Meet Our Team

Dr. Swenson is Community Psychologist and a licensed clinical therapist. She is also certified in clinical trauma treatment,  sexual trauma, and integrative health medicine. Dr. Swenson holds dual licensure as a Sex Offender Court evaluator and treatment provider. She practices in EFT (emotionally focused therapy) , Gottman Method, and utilizes bio-psycho-social attachment science as her treatment orientation. She has spent countless hours learning, using training and teaching attachment to couples, families, trauma survivors and graduate students. She is the Clinical Director here at Transformative Growth Counseling, a nonprofit organization. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at DePaul University; Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at Roosevelt University; and her PhD in Community Psychology at National Louis University.

Her current projects include collaboration with Kankakee Community College, where she and Dr. Cari Stevenson conduct grant-funded work with the The Prevention Institute and Movember Foundation as community practitioners to promote mental fitness and masculinity in veterans, men and boys in the community. Jessica and her research team are currently creating a custom child development and resiliency programming for public schools in Chicago, Kankakee and Rockford; as well as Kankakee Community College. She is also a peer research proposal reviewer for the American Psychological Association; teaches at the university level when not undertaking clinical graduate students; and conducts private consultation for health, wellness and mental health program development for small organizations, schools, nonprofits, the government and grass-roots organizations.

Jessica has conducted research on, and/or has spoken at American Psychological Association research conferences on her above mentioned specialities; including but not limited to: Micro-aggressions (2011); Personality Disorders and DBT (2013); Children’s learning through technology (2014, 2015); Culture, Racism & Privilege in undergraduate university programs (2015, 2016); Community building in historically oppressed neighborhoods (2015); Adverse (trauma) Childhood Experiences (ACES) study (2015), and Transgender inclusivity (2015). Jessica has lead multiple studies on children’s development and technology use, as well as the application and experiences of learning abroad (through first-hand experience) in college students.