Grief Therapists in Minnesota

FamilyMeans Counseling & Therapy programs have been providing care to adults, adolescents, children, families, and couples for many years. Our counselors are highly trained and experienced in their areas of expertise and truly enjoy helping people through the struggles they bring to counseling. Counselors provide a safe and open environment to make changes within areas of concern. Counseling experiences are unique to each person as are their situations. There is no “one fits all” in counseling and our skilled clinicians work with you to reach your goals.

I have been working to build my caseload in the areas of grief, depression, anxiety, and trauma. I work well with clients that struggle with identifying purpose and goals, and need help with direction. It is important to me to engage with my clients in an empathetic, kind, and gentle way.

For those who want to change I help beyond listening. I connect with my clients and we find ways for you to change. Change in therapy is hard and I provide support through a strong counseling relationship with you. I have a wide life experience that helps me relate to your particular life situation. I also have experience in other careers which helps me understand workplace challenges.

At Open Fields Therapy, we understand and support adults who experience anxiety, depressed mood, and relationship difficulties. We all develop patterns of thinking, feeling, and relating to others. Often these patterns have served us in the past. However, during times of stress, loss, or traumatic experience, these patterns may be unhelpful, and we can feel stuck. This is when therapy can make a big difference in feeling better and help us live more effectively. At Open Fields Therapy we seek to understand your unique situation and help to remove the obstacles that interfere with living out the values that are important to you.

Immediate evenings and weekend availability! Most of us are looking for peace, wellness, and a connection to others and and at times in our lives those things can feel so far away. Whether it be a recent loss, move, health diagnosis or child’s behavior, these changes can make us feel overwhelmed and disconnected. Through our time together I am confident you will be able to identify ways to navigate these changes and feel better. The therapeutic relationship is important and I intend to co-create a space that is comfortable and judgment free so that growth can happen. We might paint together or drink tea while we meet.

I help individuals dealing with grief and loss, those going through infertility, college students with adjustment issues, adults with anxiety, and depression. I am passionate about “helping the helpers” as I know they are often some of the ones who are in need of the most support but are almost always the last people to seek it out. I have personal experience and a passion for navigating different life stages, the journey into motherhood, including the different hardships and pathways that can lead someone to and through being a parent.

Experiencing sadness, or feelings of emptiness or hopelessness? Having increased irritability or frustrations over small matters? Troubles with sleep (insomnia or sleeping too much), or experiencing a loss of interest in things that once brought you joy? These are all symptoms of depression or anxiety. Life has become more busy, and we feel pulled in so many directions. We wear different hats: spouse, parent, employee, loved one, and they all bring different pressures with them. Finding comfort and peace is important to being a better self!

Many people are finding life more difficult these days. There is often so much to deal with in our personal lives, add the impact of world events and it can all just be too much. Having someone to listen and support you can make a big difference in coping with your struggles and not feeling alone. I’ve never met anyone that doesn’t like being listened to and understood. My focus in therapy is to help you get relief from your pain and explore ways to cope with life’s ongoing challenges.

I am honored to offer space to process and reflect and help clients connect to themselves and others in a deeper way. I believe we each have our own inner widsom and therapy is a place to discover that wisdom. Clients describe me as down to earth, creative, compassionate, funny, direct, warm and intuitive. I specialize in grief and loss, education, healthcare and mental health professionals, secondary and primary trauma and clients who have connection with adoption or foster care. I work from strength based and trauma informed models and draw from IFS, Attachment, Narrative and Somatic/Experiential/Sandtray modalities.

I specialize in providing emotional support to people impacted by a cancer experience, whether you are the loved-one/caregiver or it is your own medical journey. I hold an oncology social work certification as I'm committed to maintaining expertise in this area of need. In our work together I will use a warm and personable approach and provide a welcoming space. I will allow you to fully explore your emotions, reflect on the impact of the cancer journey, and help you to focus on ways you can live life as well as possible even in the face of difficult experiences.

My office is a warm and comforting place for you to tell your story, deal with life's stressors, treat depression and anxiety, work on healthy relationships, or heal old wounds. I provide a more holistic perspective in my appraoch to therapy, looking at the total needs you might have to best help you to heal and grow. It is very important to me that you feel heard and well cared for in your therapy process. We will work together to help you to make changes and to feel stronger.

I earned my Masters in Social Work from the University of Minnesota had have been a licensed clinical social worker for 15 years. I have worked in a variety of settings with teenagers and young adults who are looking toward the future while living in an uncertain world; women who have had a traumatic birth, or an unexpected disability; women who are looking toward a return to the workforce or a career change; adults looking to improve their relationships or their own quality of life; and those grieving the loss of partner, a child, a parent or other significant relationships.

Welcome to my practice. I am currently accepting new clients. My name is Dr. Jodi Leirness (she/her) and I am a licensed psychologist in the state of Minnesota. My true passion is providing therapy services and walking alongside my clients as they search for and discover growth and healing in their lives. While life can bring joy, it can also brings stress, anxiety, depression, grief, pain and suffering. My goal is to create a safe and healing space where you can speak your truth alongside someone who truly cares about you, your wellness, your wholeness, and your authentic happiness.

Currently accepting new clients. Are you feeling the stress from life transitions, pressure of high performance, grief and loss, exploring your racial/cultural identity, or navigating your identity as a transracial/transnational adoptee? You're not alone. If you're looking to feel connected to yourself and others, discover your authentic self, and increase self-compassion, therapy is a great place to start.

As a therapist, I aim to provide my clients with a safe, nonjudgmental environment for them to explore their thoughts, behaviors, and emotional experience. My approach focuses on empowering clients to explore their inner strengths and resources to enable them to navigate their concerns and stressors, and to take steps toward living a life in the ways that are meaningful to them. With each client bringing their unique experiences to therapy, I tailor each session to the individual needs of the client.

Each day offers a new opportunity to live the best life we can. Counseling can help when barriers like anxiety, shame, grief, interpersonal conflict, and illness make each day exhausting or frustrating. Taking a fresh, empathetic, and non-judgmental look at your situation will help.

At New Prague Counseling, we know that taking that first step towards healing is often the hardest one of all– but it’s worth it. That ONE conversation can change everything. We recognize that every person’s suffering is unique and as such, we take an individualized approach when creating our therapy protocols. With a commitment to providing confidential, culturally-informed, clinically-sound, evidence-based therapeutic services, we strive to meet the needs of our clients and ensure they feel heard, seen and understood every step of the way.

I believe that life throws "curve balls" that can be challenging to navigate. Therapy is a place to explore how these challenges impact us, those we care about, and how we can move forward with what we value in our lives. I believe that each of us is the expert of our lives and we are empowered to make healthy decisions for ourselves. I would like to help you through the more difficult times in your journey, creating a safe place for you to be open, explore, and grow as an individual or couple.

Do you fear no one will understand you? In situations longer than you should be? Struggling with the complexities of grief or major life transitions? I help adolescents, teens, and adults heal their self-worth wounds before their potential harmful coping skills manifest into lifelong struggles, and help folks rewrite their story once they understand that the only person that needs to understand them is themselves.