Therapy for Therapists Online

Nurturing & Empowering Support for Mental Health Professionals in Colorado & Montana

"Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible."
~Francis of Assisi

ABOUT ASCENT COUNSELING & PSYCHOTHERAPY

Welcome. You are exactly where you are supposed to be.

Stepping into the field as a new or early-career therapist is a profound journey, and it is also one of the most vulnerable seasons of your professional life. You have spent years studying, preparing, and training for this moment. Yet, nothing quite prepares you for the weight of sitting across from another human being who is trusting you with their healing. In those early years, it is natural to feel a quiet wave of uncertainty wash over you; and sometimes that wave feels like a tsunami.

Jlynn (Jennifer) Franklin, LCSW, MA, MEd
she/her/hers

Jlynn's Approach

“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.”
~ Carl Rogers

Navigating the transition from student to practicing clinician often means we find ourselves walking the line between excitement, anxiety, and even panic. New therapists tend to carry the silent weight of having to appear like they know what they're doing when they're really still just figuring things out. You find yourself holding this expectation across every area of your professional life:

With your clients: You hold a space of safety and steadiness, carrying the responsibility of their healing even when your internal voice is quietly questioning if you chose the right intervention.
With your colleagues: You want to show up looking professional and knowledgeable, even as you know that you definitely don't have it all together.
With your supervisor: You strive to demonstrate your growth and competence, balancing the desire for guidance with the vulnerable fear of showing your gaps in knowledge.

Exhaustion:
The New Normal

There is so much that you're learning to stay present for as a new clinician. You are learning about and managing your own countertransference as you hold space for the emotions of the person in front of you. This alone is exhausting. You're also learning to hold a client's history present as you make decisions minute to minute about the direction that the session will go, holding theory and interventions in mind all the while. This requires a high level of concentration and embodiment that zaps our energy, especially when we are just beginning to trust ourselves.

It is okay to still be learning. In fact, your humility and your willingness to sit with the unknown are what will make you an extraordinary clinician.

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go, they merely determine where you start.”

This is a space to dive into your own attachment and trauma/complex trauma histories so that the therapy you provide doesn't get messy. It's also a place where you can work through life stressors that may be draining your energy outside of the office. Processing your own experiences isn't just about your personal well-being—it is how we ensure we show up effectively for our clients.

Ascent Counseling and Psychotherapy is a space created specifically for you, the early-career clinicians. I am here to help lift the weight of the professional mask that you are carrying. This is a space that will remind you that you don't have to know everything to be impactful. You are doing meaningful work, and this is one place where you don't have to pretend that you have it all together.

Jlynn's SERVICES

Individual Therapy for Early-Career Therapists Building Self-Confidence

Jlynn offers individual therapy sessions designed specifically for mental health professionals looking to enhance their self-trust. Jlynn has a warm and direct approach that is laced with humor. She helps you to build self-compassion and a grounded felt sense of the present moment, allowing you to embrace your humanity.

It is also vital that we have our own space to untangle the ways our clients' stories echo within us, ensuring that our own histories do not interfere with our clinical clarity. This kind of support and processing also allows us to sustain this deep work without burning out.

Individual Therapy for Therapists who are actively in depression, experiencing anxiety or having trauma responses

As therapists, we are humans first, navigating our own internal worlds while holding space for others. Sometimes that means that we are in an active depression, experiencing deep grief, revisiting extreme anxiety, or experiencing trauma responses, even as we are continuing to provide good enough or even excellent therapy; many of us are experts at compartmentalizing our feelings when we have to. I'm here to support you through times like this, processing olds wound so that it's less likely that this will occur again, and finding self compassion for yourself as you are literally just making it through.

Supervision and Guidance

Mindfulness & Meditation Instruction

In supervision, Attachment-Focused and Psychodynamic Therapies serve as the anchor, allowing us to explore how early relational blueprints and unconscious patterns shape who we are today. Within this framework, we weave together the parts-work of Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR processing, and somatic, Mindfulness-Based Therapy. This integrated, mind-to-body approach honors the nervous system's innate wisdom, offering a supportive and holistic environment to grow, untangle your complex trauma and that of your clients, and fostering lasting healing.

