for someone from being responsible for all their feelings. A boundary might sound like, “I can help tomorrow, but I’m not available tonight.” With practice, you can make room for both your relationships and your own needs.
Yes. Therapy can give you room to explore competing needs, outside expectations, and the fears that make decisions difficult. Jen’s client-centered approach lets your priorities guide the work. You can clarify what matters to you and try small, meaningful steps without needing to have a complete plan. Feeling uncertain is a valid reason to seek support.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) explores how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influence one another. You might notice that assuming a mistake means failure leads you to avoid a task, which adds to your stress. CBT helps you test assumptions, develop balanced thinking, and practice useful behavioral changes. It also includes problem-solving and skills you can use between sessions.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills cover mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. In everyday life, these might help you pause before responding to an upsetting message, tolerate a difficult feeling, or ask clearly for what you need. Jen can incorporate relevant skills into individual therapy. Using DBT skills is different from participating in a comprehensive DBT program.
A relational, client-centered therapist pays attention to your relationships and works collaboratively with you. Your perspective, values, and goals guide the conversation. Jen offers a supportive relationship where you can explore how you connect with others, express needs, and respond to difficult experiences. She can also bring practical tools into the work while checking what feels useful and appropriate for you.
