It’s a wonderful day at New Moon Counseling
Jennifer Harris Palmer
GETHELP UNDERSTANDING
& HOPE
FIELDS OF EXPERIENCE:
• Sexuality and
Sex Education
• Family Counseling
• Trauma
• Addictions /
Substance Abuse
• Women’s Issues
• Domestic Violence
• Couples/ Relationships
• Codependency
• Individuals • Family • Group
All Backgrounds, Cultures & Spirituality
20 Years Experience
Eclectic Theoretical
Approach With An
Emphasis on
Humanistic
Psychology
License No.
MH13738
Florida
39104 3rd Avenue, Zephyrhills, FL 33542-52064
813.682.9364
Whealth
When you hear mental health
counseling you often get the idea
in your mind of a person lying on a
couch while a thoughtful, bearded
gentleman or lady sits disinterestedly
by writing who knows what in
a tablet.
in
Jennifer Harris Palmer, LMHC
of New Moon Counseling doesn’t
do it that way. Oh, she could, if that
is what you wanted, but in her of-
“New Moon Counseling is
what I call a humanistic counseling practice,” explained
Palmer. “The big thing that makes a difference from a lot of
least bit clinical, I want to make it feel more like you’re talking
to a friend.”
To accomplish that feeling of comfort, Palmer has options
-
yrhills.
“You come in and I have a kitchen table that you can
choose to sit at, I have a play therapy room and I have tradi-
a session,” Palmer said. “The most people choose is the kitchen
table, just sitting there, having something to drink and you
can talk. In Humanistic psychology the big thing is making
people feel like they are clients versus patients. A patient is
somebody who is sick but a client comes in because they have
issues going on that they need some help working out. So we
take that stigma away.”
Palmer, a licensed mental health counselor has been in
private practice for 10 years. Her approach to all issues is
summed up in the phrase “unconditional positive regard.”
“I had worked for people in other practices and nothing
felt like what I wanted it to do,” Palmer recalled. Everyone
was either too clinical or not as open-minded. It never felt
right. I had a way that I wanted to do things and I knew that I
would only be really happy and be able to shine in my career
if I opened a practice for myself.”
Palmer earned a degree in mental health counseling from
Troy University of Troy, Alabama although she attended a
satellite school in Tampa. She trained under several different
types of therapist, but she jokingly calls herself a “Double Rogerian”
counselor because she subscribes to the practices of
Carl Rogers, a founder of humanistic psychology and Fred
Rogers of Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood.
While she works with all sorts of psychological issues
in people from age two to adult, her specialties are working
with children and people from the LGBTQ community.
With children she tries to uncover sources of anxiety
through play and art. “I will participate with them if they invite
me into their play and show me what’s bothering them,”
Palmer said. “It helps for them to get these things out and I
Children’s anxieties are the same things that adults are anxious
about, but adults have understanding. The adult may be
• Child Behavior
• School Functioning
issues and disorders
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Bipolar Disorder
• ADHD
• Personality
• Mood Disorders
• LGBTQ Community
Zephyrhills, Florida 33541
Jennifer (727) 534-100
Harris Palmer
32 • SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018 FLORIDA WOMEN MAGAZINE