Jennifer Burke, LMHC

Licensed Mental Health Counselor

Jennifer Burke therapist at mindsol wellness center in sarasota florida

Ms. Burke is an engaging Sarasota therapist with a genuine interest in people. As a mental health counselor, she thrives on learning what is meaningful to her clients and encouraging them to lead genuine, authentic and fulfilling lives. It is her goal to discover what is most important to her clients; To learn their goals, their values, and what fuels their resilience to tolerate and navigate change, confront uncomfortable feelings, navigate difficult conversations, and set healthy boundaries with clarity, confidence and kindness.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and the practice of Radical Acceptance are cornerstones to integrating a process that brings individuals and couples to the gift of their lives, where discovery, enlightenment, growth and balance can be achieved.

“It is my distinct privilege to be invited into the innermost workings of my client’s lives, thoughts and experiences. I strive to provide a collaborative process using a myriad of techniques throughout the therapeutic journey.”

Ms. Burke can be contacted directly at (203) 216-8607, or by reaching out through our contact form. Email mindsolsarasota@gmail.com or jbmindsol@gmail.com.

“Theory of Change,” by Jennifer Burke:

“Change.” Not many people like it, yet we are all tasked with it at some point. So, why is the concept of change so difficult for us to embrace? “Discomfort.” Change usually requires some upset to our routine, which then creates a sense of discomfort. The other reason we resist change is “control.” The uncertainty that comes along with change is the feeling that we have “lost control.” So, how is it possible to approach change in a way that is less taxing and without activating our inherent push toward resistance?

My theory on change is aligned with the foundation of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). DBT holds the belief that we need to strike a balance between validation (acceptance) of who we are/what we feel and the challenges/discomfort of the process of change in order to fully realize and embrace the benefits.

The Process
 Mindfulness: This is the practice of being fully aware and focused on the present instead of being mired in the past or worried about the what if’s of the future.
 Distress tolerance: This involves identifying and understanding (validating) emotions in difficult or stressful situations without responding with harmful behaviors with the ability to manage your emotions effectively and accurately.
 Interpersonal effectiveness: This means knowing what your wants, needs and desires are and understanding how to ask for what you want, need and desire while respectfully setting and maintaining healthy boundaries.
 Emotion regulation: This means understanding, being more aware of and having more control over your emotions.

There are many approaches to change. We all tend to recoil when we learn of impending changes. As we have experienced, changes bring a certain degree of discomfort. However, we also become complacent and are sometimes willing to remain in situations or patterns that do not serve us in an effort to resist as well as to thwart change, despite our current level of discomfort. I have found that having an optimistic outlook and adjusting our expectations that change can bring unmitigated joy or at the very least, lessen the hardships that we currently endure. Where we ultimately do have control is how we manage and respond to the changes that we will contemplate.

Helping my clients to understand and identify who they are at their origin, identifying areas than can be improved by increasing awareness and the capacity to regulate their emotions with the use of mindfulness and coping skills while replacing unhealthy or maladaptive coping skills is my primary role when facilitating change. I believe that a strong therapeutic relationship utilizing accurate validation has been beneficial for long-term treatment outcomes.

To schedule a counseling session in Sarasota, FL

call the MindSol Wellness Center today