Jennifer Joy Phoenix, MSSW, LICSW

Adoption Savvy Therapist

Hi, I’m Jennifer Joy Phoenix.

I’m a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, adoption-competent therapist, writer, speaker, and birth mother. My work lives at the intersection of trauma, attachment, grief, and the complex relational landscapes created by adoption and family separation.

I graduated from the University of Washington with my Bachelor's in Social Welfare in 2014, where I spent time in Child Welfare and later as a Social Worker at an adoption agency. In 2017, I graduated with my Master of Arts in Clinical Social Work from Columbia University and returned to the Pacific Northwest to continue to support adoptive families, birth parents, and

adoptees. In 2019, I was certified in Attachment and Trauma Focused Therapy (ATFT), with Deborah Gray, and I have had the honored opportunity to train other professionals alongside her as she helps other clinicians become adoption savvy. In 2022, I completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Relationally Focused Psychodynamic Theory (RFPT) through the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. I specialize in supporting adoptees, birth/first parents, adoptive parents, and partners who are navigating loss that doesn’t always have language — the quiet, chronic, often invisible grief I describe as liminal loss: the presence of absence.

My clinical approach is trauma-informed, attachment-focused, and deeply relational. I believe healing doesn’t happen in isolation — it happens in connection. Relationships are not just where wounds occur; they are also where repair becomes possible. Therapy with me is collaborative, honest, and grounded in the belief that safe, attuned relationships can literally reshape the nervous system and restore a sense of self.

Alongside my private practice, I teach and speak nationally on adoption-related mental health topics. I present at conferences, retreats, and professional trainings on subjects including:

Liminal Loss in Adoption
Grief beyond the “5 stages” model
Adoption-competent clinical care
Trauma and attachment across the adoption constellation
Infant Mental Health
Adoption's impact on identity development

My work integrates both professional expertise and lived experience, which allows me to sit with people in the hard, complicated, “there are no easy answers” spaces with steadiness and compassion.

In our work together, you won’t be pathologized or rushed. You’ll be met with curiosity, directness, and respect. My goal is to help you understand your story, regulate your nervous system, and build relationships that feel safe, mutual, and sustainable.

Because I believe therapy isn’t about fixing anything — it’s about helping you come home to yourself.

Amy Barker, LMHC, has been my mentor, colleague, and dear friend since 2011, when we met at the Refresh Conference (a local conference for foster and adoptive families) and decided to get coffee as we learned we share many of the same passions for those impacted by trauma, foster care, and adoption. We soon started our Seattle Area Birth Mom Club, recognizing the need for therapeutic services for the birth/first mother community in the Pacific Northwest. We co-facilitated our first annual Northwest Birth/First Mother's Retreat shortly thereafter and continue to offer annual Retreats in the Seattle area. Amy and I facilitate various events, groups, and retreats for adult adoptees, adoptive families, and birth/first mothers throughout the year. I live in Yakima, WA, with my special needs brother and my dogs.

My fee-for-service is $150 a session. I am not affiliated with insurance companies, but am happy to provide paperwork for out-of-network reimbursement if your insurance offers this benefit. I also offer reduced fee sliding scales to help remove the barriers associated with getting adoption competant theraputic support.

To inquire about my services or to request an appointment, click here.