Jonathan Penley

My Background and Approach

I have a strong background in psychotherapy research at both the undergraduate and graduate level, focusing on attachment, trauma, psychiatric interventions, brain imaging, and self-help interventions. I believe most mental health symptoms originate from early attachment and stressful events, and that revisiting these early life experiences helps people develop more adaptive emotional and cognitive responses to present-day stressors. I specialize in the evidence-based therapies of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Lifespan Integration, Group Therapy, and Neurofeedback for adults. Most of my clients enjoy the eclectic elements of these non-linear right brain therapies, ranging from brief exposure, insightfulness, mind-body awareness, and the unconscious. My approach is a combination of lightheartedness and kindness, alongside being directive and honest.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with my partner, pup, family, friends, listening to audiobooks, keeping up with the news, learning, whole-food plant-based cuisine, being physically active, helping my dad restore a vintage car, attempting to forage for mushrooms, and being an imperfect "good enough" human. My most recommended "pop-psy" books related to trauma and stress: "The Body Keeps the Score" by Bessel van der Kolk; "Healing the Shame that Binds You" by John Bradshaw; "Stop Walking on Eggshells" by Paul T Mason and Randi Kreger; "Waking Up" by Sam Harris; "Full Catastrophe Living" by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and many books by Gabor Maté, Julie and John Gottman, and Irvin Yalom.