Jessica Cesare, PhD

I took up surfing last year and I’m terrible at it. I fall constantly and look ridiculous in front of people while the ocean decides when I get to go out, not me. But it’s become my true passion, and learning that I don’t need to be good at something to love it has been one of the most freeing experiences of my life.

That lesson translates directly into how I work with clients. You don’t need to have it all figured out or be “good” at therapy to benefit from it. You just need to show up and be willing to try.

My clinical training took me through settings most private practice therapists never see.

I worked in a children’s state psychiatric hospital with kids and I spent time in college counseling centers, inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings, and long-term care facilities with unhoused populations and medically complex patients. Every room I sat in taught me something different about what it means to stay present with someone in pain.

Over the past few years, couples work has become my greatest passion.

I’ve invested heavily in training around infidelity, sexual disconnection, attachment struggles, and the particular toll of inequitable gender dynamics in modern partnerships. I see a growing number of middle-aged women who work full-time, run the household, manage their children’s lives, and carry the emotional weight of the entire family while their partner struggles to handle a fraction of that load. Their stories are remarkably similar, and helping couples see those dynamics clearly and start to change them is some of the most rewarding work I do.

My biggest focus in treatment is your relationship to yourself.

I often work with people who have good careers and take care of themselves on paper, but they’re struggling with how they relate to themselves internally or how they connect with others. Sometimes it’s about regulation and sometimes it’s attachment patterns surfacing in ways that feel confusing or painful.

I don’t position myself as the expert in your experience. I show up curious about who you are and work hard to hold the complexity when you’re inclined to see things in black and white. My job is to help you deepen your curiosity about yourself and build self-compassion along the way.

I create a space where everything can be put on the table.

The touching parts, the angry parts, the proud parts and the things you’ve never said out loud because you weren’t sure anyone could handle hearing them. I don’t push because trust has to come first, and the rest follows when you’re ready.