Jess Samperio, LCSW, PEL, CCTP

Welcome! I am a Queer Latina Therapist with experience providing therapy to a range of populations including immigrant/refugee, survivors of sexual trauma, LGBTQIA+, youth with disabilities, and people suffering from debilitating depression, anxiety, and PTSD as a result of complex trauma. My approach is compassion-focused, strengths-based, Humanistic, eclectic, and C-DBT informed. Above all, my approach is focused based on the particular needs of each person with emphasis on SELF-COMPASSION! I am Licensed by the State of Illinois to perform psychotherapy, psychosocial assessments, and mental health evaluations. As a Certified Clinical Trauma Therapist, I receive ongoing training and supervision on issues of trauma. I also hold a PEL, an endorsement from the University of Chicago to implement therapeutic interventions with children in school-settings. Why does self-compassion matter in therapy? There are three core components of self-compassion which include kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. 1) Kindness: To be kind to oneself, is to allow ourselves to be emotionally moved by our own pain. We ask ourselves, "This is really hard right now. How can I care for myself in this moment? What do I need?" When we respond to ourselves with goodwill, we generate positive emotions that help us cope. 2) Common Humanity: When we fail or feel inadequate in some way, we tend to irrationally feel like everyone else is just fine and it is only "ME" who is struggling. This feeling of isolation creates a sense of disconnection that greatly exacerbates our suffering. Self-compassion recognizes that struggle is part of being human, an experience we all share. 3.) Mindfulness: In order to have compassion for ourselves, we need to be mindful of our pain. We cannot show ourselves compassion if we do not acknowledge that we are suffering. At the same time, if we fight and resist (or avoid) the fact that we are suffering, our attention becomes completely absorbed by our pain and we cannot step outside ourselves and adopt the perspective needed to give ourselves compassion. Mindfulness allows us to recognize that our thoughts, feelings, and emotions are just that--thought, feelings and emotions--so that we can have compassion for our struggles. To acknowledge our pain is to validate our experiences and have freedom from over-learned automatic, survival responses. Doing so, will allow us to exercise freedom to organize our behavior in relation to a future we desire... Benefits Of Self-Compassion Research shows that self-compassion has many benefits, ranging from fewer depressive and more optimistic thoughts, overall greater happiness and life satisfaction to greater social and emotional skills and improvements in physical health. Specifically, some positive effects noted by studies are: It increases motivation. It boosts happiness. It improves body image. It enhances self-worth. It fosters resilience.