Jessica Pavela

Jessica (they/them)  is a Supervisee of Social Work passionate about supporting LGBT+ and neurodivergent communities. They have years of experience supporting children, teens, and adults with a history of trauma or adversity, through a neurodivergent, LGBT-affirming, and empowering framework. Jess has worked in domestic violence, hospital, school, and outpatient settings, often working with diverse family structures. They help families navigate life transitions, diagnoses, decisions, and stressors and their accompanying variety of emotions.  Jess recognizes that identity exploration is always occuring, yet rarely linear. They create a non judgemental space to consider all of life’s possibilities, relationships, guiding values, and emotions. Informed by a systems approach, they support the family unit through times of transition, stress, and grief.

Specialties

Jessica has experience working with children and teenagers from ages 3 and up, along with their caregivers. Jessica specializes in gender and sexuality exploration. They confidently work with families experiencing life transitions and identity exploration, grief and loss, chronic conditions and new diagnoses, attachment issues, anxiety/depression, trauma/adversity with a focus on medical trauma. They also support skill-building related to stress management, communication, parenting, and boundary setting.

Modalities

Jessica approaches therapy eclectically to utilize the best therapeutic approach for each individual client.  They approach each client with a trauma-informed, strengths based approach that is client-centered. They often utilize art and play-based approaches and integrate interventions from Motivational Interviewing, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Narrative Therapy to support client goals.

Education

• Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Concentration in Applied Psychology, with a minor in LGBT+ Studies, Virginia Commonwealth University, Aug 2023
• Master of Social Work, Concentration in Clinical Social Work, Virginia Commonwealth, Dec 2025

Licenses and Certificates of Completion

• Supervisee in Social Work

• 120hours of Child Life coursework from the University of California, Santa Barbara

• 80hours of Virginia Ryan White Medical and Non-Medical Case Management training from HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau Division of Training and Technical Assistance

• Steward of Children from Darkness to Light – Ending Child Sexual Abuse

• Psychological First Aid Professional from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), the Learning Center for Child and Adolescent Trauma

• First Aid/Basic Life Support trained by the American Red Cross

Professional Memberships

• National Association of Social Workers (NASW)