- Clinical Degree: School Counseling, University of Maryland; LCPC Coursework, Johns Hopkins University
- Expertise: Neurodiversity-Affirming Therapy, Women with Previously Undiagnosed ADHD, Parenting Challenges, Perimenopause, Family Conflict, Adolescent/Young Adult Anxiety, Caregiver/Compassion Fatigue, Self-Actualization
- Available Schedule: In-person: Monday morning/afternoon/evening; Virtually: Tuesday morning/afternoon, Wednesday afternoon/evening; Friday afternoon
- 50 minute session rate: $180
About Jessica Check (she/her/hers)
Are you tired of feeling drained and overwhelmed? Is your inner-critic running– and ruining– your life? Are you so busy taking care of others that you’ve lost sight of yourself? You deserve support, now. Jessica helps smart, stressed folks feel empowered, present, and confident in their lives. Together, she and her clients clarify values and goals, release unhelpful patterns and behaviors, and bring a renewed sense of purpose and agency to their “one wild and precious life.”
Jessica works with people navigating everything from people-pleasing to perimenopause, parenting struggles to professional burnout, and perfectionism to parts work. She especially loves working with women dealing with recent ADHD diagnoses, compassion fatigue, and shifting family dynamics. As a neurodivergent therapist with 20 years of experience working with neurodivergent folks, young people, and their parents, she brings a depth of insight and understanding to her work.
Jessica’s goal is to help clients understand and navigate the unhelpful thought patterns, volatile emotions, unacknowledged wounds, and vicious self-criticism standing in their way—so they can connect to their own deep wisdom and compassion, claim their autonomy, and make changes that feel vibrant, purposeful, and truly their own.
Therapy with Jessica is grounded in warmth, humor, and connection. She’s trauma-informed, identity-affirming, and dedicated to dismantling the systems of oppression her clients have internalized. Her clients are often harder on themselves than on anyone else, so she uses compassion and gentle humor to shift perspectives and foster radical acceptance and growth.
Jessica holds a Master’s in Counseling from the University of Maryland, with additional training from Johns Hopkins University, and an M.F.A. from Columbia University—which deeply informs her narrative and expressive therapy work. She believes in tailoring her approach to each individual, and utilizes IFS-informed parts work, ACT, Mindfulness, and Art/Narrative modalities to cultivate deep self-understanding, clarity, and connection.
Learn more about Jessica’s practice on her website, https://www.illuminatecs.com/
Education
- M.Ed., School Counseling — University of Maryland
- LCPC Coursework — Johns Hopkins University
- M.F.A. — Columbia University
- B.A. — Scripps College
Ready to get started with counseling services in Bethesda, MD? We’re looking forward to hearing from you!
Jessica Check, LCPC, is an affiliate wellness provider with Capital Crescent Collective (Emily Cook Therapy LLC) and is not an independent contractor nor an employee.