About Me
Jennie Kogan, LCSW
“The body always leads us home… if we trust sensation”
-Pat Ogden, somatic psychology pioneer
My Philosophy
Every thought, feeling, behavior, and sensation we experience happens for a reason. While it would be nice if we could change unwanted patterns by willing them away, we often can’t. We want to be seen, understood and believed, rather than be criticized and fixed. I support people connect with a sense of compassion, spaciousness and curiosity towards all parts of themselves and others to facilitate connection that lasts. Through radical compassion and acceptance, seemingly impossible change can start to be possible.
My approach is relational, somatic and collaborative. I am primarily an IFS or internal family systems* therapist, so often incorporate the framework and tools from this approach into my work.
Some examples of questions you might hear me ask include:
Where do you feel that in or around your body?
What are you concerned might happen if you stop vaping?
Is that a part of you that feels insecure or is it all of you?
Is there anything that feels oppressive about this?
What Informs My Practice
Master of Social Work Degree, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
Trainings:
Internal Family Systems
Level 1 IFS Institute
IFSCA
Colleen West IFS for Complex Trauma
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST)
Youth for Environmental Sanity: https://yesworld.org/
Poor Magazine: https://www.poormagazine.org/education
Bend the Arc Jeremiah Fellowship: https://www.jewishpartnership.us/
Eyewitness Palestine No Bans no Border Delegation: https://eyewitnesspalestine.org/
And now, the personal…
Why I want to do all this?
Throughout my life, I’ve struggled with self acceptance, thinking I was too much of this or too little of that to belong. My first year of college, I remember looking out at all of the tables of students talking and thinking what’s wrong with me that I don’t have those kinds of friends yet. While brushing my teeth one day, someone asked me how I was and while scared, I decided to answer genuinely: I’m lonely and feel like everyone else has this college thing down except me. The person I spoke with said you too!? I thought I was the only one.
I have had countless experiences such as this over the years. As Brené Brown says, shame grows in isolation, but with connection and empathy, it doesn’t stand a chance. With oppression thriving on isolation and division, I believe in the power of connection. I view my work as watering the seeds of connectedness that we all have within us. When we feel like we truly matter, so much can be possible.