A soft landing place for you

My name is Jessica Achugbue (pronounced “uh-choo-bway”) and I’m a licensed marriage and family therapist, certified EMDR trauma therapist, and certified perinatal mental health specialist. I specialize in helping women, birthing people, and new parents heal from painful experiences and feel peaceful and confident in their daily lives.

While working in community mental health centers, I gained extensive experience supporting children, adults, couples, and families in trauma recovery, healing from grief and loss, learning helpful coping skills, and building thriving relationships. In both my career and personal life, I have had the honor of walking beside parents who are striving to break harmful family cycles and nurture their children in safe and peaceful households. I love helping new parents resolve both past trauma and the trauma that can occur during the perinatal period in order to be their most liberated selves.

About my work: I practice with Intersectional Feminist, Liberation-Oriented, Humanistic, Attachment Theory, and Gentle, Conscious, Responsive, and Respectful Parenting frameworks and operate with a trauma-informed lens. I focus on helping women struggling with anxiety, pregnant and postpartum people, and parents of young children heal from upsetting, stressful, and scary life experiences, primarily using eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) alongside acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), somatic exercises, “inner child” and “parts” work, and mindfulness techniques - always led by empathy and compassion. I enjoy helping clients feel relief from panic, worry, tension, and overwhelm and witnessing clients tap into their inner wisdom and live values-led lives. And I believe that inner healing is a part of justice and liberation work.

As someone who has personally experienced some amazing physical and emotional benefits of EMDR therapy, I’m thrilled to be helping others experience that relief too - life is so much more enjoyable when your body and mind feel at ease!

Queerness is celebrated here, and as a perinatal psychotherapist I recognize and honor the fact that parenting and family-building journeys and identities are diverse.

In addition to individual therapy, at times I offer group therapy, classes, and workshops where you can be supported by learning with and relating to others with shared experiences.

On a personal note: I am an LGBTQ-affirming progressive Christian whose spirituality is rooted in Liberation Theology, and I have clinical experience with the intersections of spirituality and trauma recovery. For clients who want and request it, I incorporate trauma-informed and liberation-oriented Christian practices into the therapeutic space.

Besides therapy and mental health awareness, I’m a big fan of coffee shops, long walks with loved ones or with my favorite music, reading, sunset-gazing, and watching movies and shows!