Jessica L Penot LPC-S

Jessica Penot, LPC, is a licensed professional counselor in Madison, Alabama, who specializes in treating trauma and autism spectrum disorder. She has over 20 years clinical experience in a variety of settings. She is the founder and director of Tree of Life Behavioral Health and has spoken and written about autism on platforms including The Art of Autism. Penot was diagnosed with autism in her 40s and has spent a significant amount of time working to understand the specific challenges and traumas women with autism face. Her research and work focuses primarily on issues involving the underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis of women with autism and the impact it has on their lives and mental health. She is an advocate for neuroaffirmative approaches to treatment and works to help facilitate women with autism in moving from being self-critical to self-compassionate. Her perspective on autism comes not only from her clinical experience, research, and study, but also from her experiences living as a woman with autism spectrum disorder. Penot is also the author of 10 novels and books about exceptional women and girls who are born different and need to find magic in their “otherness."