Jody Stewart, M.A., LMHC

Jody has worked closely with victims of diverse cultures suffering from the effects of trauma and abuse since 2002.  Before getting her master’s degree, she was a Victim Advocate employed in community services working with victims of sexual assault/abuse, domestic violence, and military sexual trauma.  She was intimately involved with her clients from hospital emergency rooms, through the judicial system, and with active-duty & veterans from the military.  It is the strength of these survivors that moved her to become a Licensed Mental Health Counselor to help victims integrate the trauma imposed upon them into healthy daily functioning. At the present she works solely with active duty and veterans of military service suffering with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, Readjustment Issues, Anxiety and Depressive disorders. 

Jody’s therapeutic approach is Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) combined with Written Exposure Therapy (WET) and Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT).  Therapy is based on modifying cognitions, assumptions, beliefs, and behaviors with the aim of controlling disturbing emotions caused by traumatic events. The objective of therapy is to lessen severity of symptoms, improve self-focus, decrease emotional reactivity, and to learn new skills to modify dysfunctional patterns in the client’s life.  A client’s trauma experiences deserve respect--her training and skills are combined with the client’s life experiences, skills and various ways of coping to create healing.