Jennifer Roorda

I believe therapy works best when you feel genuinely seen, understood, and accepted as you are. I bring an affirming, trauma-informed, and attachment-focused approach to therapy, with particular passion for working with queer, neurodivergent, and disabled clients, as well as people who have felt misunderstood or unsupported in traditional spaces.

My work is informed by feminist and multicultural perspectives, recognizing that mental health does not exist separately from identity, relationships, culture, systems, and lived experience. I strive to create a space where you do not have to mask, minimize yourself, or fit into someone else’s idea of what healing should look like.

I specialize in trauma and attachment, including understanding how early experiences and relationships can shape the ways we connect with others, view ourselves, set boundaries, and respond to stress. Together, we can explore these patterns with curiosity and compassion while building greater self-understanding, safety, authenticity, and connection.

My style is warm, collaborative, validating, and genuine. I don’t believe therapy is about “fixing” you. Instead, we’ll work together to understand what you’ve experienced, recognize the ways you’ve learned to survive and adapt, and identify what you want your life and relationships to look like moving forward.

I always knew I wanted to be a therapist, but my path to becoming one wasn’t completely traditional. I returned to school later in life and earned my Master of Social Work from St. Catherine University in 2023. I believe that taking a less traditional path has shaped the therapist I am today and strengthened my appreciation for the complexity of people’s lives and the many different ways we grow and change.

My clinical experience includes working in intermediate-level-of-care settings, including day treatment and partial hospitalization (PHP), where I have worked with individuals experiencing complex and high-acuity mental health concerns. I have experience supporting people navigating trauma and PTSD, anxiety, OCD, ADHD, autism and other forms of neurodivergence, as well as serious and persistent mental health concerns.

I am especially passionate about working with queer and neurodivergent clients and with people who have felt misunderstood, different, or as though they have had to mask parts of themselves to fit into the world around them. I also enjoy working with women throughout different stages of life, including the emotional, relational, and identity changes that can accompany perimenopause and midlife.

My approach is trauma-informed, attachment-focused, neurodiversity-affirming, LGBTQIA+ affirming, and grounded in genuine human connection. I want therapy to be a place where you can show up as your whole self without feeling judged or expected to have everything figured out. We’ll work together to understand not only your symptoms, but your experiences, relationships, patterns, strengths, and the context that has shaped who you are.

I don’t see my role as telling you who you should be. I see therapy as a collaborative process of helping you better understand yourself, heal from what you’ve experienced, strengthen your relationships, and build a life that feels more authentic and sustainable for you.

Your first session with me is about getting to know each other and beginning to understand what brings you to therapy. You don’t need to have the perfect words, know exactly what you want to work on, or tell me your entire life story in one session. We will move at a pace that feels comfortable for you.

I’ll ask questions about what you’re experiencing now, your history, relationships, strengths, and what you hope might be different as a result of therapy. We’ll also talk about what has and hasn’t worked for you in therapy before and what you need from me to feel supported.

My style is warm, curious, collaborative, and down-to-earth. You can expect validation, compassion, humor when appropriate, and genuine conversation—not a therapist who simply sits quietly and nods. I may ask thoughtful or challenging questions, but I will never expect you to disclose something before you’re ready.

Most importantly, the first session is also an opportunity for you to get a sense of me. Finding the right therapist matters, and I want you to be able to decide whether you feel comfortable, understood, and able to be yourself with me. You are welcome to ask questions, give feedback, and tell me what you need from therapy. We will begin figuring out together what meaningful and realistic goals for our work might look like.