Jenn Lofft LMFT
Jenn is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (License #41133) and specializes children, teens, and families. She has guided countless children, teens, and their families through a wide range of issues and is passionate about helping people find their own best path to a joyful life. She brings 15 years of clinical experience coupled with the unique perspective of parenting her own 3 children in today’s complex and fast paced world. Jenn has extensive experience working with youth struggling with everything from ADHD, depression, anxiety, behavior problems, high risk behavior, parenting conflict, learning disabilities, autism, to giftedness and teen pregnancy. Her approach is collaborative, client centered, solution focused, and guided by research backed and evidenced based methodologies such as behavior modification, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She is ready to help your family with assessment, diagnosis, parent coaching, counseling, and school success support.
It is not always easy to put your finger on the source of your child’s struggles. ADHD sometimes is first issue to be noticed, but isn’t always the whole story. Let’s sort it out, make a plan, and get you and your child the skills, support, and counseling to thrive.
Jenn loves anything at the beach or in the mountains, playing tennis, driving carpool, and gardening.
How I Work
I want get to know you, your family, and your child or teen. Your goals, and what has or hasn’t worked is all important information. Even more important is that you and your child feel comfortable and confident that we can successfully work through things together. I strive to create a space where you feel accepted, safe, and empowered. Laughter is magical, and self discovery and growth can be fun.
I am compassionate about your journey, the struggle, the worry, the frustration, and the grief that you may feel. I know it is an easy trap to worry so much about your child’s future, that your family life suffers and no issue really gets dealt with effectively. When we have created a path and plan, you can get back to enjoying your present; comforted with the knowledge that you are on the right track. My goal is not to keep you in therapy indefinitely but rather, to teach you and your child or teen to approach their lives and concerns with a compassionate, proactive, and scientific mind. I will partner with you and your child/teen to move toward your future with hope and confidence.
ADHD
Jenn knows kids and teens. She knows that the struggle is real and that families need compassionate support and real time solutions. When your kids are struggling in school, with friends, and at home; it can feel overwhelming and lonely. ADHD is no joke, yet these are our kids who can laugh the loudest and shine the brightest. Their unique perspective, their energy – oh their energy; and their messy backpacks are a force to be reckoned with. Let’s harness those strengths and come up with effective tools to manage those difficulties.
ADHD isn’t always, necessarily, or even typically, just hyperactivity. There are subtypes that point to the main areas of difficulty. These can and often do change over time. Effective solutions pinpoint the specific symptoms that are causing the most frustration and target them with scientifically based solutions.
ADHD often looks different in the tween and teen years. Social issues, high risk behaviors and academics are all areas of potential concern. You can no longer manage all of your teens academic demands and if they have felt unsuccessful in the past, finding the motivation to do all these things (that squarely fall in their weak spot,) is a big ask. Many parents have been (appropriately) bolstering their ADHD child’s weak executive function skills and acting as an executive assistant. As a teen enters middle school, maintaining this level of oversight can feel unsustainable to parents and frustrating for teens. This is the time for teens to ‘own’ their ADHD, with it’s unique set of skills and challenges, and choose how they will leverage their strength’s to compensated where needed.
Behavior Issues
Not all kids with ADHD develop behavior problems or Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) but many kids with ODD also have ADHD. ODD is a pattern of behavior or interaction that is seemingly intentionally annoying, defiant, and sometimes aggressive. While ADHD is a lifelong neurologically based disorder that needs to be understood and accommodated, ODD is behaviorally based and treatable with specific behavior modification and parenting techniques. It is not surprising (or the parents fault) that kids with ADHD are at higher risk of developing ODD. By definition, their disability impacts their self-control, impulse control, and self-regulation. ODD can be like a snowball and halting it before it gets any bigger is imperative. Effective ADHD treatment can also greatly reduce the possibility of ODD developing.
Teens
Being a teen today is tough. Being a teen (or having a teen) who struggles, is even tougher. Adolescents naturally and normally want to separate themselves from their parents and become more independent. As parents, you know the challenges of middle school, high school, college; that are just around the corner. You want nothing more than for your teen to be successful and ‘launch.’ So do they. Many teens could benefit from extra support, yet your offers to talk hit a wall. Therapy at this point can give your teen an extra person on their team who helps them navigate their world, handle issues in a healthy manner, and develop life long coping skills.
As school and life get more demanding; the challenges that your teen deals with, academically and socially, become even more complicated and critical to manage. The stakes feel higher in so many ways and the pressure can feel crushing. To be successful, a teen will need to prioritize, organize, persist, ask for help, and so much more. Anxiety, depression, ADHD, and other issues, aren’t about will power and don’t have be suffered though. Struggling teens may find that homework takes them longer, and that keeping their calendar of projects, assignments, and tests straight; feels overwhelming. Add to that, time needed for sports, activities, relaxing, friends, family, and sleep; poor executive functioning and other challenges, can make fitting it all in seem impossible and make your teen feel like they are drowning.
Having a professional therapist/coach can make a tremendous difference. Helping your teen to view themselves with a sense of curiosity is empowering. Understanding anxiety, depression, ADHD, executive functions, and their overall health; from a place of collaboration and problem solving rather than shame, frustration, and failure; allows them to make plans they own. We all know that you can’t really make anybody do something they don’t believe in, and trying is miserable for everybody. Therapy/coaching can help take some this stress out of your hands and let your family enjoy one another. Your teen can set healthy and attainable goals and make (and follow through) with plans to get there.
Giftedness (2E)
Twice Exceptionality or 2E is the under recognized but not uncommon linking of Giftedness with ADHD, Autism, and/or Learning Disabilities to name a few.
“But they are so smart, if they would just…”
They are so smart, but sometimes they can’t just. School concerns; like under-performance, friend issues, motivation, and low self-esteem, are common. These kids need support, and understanding, (and school accommodations) too, even if they had been able to power through (compensate for) their disabilities when they were younger. Having a high IQ is a gift indeed, but that doesn’t mean that it is always easy or without challenges.
Co-Parenting Videos for Divorced Moms
Watch some of the co-parenting advice videos Jenn gives to the Chapter2Club.com audience for divorced women.