Jessica’s Favorite Quotes:

• “Within each of us there is an intense need to feel that we belong. This feeling of unity and togetherness comes through the warmth of a smile, a handshake, or a hug, through laughter and unspoken demonstrations of love. It comes in the quiet, reverent moments of soft conversation and in listening.”

  - William Bradford

• True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness.

  - Brene Brown

• “It is not so much the meaning of life that we seek but our aliveness. When we have that, the meaning of life is obvious”

  - Anodea Judith, Eastern Body Western Mind

Jessica Ryan Cuttance

LCMHC, CYT

(she/hers)

* Not accepting new clients*

Hello, I'm Jess and i’m glad that you are considering therapy at Nourish. I earned my Masters in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and hold an active license as a Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC #11803). I utilize a holistic, whole-person approach rooted in evidenced based theory to help my clients restore balance and find ease in their life. My personal style is compassionate, laid back and thoughtful but also clear, accountable and direct. If we work together, I will accept you for exactly who you are, no matter what you are going through. We will work actively together to help you quickly by developing new perspectives, identifying skills, working with the mind and body and finding practical solutions to your current challenges. Along the way, we may also explore earlier experiences that inform or reinforce your current struggles.

I am trained in evidence-based treatment approaches and treatment interventions including but not limited to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy, Polyvagal-Informed Trauma Recovery and Resilience, Yoga Therapy, Mindfulness-based therapy, Somatic Psychotherapy for Embodied Presence, Inner Child Work, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Skills, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills and Multisystemic therapy. My clinical approach is rooted in several theories and beliefs that I like to disclose prior to working with clients:

(1) Attachment theory- in other words, understanding the dynamics of long-term and short-term interpersonal relationships between humans and how this impacts social and emotional development with an emphasis on trauma that happened when you were a kid or younger, or trauma between you and a caregiver/parent.

(2) Somatic therapy/polyvagal theory- I emphasize healing mental and emotional health issues and getting to know ourselves better through the connection with the body using polyvagal theory as my orientation. I focus on and encourage sensation-based and body-centric communication in session to teach skills and allow for deeper emotional healing. This might look like body-scanning, meditation, breathwork, basic movement practices, visualization techniques and mindfulness.

(3) Social Justice-oriented and Systemic-oriented Ecological Therapy - We are impacted greatly by the social and cultural institutions, politics and other broader ecologies around us. We don’t heal just within ourselves, we heal in our community. We heal together. If the container where we exist is inherently traumatizing, hostile or stressful, this is a barrier to healing and one that must be acknowledged. I work to validate and work with clients on dismantling the shame, and trauma these disadvantaging systems cause.

(4) Internal Family Systems-informed (IFS) - I believe in multiplicity and that we all have inner parts that influence us in our relationships and during our emotional processing. I work with clients to explore their protector and exiled parts and recover their true self through compassion and IFS techniques.

I work with adults and adolescents (ages 18 and up) experiencing an array of issues, including but not limited to:

• Trauma/PTSD

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Spirituality Issues

• Chronic disconnection from self/body/community

• Adult children of emotionally immature parents or adult children of narcissists

• Adjustment difficulties

• Chronic pain/illness

• Chronic stress/stress management

• Family and Relationship conflict (assertiveness, boundary setting, attachment trauma)

• Low self-esteem/low confidence

• Emotion management (processing and understanding one’s own emotions, connecting to emotional self, communicating emotions to others, etc).

• Grief/Loss