Jessica Carlisi

‘she/her’

SOMATIC PSYCHOTHERAPIST AND COUNSELLOR

At Little Window on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

 

Qualifications

  • Member of the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA)

  • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, State University of New York at Purchase College

  • Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology with a concentration in Somatic Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies

Hey there, I’m Jessica.

I’m a relational somatic psychotherapist and counsellor from the United States. I was born and raised in New York City and spent some years living in Oakland, California. My background influences my therapeutic style—I can be direct, earnest, and bold, while maintaining warmth, compassion, and sincerity. I love being a therapist because it allows me to harness my greatest strengths and it evokes my whole self—my creativity, my love of human connection, and my investigative mind.

I am committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for people of every ethnicity, race, religion, immigration status, size, gender, sexuality, ability, age, and socioeconomic status. It can be essential for your therapist to be aware of how social placement, marginalisation, and proximity to privilege impact your wellbeing, whether or not these experiences are the focus of our therapy. Together in our sessions, we will build safety and ease so that a felt sense of security can emerge and allow for your presence and integration throughout the therapy process.

My approach to psychotherapy is somatic, psychodynamic, and relational. Rather than being exclusively about coping skills and changing your behaviour, our therapy will use the relationship as the mechanism by which you heal. Though we can be hurt within relationships, fortunately we can heal within them too. Good therapy offers you corrective experiences, not just interpretations and explanations. I also draw insight from the Internal Family Systems, Hakomi, and Interpersonal Neurobiology frameworks. I additionally use techniques from drama therapy, somatic experiencing, and play therapy.

My style is informed by the body and its role in emotional wellbeing. All emotion begins as sensation in the body, from which we derive meaning and thought. These emotions, sensations, and beliefs usually impact our behaviour, often beneath our awareness, because our bodies tend to hold onto painful memories that evade our conscious minds. Somatic psychotherapy can help tend to those body memories. We’ll use body awareness techniques to help you develop a sense of your own emotional body. This awareness is usually the foundation for emotional vulnerability, emotion regulation, and stress management. Using body-oriented exercises designed to regulate your nervous system and other tools for deep inquiry, we will co-create a therapeutic space for your well-being.

I work with adults, couples, and children of various ages and life stages. While I regularly support people navigating anxiety, depression, anger, grief, and general life stress, many benefit from my additional skill sets with the following concerns:

  • Disordered eating, restriction/binge patterns

  • Body image, self-confidence, body dysmorphia

  • Codependency and boundaries

  • Body symptoms (usually paired with anxiety, physical symptoms lacking a medical explanation, such as body pains, digestion issues, or insomnia)

  • Adult ADHD (neurodivergence perspective)

  • Ageing and body grief

  • Couples: conflict navigation, communication skills, rupture and repair

  • Complex and developmental trauma

  • Traumatic events

  • Relationship distress

  • Therapy for therapists

In my free time, I enjoy being outside, going for walks, storytelling, travelling, and planning road trips. I’m a creative—I enjoy many forms of art including making music, painting, photography, and jewellery-making. I love food—all aspects of it, including inventive cooking, exploring dishes from different regions, feeding people I love, and, of course, eating! I love my little orange cat and spending time with my friends and family. Thank you for taking the time to get to know me and learn about my psychotherapy practice. I look forward to working with you at Little Window.