Jennifer Fitkin, LCSW, CSW

Jennifer Fitkin is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with 20 years of practice. She trained in social work at the University of Northern Iowa and has worked across several states and settings. Her background includes roles from clinician to clinical director and hands-on work in residential treatment and community programs.

Her style is practical and strengths-based. She uses tools from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Solution-Focused Therapy to help people manage stress and anxiety. Motivational Interviewing is part of how she helps people find internal reasons to change behavior.

Jennifer has worked in many environments, including residential treatment for attachment issues, foster care programs, juvenile justice settings, and a medium-security men’s prison. Those roles shaped how she approaches complex problems like addiction, trauma, and family-of-origin concerns. She also has experience running groups and supervising clinicians.

She values simple routines that support mental health. She encourages sleep, movement, and nutrition alongside talk therapy. Outside work she enjoys hiking, backpacking, paddleboarding, and CrossFit, and her dog Boomer sometimes appears in telehealth sessions.

People come to her for a wide range of concerns such as parenting challenges, grief, relationship strain, mood and impulse issues, and life transitions. Jennifer aims to help clients create small, achievable changes that add up over time.

How therapy approaches shape online sessions

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying personal values and taking small steps toward them while learning to accept difficult thoughts and feelings. It can help with anxiety, stress, and life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches concrete skills to shift unhelpful patterns, often used for anxiety, depression, and mood issues. Attachment-Based Therapy pays attention to patterns in close relationships and helps people understand how early bonds affect current connection and trust.

Choosing the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will work with each person to match methods to their goals, preferences, and daily life. It’s common to combine elements from different approaches as needs change during therapy.

Confirm the current session options before booking, as formats are set by the provider. Online therapy can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy schedule, reduce travel time, and allow for shorter check-ins when needed. It also enables continuity of care when life or location changes, while keeping the focus on building practical skills for stress, anxiety, parenting, addiction, and relationship concerns.