Jessica Allison, LMSW

Jessica Allison, LSCSW

Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker

Jessica Allison, completed her master’s in social work in 2018 at the University of Kansas, where she interned on a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy treatment team. Jessica has experience in providing individual, family, and group therapy.

Jessica has experience working with both teens and adults with depression, anxiety, ADHD, and Gender Dysphoria. Her years in community mental health provided her a wealth of knowledge about community resources in Lawrence and Douglas County. In her sessions, she works to balance radical acceptance of emotions with behavioral modifications for change. As a member of the FPS staff, she will be taking additional training the Gottman method of couple's therapy, Acceptance and Committment Therapy (ACT), and sex therapy and sex education.

Jessica focuses on finding the middle path in delivering therapeutic services for clients who are often stuck in extreme positions and ways of thinking. She helps identify action steps to create a more meaningful life worth living. She utilizes dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), radically open DBT, solution focused, and family systems therapy to help clients identify treatment goals based on their own values to make meaningful change in their lives.

Jessica believes that success in therapy begins with building a trusting and supportive therapeutic relationship. Jessica’s style of therapy is humorous, direct, creative and supportive. Jessica believes that everyone is doing the best they can and what’s to help motivate her clients to do more. Jessica believes in the individual uniqueness amongst all of us and wants her therapy sessions to reflect the unique individual she’s working with.

Jessica accepts Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Aetna, United, Ambetter, and Cigna. She does not accept KanCare (Medicaid) nor any form of Medicare.

From Dr. Wes: Some young mental health professionals have gone all the way through college and completed their masters programs and worked for a few years and still don't know what they want to do. Jessicaj isn't one them. She's known for a long time that she really wants to be a therapist. To do this work well you have to love it. You have to enjoy the richness of getting to know others as well as the academic process of learning how to help them. You have to bring a vibrance to the interaction that invites clients to become enagaged, especially when working with teens and young adults. Jessica is that person.

Jessica's Schedule

PLEASE READ BEFORE EXAMINING THE CALENDAR BELOW: Jessica's availability for appointments is listed below. You CANNOT schedule here, only see availabilities. Jessica's evening and after school schedule is typically filled during the school year with existing clients. Regardless of availability, she may not be taking new clients. The appearance of an opening does not guarantee an appointment, it only allows you to see what is available to request. Contact the office at 785-371-1414 to schedule or if you are a new client, fill out the ask about services form. Due to how Google masks event details, the availability is listed as "busy." This means that anything that shows up as "busy" is actually OPEN for an existing client appointment.

Working toward self recovery...

I became a therapist because I love helping people identify their strengths and assisting them in overcoming their difficulties. Everyone doesn’t always fit into a neat box like the world expects us to, and that’s okay. Therapy with me is an assessment of what we can do with the tools that were given to us. Creating a life worth living means creating your box in a sense, it’s defining who you are, as well as, defining who or want you want inside the box with you that creates meaning."

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Areas of Specialization

Adolescents
Jessica has experience working with adolescents (12-18) who struggle with regulating intense emotion, anxiety, and depression. She knows that adolescents is a critical time of development in which we find our likes and dislikes, form our sexual orientation, and develop life-long coping skills. Jessica will help adolescents learn effective coping skills and communication skills in order to discuss their needs with teachers, parents, and peers.

Gender and Sexuality
Jessica has a special interest in working with individuals who are struggling with their gender or sexual identity. Jessica works to create a sex positive environment, free of judgment, for her clients to discuss issues that society often shames. These difficulties may present in: Gender Dysphoria, Sexual Orientation, Sexual Behavior, pain during sex, and Sexual trauma/abuse.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Jessica has training and practice in utilizing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy with adolescents and adults in group and individual therapy. While FPS does not currently have DBT groups Jessica can work with individuals in learning skills to regulate emotions, tolerate distress, stay present in the moment, and find middle path in extreme opposites.