Therapy for women, teens, children, and families
Jennifer Hankins, MSW, LCSW, BC-TMH
Real conversations. Fresh perspectives. Meaningful change.
Whether you are a woman carrying more than your share in a busy season of life, or the parent of a child or teen whose feelings have gotten bigger than their words, therapy can help you connect the dots. Jennifer offers a warm, down-to-earth space with the honesty and practical direction needed for change.
- Best fit
- Women in every season of life, children 7 to 12 with big emotions, and teens navigating relationships and growing independence
- Ages
- Children 7 to 12, teens, young adults, adults, and older adults
- Services
- Individual, family, caregiver-included child therapy, and play therapy
- Format
- In person in Ridgeland and telehealth across Mississippi
- Faith
- Faith integration is available and always client directed
Life can be messy, and patterns are hard to see from the inside.
Relationships get complicated, emotions do not always make sense, and the mental load of managing it all can wear you down. For many women, the pattern looks like people-pleasing, guilt, and taking responsibility for everyone else's happiness. For a child, it might look like meltdowns, worry, or anger. For a teen, it shows up in friendships, dating, and family conflict.
Sometimes the challenge is knowing what needs to change. Other times it is figuring out how to change without feeling selfish, guilty, or overwhelmed. Jennifer helps clients slow things down, understand what they are feeling, notice where the pattern comes from, and decide what to do differently. She offers support without passivity and will ask questions, point things out, and challenge you when she believes it can help.
Warm, practical therapy for the next step forward
With women, Jennifer works on anxiety, depression, grief and loss, marriage and relationship struggles, workplace stress, and complicated family dynamics, including relationships with adult children. Together you will work on healthier boundaries and on recognizing patterns like people-pleasing and guilt, so you can understand yourself, see your options, and feel more confident in the season you are in.
With children ages 7 to 12, she uses play-based, developmentally appropriate methods to help them understand their emotions, practice coping skills, and manage hard moments. Helping a child means supporting the parents too, so she helps caregivers understand what is driving the behavior and gives them practical strategies. The goal is for progress to show up at home and at school, not just in the playroom.
With teens, trust comes first. Jennifer offers a space where they feel heard and respected rather than judged or lectured, then helps them build confidence, recognize unhealthy relationship patterns, and communicate their feelings and needs, while helping families find healthier ways of relating to one another.
Areas of focus
- ADHD, anger, and impulse control in children and teens
- Anxiety, social anxiety, depression, and emotional regulation
- Boundaries, people-pleasing, and guilt
- Children's behavior, school stress, peer concerns, and adjustment
- Divorce, blended family, and family structure changes
- Grief, perinatal loss, caregiving stress, and major transitions
- Marriage, relationships, and adult children
- Parenting and parent-child relationships
- Teen friendships, dating, peer pressure, and self-esteem
- Women's issues, identity, self-esteem, and the mental load
What you can work toward
- Set healthier boundaries without guilt
- Understand emotions instead of feeling controlled by them
- Respond to anxiety with greater confidence
- Help children express needs and use healthier coping skills
- Feel more grounded in parenting decisions
- Communicate more openly as a family
- Move through grief or transition with support and clarity
What therapy with Jennifer is like
Jennifer's style is warm, down-to-earth, and conversational, and there is usually room for some laughter along the way. She is also pretty direct. Trust comes first, and once it is built she is not afraid to ask hard questions, offer honest feedback, or help you look at things from a different angle. Some sessions are emotional, some are challenging, and some are mostly practical.
Her primary orientation is cognitive behavioral and strength based. She also uses nondirective and directive play therapy, Child Parent Psychotherapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and DBT informed skills when they fit the client's age and needs.
A simple way to begin
1. Reach out
Choose Request an Appointment with Jennifer, or call 601-707-5550. Our team will listen and help confirm the fit.
2. Meet your therapist
Share what is happening, ask questions, and identify what you want to change.
3. Move forward together
Build a plan, practice useful skills, and adjust the work as you grow.
About Jennifer
Jennifer does not believe therapy is about her having all the answers. It is about helping you understand yourself, recognize patterns, and feel more confident making decisions that work for your life. She hopes clients leave feeling understood, encouraged, and hopeful. Jennifer and her husband live in Madison with their two children. They enjoy traveling, gardening, and spending time with family and friends.
Education, credentials, and specialized training
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
- Board Certified Telemental Health Counselor
- Master of Social Work, University of Southern Mississippi
- Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Mississippi State University
- Training in cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy
- Training in play therapy and Child Parent Psychotherapy
- Member of the National Association of Social Workers and Association for Play Therapy
Faith and counseling
Jennifer is comfortable including Christian faith, biblical principles, or prayer when a client requests it. She follows the client's lead and does not require faith to be part of counseling.
Take the next step
You do not have to have everything figured out before you start. Ready to see if Jennifer is the right fit? Choose Request an Appointment with Jennifer, or call 601-707-5550.
Other Clinicians on the Team
