Expertise with Children & Families: Dr. Jacobs has a creative ability to connect with children and teens. She possesses an in-depth understanding of family dynamics and issues, and utilizes effective/efficient interventions in family issues as well as parent coaching as needed. Dr. Jacobs has studied the classical works of play therapists such as Garry Landreth and Louise Guerney and is well versed in Filial Therapy. Filial Therapy is a therapeutic intervention aimed at supporting and guiding parents to teach children appropriate boundaries while also allowing parents and children to experience positive experiences together thus deepening emotional connections. Dr. Jacobs can artfully provide families with a balance of child empowering techniques coupled with behavior modification strategies parents can use to alleviate distress and conflict at home. In addition, having spent three years working on a crisis stabilization unit with children and teens, she is well equipped to teach children and teens how to self-regulate emotions and communicate more effectively with their parents, as well as assist parents in de-escalation techniques and communication with their child. Many children struggle socially, and Dr. Jacobs has taught social skills groups for children and adolescents in a variety of settings for five years and has many resourceful techniques for helping children deal with issues such as making a good first impressions, resolving peer conflicts, coping with teasing and rejection, and making and keeping friends.

Her experience working with children and adolescents spans the breadth of common teen and childhood issues such as behavior problems, family and school difficulties, shyness, mood disorders such as childhood or teen depression and anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD;‘ADD’), learning disabilities (LD), trauma and abuse recovery, social problems, social skills, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD), substance use, body image concerns and eating disorders, dealing with divorce, and pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). In addition to providing individual and family therapy to help children, Dr. Jacobs has led therapy and psychoeducational groups for children and adolescents struggling with Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder, and/or other disordered eating issues; DBT skills groups for adolescents; and groups for adolescents struggling with substance abuse issues.

In regards to testing, Dr. Jacobs has extensive experience including psychoeducational evaluations across the academic spectrum, evaluating for learning disabilities and AD/HD as well as gifted children and adolescents; and a full range of psychological and neuropsychological evaluations. She has also conducted comprehensive psychological and behavioral assessments for children and adolescents to aid in differential diagnosis, treatment recommendations, and level of care determination. Dr. Jacobs believes assessment can greatly benefit children, adolescents and their families better understand their strengths and how to best serve their learning styles, personality dynamics, and emotional needs.

One of Dr. Jacobs’ specialty areas – working with adoptive families – originates from personal experiences. Dr. Jacobs’ is a member of Families with Children from China (FCC)-Asheville Chapter, where her parents and younger sister live. When Dr. Jacobs was a teenager, her parents welcomed her younger sister, Summer, into their family. Summer was born in China and was adopted by Dr. Jacobs’ parents as a young infant. As she progressed in her studies, Dr. Jacobs became increasingly passionate about providing clinical services to adoptive families, both adoptive parents and/or adopted children struggling with a variety of challenges. Dr. Jacobs’ clinical research specifically focused on the language we use when discussing adoption issues and has found significant findings with regards to the emotional effects various semantic choices have on the on adopted children.

Expertise with Adults: Dr. Jacobs has wide-ranging experience working with a variety of common concerns, such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, assertiveness, substance use, weight management/body image issues, life transitions, grief and loss issues, trauma, sexuality, sexual minority issues, infertility and miscarriages. Given her training in psychodynamic and existential theory, Dr. Jacobs adeptly provides individual therapy with adults engaged in a personal growth and more self-analytical pursuits. Additionally, having spent several years working in inpatient psychiatric facilities, Dr. Jacobs is able to work with individuals coping with severe and persistent mental illness such as thought disorders, mood disorders (e.g. bipolar disorder), and personality disorders. She also has broad testing experience with adults and provides psychological, educational, and neuropsychological evaluations.

Dr. Jacobs is especially well known for: treating eating disorders; her expertise in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to address all presenting problems; and treating all anxiety disorders, with specific expertise in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She received extensive training in Marsha Linehan’s DBT and has led both formal outpatient DBT skills groups along with more informal DBT skills groups. She also provides psychoeducational seminars on DBT to clinical professionals. Dr. Jacobs is a member of the American Psychological Association’s Division 50, the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. She has extensive experience working with those individuals struggling with comorbid issues, for example, individuals struggling with alcohol dependence and disordered eating or stimulant abuse and excessive exercise issues. Although Dr. Jacobs does not consider an eating disorder to be an addiction, she does recognize the intensely habitual nature of disordered eating. The patterns of disordered eating can create a painful and viscous cycle that, similar to the effects of an addiction, can leave the individual feeling extremely hopeless and emotionally exhausted. Therapy and psychoeducational groups conducted by Dr. Jacobs have included process groups for individuals struggling with Anorexia, Bulimia, and/or Binge Eating Disorder; OCD groups; CBT groups for individuals struggling with other anxiety disorders; DBT and DBT skills groups; and groups for individuals struggling with substance abuse issues.

Dr. Jacobs has collaborated with the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) in a push to provide more psychoeducation and support to loved ones caring for someone struggling with a mental illness.