Jlynn has been actively practicing meditation from the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions since 2013. She integrates this knowledge, presence and somatic grounding into all of her sessions with clients. She would love to share her practice with you so that you can either deepen your practice or begin a new one.

What My Clients Say

Unsolicited texts that I have received from clients throughout the years that I keep in my "Affirmations" folder on my phone, to keep me going when showing up feels hard:

"Hi! I just wanted to let you know that I got a part-time job at * doing online therapy for *! Group and individual therapy, all remote! I couldn't have done it without you as I am working as a private contractor and you encouraged me to get my candidate license and set up my own private practice so thank you! It's been a game changer for my mental health as well!"

"I'm so grateful I started this. I'm a totally different person than I was a year ago. I remember after a few sessions thinking that I've done it and I'm good. I don't need to meet every week. But I decided that you knew what you were doing, and I'm so glad I stuck with it."

"Hi! You don't need to respond to this, but I wanted to tell you a nice thing. Life feels extremely chaotic and hard and I've had some lows in the last couple of days. Yesterday I started spiraling, and then after some hesitation, I TOLD her exactly how I was feeling, which is so simple and it also feels completely revolutionary in how I communicate. That's all because of everything you've taught me and continue to teach me. You are a f*ing incredible therapist and I feel so lucky and grateful to be under your wing. I hope you have a great week off."

"I've had a lot of therapists throughout my lifetime, and none of them have had the kind of impact on me that you have. I shifted so much about my life in a short time together. I feel really good about how far I've come."

"I always recommend you and tell people that it's worth trying to find a good therapist even if the first time doesn't work. It's been transformative for me. My life is so much different than it was before. You made a big difference for me."

"One last thing, you are truly the best therapist I've ever had and I'll never not be really grateful! idk how you do it but you always say exactly what I need to hear and I'm so grateful."

"It's so hard to find a therapist that can see my grounding and work and still lead me. I often find that I have to lead myself in sessions with a therapist. I felt like you knew exactly how to guide me and bring me in a direction that I needed to go. I feel really lucky to have found you."

"I never thought I could like a therapist more, or grow as much as I have. I want to contact my old therapist and tell her how well I'm doing now!"

"Working with you has changed my life… The word transcend comes to mind… " I know, I know it's a lot... but she really sent this! - Jlynn

"I thought it would be a luxury to feel like this. I have boundaries with my family. This was the last thing that I thought I could accomplish on my list, and I'm doing it. It's empowering. Exciting. It's all intertwined."

"I'm so grateful that I found you when I was scrolling through all of the people online. You've allowed me to be human. It so was important that you apologized to me. I came in all hot and ready to fight and you just apologized. It was really meaningful to me."

"Going to therapy with you has been one of the most crucial, important parts of my life. I'm really grateful."

"I'm realizing that I'm feeling proud of myself. I've made a lot of changes. It's sessions like these that I can really see how I've changed over time and what our work together has done. It's kind of like connecting the dots. It's still hard to say what I need and not feel guilty about it, but I'm doing it. And, I'm not doing all the backflips that I used to do to try and figure out what's going on for other people so that I know how to be. There's some anxiety that goes along with it, but mostly relief."

"Thank you, and thank you so much for all your help in the last year. This was the best therapy I've ever had and it absolutely changed my life. You are amazing!"

"I feel happier, more relaxed, less affected by others, than I have in a very long time, and I have you to thank, Jennifer. Thank you endlessly. I hope your holiday is wonderful."

"I'm so excited and proud. I ran a half marathon! That was my goal when I became sober. I feel like I can do whatever I want. It's so different how things are now. I know how to cope with things in a different way. My body has shifted to wanting health. It wouldn't have been possible without you."

Empowered Self-Confidence

Resilient Mindset

Sustained Emotional Health

Fulfilling Professional Life