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Jen Terrell

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AMFT, Couples Therapist ​
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Why I Do This Work​

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I believe couples don’t need perfect communication.

They need reliable connection under real-life pressure—kids, bills, late nights, missed cues, and the same fight looping for the fifth time this month.

My work is to steady the room, name what’s actually happening between you, and help you practice better patterns right there in session so they stick at home.​​

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Lived Experience You Can Feel in the Room

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I’ve been married for 28 years.

That means I’ve lived the seasons: magnetism and drift, tenderness and tension, rupture and repair—sometimes in the same week. I don’t romanticize marriage, and I don’t pathologize it either. I respect how hard it is to stay soft toward someone you love when you’re tired, triggered, or feeling alone in the same house.

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I’m a mom of four—from 13 to 27. 

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Parenting across stages has changed how I practice couples work. Teen curfews, college launches, special events, job shifts, and the awkward return home after a holiday blow-up—those aren’t side stories. They’re the weather system your relationship lives inside every day. When we meet, we’ll work with your real calendar, your actual bandwidth, and the transitions that keep setting you off. 

 

I also know the ache of loss.

I lost a sibling. Grief doesn’t stay in one box—it touches how you argue, how you hold each other, how you plan or avoid planning the future. I make room for grief without letting it swallow your connection.

 

I’ve been a small-business owner.

That pressure—the endless to-do list, the risks, the late-night math—can siphon attention and tenderness out of a relationship fast. We’ll get practical about roles, money conversations, and “off-duty” rituals so your partnership doesn’t become a casualty of your work.

 

I come from a bicultural family.

I grew up with a Korean mom and a Caucasian dad. I grew up translating more than language—tone, timing, what was allowed to be said out loud. If you’re navigating differences in culture, family norms, faith, or class, I won’t ask one of you to assimilate. We’ll build a third way that honors both of you.

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What It’s Like to Work With Me

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  • Direct, steady, and kind. I say the true thing without shaming.
     

  • Structure without rigidity. We’ll map your patterns and rehearse better moves in the room so you aren’t white-knuckling it at home.
     

  • Dignity for both partners. No heroes. No villains. Just two humans who need a safer way to try again.
     

  • Realistic plans. If a strategy won’t survive Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., we won’t pretend it will.

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Problems I Help With

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  • We keep having the same fight (pursue/withdraw, explode/shut down).
     

  • Trust cracks—big betrayals or the slow drip of disappointments.
     

  • Parenting stress and stage changes (launches, returns, blended rhythms).
     

  • Business/career pressure reshaping the relationship.
     

  • “We love each other, but we feel like roommates.”
     

  • Cultural or family-of-origin differences that keep colliding.

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How We Change Things (In Session, Not Just in Theory)

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  • Slow the spin. When you start to escalate, I’ll slow you down so clarity returns and harm doesn’t pile up.
     

  • Name the pattern. We’ll put words to the loop that hijacks you, then interrupt it earlier.
     

  • Practice repair. Short, repeatable steps for “what we do after we hurt each other,” so trust has a path back.
     

  • Redesign daily friction points. Entrances/exits, bedtime, chores, screens, intimacy—simple routines that make connection easier to repeat.

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  • Make the invisible labor visible. Fairness grows when work is seen and shared.

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A Note on Neurodiversity & Sensitivity

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​Some couples discover that differences in processing speed, social cues, sensory load, or executive function are part of the picture. I’m a Highly Sensitive Person and identify with many autistic traits common in women, including strong social camouflaging. That wiring helps me track the “unsaid,” tailor the pace, and reduce overload in sessions. If neurodiversity is relevant for you, we’ll fold it in. If it isn’t, we won’t make it the story.

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Bicultural, Between Worlds

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Growing up between cultures taught me to translate intent so it lands. If you two learned different “rules” for love—how loudly to talk, how quickly to forgive, who decides what— we’ll honor both sets of rules and design agreements you can both live with.

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Credentials & Supervision

 

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I integrate attachment-based couples work (EFT), PACT-style nervous-system attunement, parts work (IFS), trauma-informed care, and research-backed communication/repair tools.

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Neurodiversity (When It’s Part of the Picture)

I’m neurodivergent-affirming and experienced with ADHD, autism, and AuDHD dynamics inside relationships.

If neurodiversity is relevant, we’ll integrate it—without making it the whole story.
 

We may:
 

  • Name processing differences to remove blame
     

  • Design supports for time/organization/sensory needs
     

  • Translate communication so it fits how each brain works
     

Neurodiverse couples can be some of the most creative and resilient I see—once the relationship stops fighting the wiring and starts working with it.

 

What Clients Say (Paraphrased)

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​“Calm in the storm.”

“Names what’s really happening and helps us do it differently—right then.”

“Protects both of us while still being direct.”

 

Getting Started

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​If you want a practical, compassionate path back to each other—one that respects your reality and builds connection you can actually repeat—I’d be honored to work with you.​

Jen Terrell
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