"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside of you."
– Maya Angelou
Meet Jacqui
Hi, I’m Jacqui Nelson, MA, LMHC --
Pronouns: She/Her
I moved to Spokane in the Fall of 2001. As a newly minted adult I had no idea what I wanted to do with myself and enrolled in community college. I was in the middle of winter classes when I decided that I’d participate in a discipleship school with my church that following September. Little did I know I would end up staying in that program for five long years.
After I left that program I felt disoriented, damaged, and underprepared for what was next in my life. Not long after I ended the program, things took a turn and I was asked to leave my church. It was a horribly devastating moment and I didn’t know how to make sense of it. I decided that I needed some help sorting through the grief, hurt, and anger and sought out a therapist. It was that therapist who first named for me that what I had experienced was called spiritual abuse.
Naming the harm that occurred to me in that tiny therapy room was one of the most profound moments of my life, and is, in part, what led to me becoming a therapist.
I started intentionally taking classes that pointed me in the direction of a degree in Counseling. I applied at Whitworth University and graduated with my Bachelors of Arts in Psychology in May of 2014. From there, I headed West to Seattle to attend graduate school at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.
I graduated during the Summer of 2017 and returned to Spokane and began working for a group practice that specialized in trauma therapy. As I began to pursue more trainings surrounding trauma work, I found two things I was good at navigating -- complex PTSD and spiritual/religious trauma. This is the heart of the work I love to do with my clients.
Beyond the therapy room, I am child-free by choice, a dog-mom to Klaus (pronounced like Clouse), love to travel, host a wine group, and love spending time with people.
Know that I am so excited to meet you, to hear your story, and to enter into spaces of healing with you.
