Member Spotlight: Jessica Medina, LMFT

Meet Jessica Medina, a licensed therapist who advocates for integrating geek culture into therapy. She began her journey as a school-based counselor with no prior training in therapy with kids. Still, she quickly found success in using board games like Candyland and Life to engage them in conversation about difficult topics such as divorce, depression, and bullying. With the onset of COVID-19, she transitioned to virtual therapy, utilizing video games like Roblox and Animal Crossing to connect with her clients.

As she progressed in her career, Jessica leaned more into experiential techniques and incorporated video games into therapy for adults, seeing tremendous change and rapport. She has since consulted with companies that use cool technology, such as Joycons, for EMDR and trauma therapy.

Today, Jessica focuses primarily on geek culture, such as using TTRPGs in therapy or running a social cognitive group using collaborative gameplay as the intervention for clients of all ages. She also advocates with schools for IEPs and accommodations for Neurodivergent adolescents and adults and provides ESA assessments and Gender-Affirming Surgery Letters.

Jessica is far from your average therapist, with a few tattoos, including her favorite Quacken (a rubber ducky with Kraken tentacles) and her anxiety bug biting an espresso bean. She also swears in therapy (not with her young clients), representing chaotic and wholesome energy in the therapy room. Jessica is passionate about advocating for alternative lifestyle populations and supporting the LGBTQIA2S+ community.

Her practice's future includes opening a wellness retreat center with her fellow clinicians from her podcast, which focuses on integrative, experiential healing such as sound baths, yoga, Ketamine Assisted psychotherapy sessions, and meditation. If you’d like to book a session with Jessica to see if she’d be a good fit as your therapist, check her out on her Our Team page.

Let’s Connect:
Website at www.happylilbrains.com
Follow on Instagram/Tiktok/Twitter: @happylilbrains
Podcast: If The Couch Could Speak



Ariel Landrum, LMFT, ATR

Ariel is the Director of Guidance Teletherapy. She runs the day-to-day operations, and is one of our treating clinicians. She writes about mindfulness, coping skills, and navigating the private practice world.

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Understanding and Processing Grief Using Geeky Examples