About

Jennifer Downs Portrait with Tree

My Background

It’s not easy to talk about what’s trou­bling you to some­one you don’t know. Thank you for giv­ing me the oppor­tu­ni­ty to tell you about myself so you can get to know me better.

As a licensed pro­fes­sion­al coun­selor (LPC), speak­er, and edu­ca­tor with near­ly three decades of expe­ri­ence, I have sup­port­ed hun­dreds of cou­ples and indi­vid­u­als in their jour­neys to con­nect more deeply and hon­est­ly with them­selves and each other.

My com­mit­ment to help­ing oth­ers expand their poten­tial and live a full life was inspired by my work as a spe­cial edu­ca­tion teacher. The love and courage the chil­dren embod­ied made me pas­sion­ate about the impor­tance of find­ing worth and val­ue in life, regard­less of one’s cir­cum­stances. After 11 years in this field, I embarked on an in-depth explo­ration of mind, body, and spir­it, dis­cov­er­ing how to replace feel­ings of sep­a­ra­tion, loss, depres­sion, and anx­i­ety with a peace­ful mind and sat­is­fy­ing relationships.

Magnolia FlowerMy career as a coun­selor began in Colorado, where I received my master’s in coun­sel­ing from the University of Northern Colorado.

In addi­tion to my pri­vate prac­tice, I worked as a ther­a­pist with the Boulder Employee Assistance Program and at the Jefferson Center for Mental Health in Littleton. I also served as an adjunct instruc­tor at the University of Colorado and University of Northern Colorado, where I taught class­es in com­mu­ni­ca­tion, fam­i­ly dynam­ics, and inno­v­a­tive learn­ing theory.

In 2003, I moved to Ashland, Oregon. Here, I spe­cial­ize in coun­sel­ing indi­vid­u­als who want to dis­cov­er their innate capac­i­ty for change and move for­ward to cre­ate the life they want.

I vol­un­teer with and am a past board mem­ber of WinterSpring Center: Transforming Grief & Loss, and I am a mem­ber of the Mental Health Resource Educator Network (MHREN).

Although I’ve been trained in numer­ous method­olo­gies, my approach is based on your indi­vid­ual needs and concerns.

Below are the modalities I draw from most frequently:

  • Mindfulness & Compassion-Focused Therapy
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
  • Bereavement/Grief Counseling & Hospice
  • Positive Psychology
  • Imagery/Relaxation Techniques

Everyone is dif­fer­ent. I treat each of my clients as a unique indi­vid­ual rather than cat­e­go­riz­ing or stereo­typ­ing them. I take into con­sid­er­a­tion eth­nic­i­ty, gen­der, sex­u­al ori­en­ta­tion, and reli­gious differences.

Jennifer Downs HikingAlthough I love my work, it isn’t my whole life. I estab­lish a sense of well-being by bal­anc­ing work with spend­ing time in nature, being with friends and fam­i­ly, horse­back rid­ing, trav­el­ing, and cook­ing healthy meals with my partner.

Maintaining bal­ance makes life mean­ing­ful for me and allows me to be more present, cen­tered, and less reac­tive when life brings inevitable changes. I have also decid­ed to be my own best friend.

Schedule a Session

Please con­tact me if you have any ques­tions or wish to sched­ule a ses­sion or com­pli­men­ta­ry con­sul­ta­tion. I look for­ward to meet­ing you and help­ing you achieve a pos­i­tive, healthy rela­tion­ship with your­self and others.

Jennifer Downs

MA, LPC | 541.488.4872 info@jenniferdowns.net
Psychology Today