Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenniffer Weller-White.
Hi Jenniffer, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I had not planned to go into clinical social work, I’d actually worked my whole adolescence and most of college plans focused on journalism, but I couldn’t stop taking sociology classes during my undergraduate experience – I was so interested in learning about humans. I eventually made the decision to focus on sociology and I graduated from USC with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2008. Not knowing what that meant for my future employment plans, I started speaking to professionals in positions focused on helping others. Eventually someone suggested I look into social work and I impulsively applied for the Master of Social Work program at USC. In my first week of internship, I realized I’d been set on my correct course.
I graduated from USC’s College of Social Work in 2011 and focused my attention on working with folks struggling with substance use disorders, specifically adolescents and families. I was exposed to a lot of great training opportunities and realized I was most interested in developing deeper understanding into the disease model of addiction, the neuroscience of how addiction changes the brain, and how best to find healing in recovery. Looking beneath the surface of an often misunderstood disorder, I loved providing education and insight to others about biologically what was happening inside them. That eventually expanded into trauma work and learning about the biological implications of traumatic experiences. I was also working my way into leadership roles within the agency I worked and realized I needed a more patient-focused role to balance my supervisor experience.
In 2018 I opened my private practice, Southern Oak Counseling, offering people the opportunity to find a place of safety and healing for whatever their life experience has been. I have focused my efforts on creating safe spaces for folks in the LGBTQ+ community, other helping professionals, and those looking for a more progressive approach to healing and processing the world around them.
Creating Mindful Healing Collective in 2024 with friend and colleague Nicole Deems has also been a passion project and brain child of our love of clinical growth and desire to grow and learn in community. Focusing on the supervision and training needs of other clinicians is something we’re both passionate about and has allowed us the space to use our experience and excitement about the work we do and invite others along.
Earlier this year I left my full-time agency position to focus solely on private practice, which has allowed me to pour into myself and others in ways I’d always wanted. I primarily focus on treating trauma, family systems challenges, helping folks find their most authentic selves, and healing their nervous systems. I also support new clinicians in the social work field with clinical supervisor and training to deepen their own understanding and skill sets. I feel so honored to be part of others’ healing processes and to be able to do the work I feel so deeply called to do.
On a more personal note, I’ve been married to high school sweetheart for 15 years, have two sweet fur babies, have adopted the south as my home, and I identify as a Swiftie!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I don’t know that anything worth doing is ever easy or smooth. Showing up for people at their most vulnerable is such a sacred practice and I feel so honored to be doing this work, but it is not without its own challenges. It can be hard to ensure my own self-care and to practice the things that I so often preach. But I am lucky to have a strong support system and people around me who support my work and my personal needs.
Working within larger systems in such a challenge as a therapist, trying to balance patient care and administrative expectations. Leaving a structured agency environment that I’d been at for 14+ years was a huge challenge for me, but allowed me to dig deeper into the kind of work I want to be doing and the kind of care I want to be providing.
As a therapist, there is often a tug between the actual work – sitting with patients in their authenticity and vulnerability – and all the details – documentation, insurance claims, maintaining credentials, it can really be a lot. But like anything, time and experience helps you find your groove and your priorities. When I’m living into my values and my priorities, I have the capacity for all the details and the hard work.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Southern Oak Counseling & Mindful Healing Collective?
Southern Oak Counseling is a private practice in Lexington, SC focused on a nervous system-informed approach to healing, specializing in trauma, family systems, and meeting your authentic self. Being a progressive, safe space for folks in the LGBTQ+ community, non-traditional relationships, and people rooted in their humanness, has created a unique niche in a conservative place. I’m most proud to offer people the space to heal, get curious, and find excitement in meeting their continuously evolving selves! Accessible care is important, so taking insurance and offering flexible hours is a strong value for my practice.
Mindful Healing Collective, co-owned with Nicole Deems, is an organization focused on providing evidenced-based clinical supervision and training to other therapeutic professionals to expand their skills and understanding of the work they do. Our focus is on nervous system-informed approaches to healing, such as EMDR and trauma-informed care and allowing space for clinicians to grow and lean in community with one another.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think being authentic, accountable, and a good steward of this field have been essential in my success. Being willing to look at opportunities for my own growth and also showing up as my most authentic self has been a key to building relationships with others, both patients and colleagues. A focus on accountability to my patients and their needs, overall clinical professionalism for the care I provide, and doing the work. And then always trying my best to be a good steward of the therapeutic community and honoring the space we make for our patients.
Contact Info:
