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Jennifer Evans | Couples Therapist

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Associate Marriage and Famiy Therapist ​
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At a Glance​​
 

  • Couples therapist focused on emotional safety, repair, and real-life connection

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  • Primary modality: AEDP — attachment-based, nervous-system-aware, trauma-informed

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  • Deeply involved with a nonprofit supporting people impacted by trauma

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  • Lived experience of recovery — I understand the long arc

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  • Mother of two teenagers — knows how family life shapes a partnership

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  • Brings neurodiversity-affirming awareness when it's part of the picture

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  • Believes repair, not perfection, is the heart of a strong relationship

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Healing happens in relationship — when people feel seen, respected, and safe enough to be authentic.

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Why I Do This Work

 

Most couples don't come to therapy because love is gone.

 

They come because something between them has gotten stuck — a fight that keeps repeating, a distance that has crept in, a hurt that didn't get repaired, a season of life that asked more than the relationship had the resources to give.

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My work is to slow that down. To help you see what's actually happening between you — underneath the words, in the body, in the patterns — and to practice something different together, in real time, in the room.

 

Not theory. Not homework you'll forget. Something you can feel.

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How I Work

 

My primary modality is Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) — an attachment-based, experiential approach that treats emotion as the path to transformation, the nervous system as central to change, and relationship itself as the engine of growth.

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In practice, I work as an active co-traveler. You won't be alone with what's hard between you.

 

We track the small shifts in real time — breath, posture, tone, the moment a sentence catches — and let emotions actually move rather than just talking about them.

 

And we make as much room for the relief and joy of repair as we do for the pain that brought you in.

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Around that, I integrate trauma-informed care, nervous system regulation, somatic therapy, nonviolent communication, and attachment-based relational work.

 

In our sessions, we'll get specific. We'll look at the moments that keep going sideways — the entrances and exits, the bids that don't land, the conversations that escalate before either of you mean to.

 

And we'll build something different from there.

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Trauma — And the Nonprofit Beside My Practice

 

Alongside my clinical work, I am deeply involved with a nonprofit dedicated to supporting people impacted by trauma.

 

That work shapes how I sit with couples. So much of what looks like conflict between two people is actually two nervous systems trying to protect themselves.

 

I take that seriously. When trauma is part of your story — old or recent, named or not — it doesn't have to derail your relationship.

 

It can become the place where the deepest repair happens.

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What I Help Couples With

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  • The same fight on a loop — pursue-withdraw, escalate-collapse, shutdown

  • Loss of intimacy or emotional connection, even when nothing is "wrong"

  • Trust ruptures, big or small, and the work of real repair

  • Stress from parenting, work, money, or family-of-origin spilling into the relationship

  • Life transitions — kids growing up, careers changing, identities shifting

  • Communication that has stopped landing the way it used to

  • Couples who love each other but feel more like roommates than partners

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A Note on Neurodiversity

 

Many couples don't realize until later that processing differences — sensory sensitivity, attention, emotional expression, social energy — are quietly shaping their relationship.

 

I am a late-diagnosed autistic therapist, and I parent two teens at home, including one diagnosed autistic.

 

When neurodiversity is part of your story, you won't have to explain it from scratch. When it isn't, we won't make it the story. Either way, you'll get a therapist who pays attention to nervous-system reality, not just talking points.

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What I Believe

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  • Healing happens in relationship

  • Repair matters more than perfection

  • Curiosity softens defensiveness

  • Difference is not deficit

  • You don't have to perform healing — you just have to show up

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What to Expect in Session

 

I'm warm, attuned, and honest. I'll name what I see, gently, and I'll do it with care for both of you.

 

Sessions are collaborative — we move at a pace your nervous systems can actually hold, not what looks productive on paper.

 

I accommodate sensory and energy needs and welcome movement, fidgeting, or breaks when you need them.

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You won't be asked to perform a perfect version of yourselves. You'll be invited to be honest, curious, and willing to try something new — together.

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Relationships can become places of safety, creativity, and mutual care — even after significant adversity.

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On Recovery

 

I also bring lived experience to my work with addiction and recovery.

 

When one or both partners are in recovery — or when substance use has been part of the story of a relationship — I can sit with it without flinching.

 

I know what recovery asks of a person, what it costs, and how it changes a marriage. Couples in this terrain often need both honesty and tenderness, and I bring both.

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License, Education, & More

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Education:

  • Western Institute for Social Research — M.S., Psychology

  • ​UC Berkeley and CSU Fullerton — Undergraduate studies in Sociology, Legal Studies, and Criminal Justice Reform

  • Certified Integral Coach through an internationally accredited coach training program

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Clinical Training & Modalities:

  • Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Trauma-Informed Care, Nervous System Regulation, Somatic Therapy, nonviolent communication, Attachment-Based Relational Work, Neurodiversity-Affirming Frameworks

Jen Evans
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