More About Kelly Jenny

I am also currently working towards completing the requirements to obtain AASECT certification (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors and Therapists).

My interests and areas of specialization include sexuality, sexual functioning, couples counselling, sexual deviance, and forensic psychology. This includes problems individuals are facing alone as well as difficulties they are experiencing with a partner or inside of a relationship.

I approach therapy from a theoretical orientation centered around psychodynamic and attachment-based models. This practice emphasizes relationships, specifically discovering client’s intimately by exploring your thoughts and experiences related to your relationships with yourself as well as others, past, and present. Reflection and self-awareness are essential tools you will learn and utilize in the therapeutic process to help you cope with past trauma, unresolved relationship issues with yourself, your parents, siblings, romantic partners, friends, and family.

I recognize that sex is an important part of life and it plays a major role in our functioning as an individual and in our relationships with others. Problems pertaining to sex, sexual expression and sexuality are often neglected. Therefore, problems arise that are viewed unimportant or uncomfortable to discuss so they get minimized or pushed to the back of our closet, carefully tucked away under stacks of ever mounting shoe boxes. The problem with this is that sexuality contributes to our quality of life and overall happiness; thus, ignoring it causes problems in other areas to surface leading to the escalation and buildup of tension between partners. Shoe boxes can only be stacked so high before they inevitably come crashing down, often when we least expect it. This is when it’s time to seek the support of a professional. Concerns with arousal, desire, sensation, anxiety, fear, orgasm, discomfort, pain, premature or delayed ejaculation, sex addiction, pornography use and addiction, erectile dysfunction, BDSM, intimacy, sexual abuse or trauma, polyamory, open relationships, voyeurism, exhibitionism, and any other sexual issues or forms of expression you may be experiencing are areas I’m trained to help with. I believe sex is a large part of life and a part that should be enjoyed by everyone, not something to be ashamed of or neglected.

My approach to couples is centered around increasing communication; learning how to create a space where everyone feels safe and comfortable expressing their feelings. The longer a relationship goes without sex or discussions about sex, the more fear and anxiety play a role in keeping distance between people. Furthermore, I believe everyone is unique, so that is also true of each couple and relationship. Therapy involves discussing your relationship dynamic and helping you discover where things went wrong individually and relationally. This work is done in a non-judgmental, caring, empathetic manner that ensures safety and confidentiality are always maintained.

I work with couples on intimacy, sexual expression, talks of separation and divorce, parenting conflicts, loss of trust, emotional and physical infidelity, acceptance, desire, betrayal, fights that never seem to get resolved, past and current violence, open relationships, blended families, mental health, family of origin problems, ageing, and falling out of love. I have studied and attended trainings on Gottman Method Couples Therapy, completing levels 1 and 2 of training, as well as Sue Johnson’s research with Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy.

Couples counselling can help reconnect partners when appropriate or help you through a separation if that path is right for you. Couples counselling can stop the small problems from becoming big problems by allowing a safe, confidential space to work things out in and develop skills that can be applied back in your home.

Therapy is not easy; it requires vulnerability, openness, and trust. I hope to establish this with you and work together to strengthen your relationships with first yourself, then those closest to you. I believe everyone deserves to be happy and live a life full of pleasure, joy, and fulfillment. This satisfaction should include not only personal happiness and self-love but also sexual pleasure and satisfaction through profound and meaningful relationships with others.

A QUESTION:

What do you think the world needs more of?

I think the world can always benefit from the fostering of deeper, more meaningful connections. I think we could all gain something by developing and nurturing our relationships with ourselves and those around us. Demonstrating greater empathy towards others can help us all feel more seen, understood, and cared about. Regardless of who you are, your worldview, what you’ve been through, or where you’re headed in life, the opportunity exists for all of us to connect underneath those differences by prioritizing an empathetic perspective towards one another. Learning to ease judgment and become less critical will strengthen our relationships with others and help us turn a gentler, more compassionate lens upon ourselves. In a world that seems to operate at an increasingly fast pace, it can feel like more is continually asked, demanded, and expected of us. This opens the door to perceiving ourselves as somehow flawed, like we don’t measure up or are not good enough. Self-compassion helps to heal the weight of each increasing pressure, the mounting judgment and all the shame, guilt, and punishment we attach after each disappointment, screw up, mistake, loss, or failure. Self-compassion reminds us of our inherent self-worth; it preserves potential, protects against fear, encourages vulnerability, and most importantly, grants us all permission to be imperfectly flawed human beings.

Qualifications

(Current) Masters of Counselling Psychology degree, University of Seattle

Affiliations

CAP

PAA

Languages

• English

My areas of focus:

Amare (Sex, Intimacy, & Gender)

• Sexual Offending Behaviours

Couples

• Communication and Negotiation
• Couples Counselling
• Dealing with Infidelity
• Divorce or Separation
• Infertility
• Marriage and Relationship Concerns
• Premarital Counselling

Grief & Loss Care

• Divorce or Separation

Other Areas

• Relationship Dependence

Trauma Care

• Physical Abuse
• Sexual Assault and Abuse

I have experience in:

• Alternative Sex Behaviours
• Anger Management
• Antisocial Personality Disorder
• Anxiety
• Bipolar Disorder
• Blended Family Adjustment
• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Coming Out
• Depression
• Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Emotional Abuse
• Emotional Regulation
• Empty Nest Syndrome
• Family Caregiver Stress
• Family Issues
• Family Violence
• Female Sexual Issues
• Fetishes and Philias
• Gender Identity
• Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• Grief and Loss
• Impulsivity in Children
• LGBTQ2S+ Issues
• Major Depressive Disorder
• Male Sexual Issues
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
• Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder
• Panic Disorder
• Paranoid Personality Disorder
• Pornography Issues
• Postpartum Depression
• Pregnancy
• Religious or Spiritual Trauma
• Self-Esteem Issues
• Self-Harming
• Sex Compulsion/Out of Control Sexual Behaviours
• Sexual Arousal Issues
• Sexuality and Intimacy Issues
• Suicidal Thoughts
• Trauma

My treatment approaches:

• Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Crucible Approach Therapy
• Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
• Emotionally Focused Therapy
• Existential Therapy
• Exposure Therapy
• Gottman Couples Therapy
• Grief Work
• Jungian Therapy
• Mindfulness Therapy
• Narrative Therapy
• Person Centered Therapy
• Psychoanalytical Therapy
• Psychodynamic Therapy
• Reality Therapy
• Sex Therapy
• Structural Family Therapy

Assessment services:

• Anxiety Assessment
• Depression Assessment
• Forensic Assessment (Sex Offending & Violence Risk)
• Gottman Relationship Checkup
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Assessment
• Personality & Behaviour Assessments
• Sex Compulsion/OCSB Assessment
• Sexual Functioning Assessment
• Sexuality Assessments