Jennifer joins GE Family Services as a Clinician to work with trauma and transitions in adolescents and adults. She provides services in Anchorage and telehealth throughout Alaska.

Jen joins GE Family Services as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker to work with adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma in their lives. She is passionate about helping teens navigate life transitions towards adulthood and plan for their futures.  With over 20 years’ experience working in outpatient behavioral health settings, she is skilled in working with youth, adults, and families struggling with PTSD, Anxiety, and Depression. Her goal is to promote healthier relationships, develop effective coping strategies, and heal from past traumas.  Jen is also interested in working with helping professionals to promote compassion resilience and trauma-informed care with a goal of burnout reduction within our systems of care.

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Jen O’Neal graduated with her MSW in May 2020 and lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her husband of 17 years and their 16 y.o. twin boys. She loves a mental challenge just as much as a physical challenge and can be found rock climbing, hiking mountains, training for triathlon, reading a book, or trying out the latest card or board game. She’ll even take on a puzzle horror videogame on occasion just for the thrill and nostalgia of it!

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Jen has experience working with teens and adults who have experienced significant trauma, abuse, and neglect, including youth and young adults in foster care, those facing problems related to substance use or legal issues, and housing insecurity. Notably, she helped to develop the first Transition to Independence Program in the state, which she supervised for over 10 years as the program manager. As a result, she has exceptional skills and knowledge for helping youth & families navigate this time in their life and connect to community resources.  She also teaches a Trauma in Childhood course at UAA to help develop a workforce that is trauma-informed across youth & family serving specialties.

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Jen is EMDR trained and utilizes concepts of Internal Family Systems and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy as frameworks for understanding the impacts of trauma, recognizing and gaining compassion for behavioral responses to triggers, and moving towards healing from painful experiences and attachment traumas.  She will become a Brainspotting practitioner in early summer 2025 and will work towards certification through continued learning and consultation.

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Jen believes that each person holds innate wisdom and with guidance can use that knowledge to harness their own strengths and capacity for healing. She uses a person-centered approach grounded in a deep empathy for the human experience and unconditional positive regard. She is a great listener, is compassionate, and while she is confident in her skills, is humble enough to keep learning and growing to best serve the needs of her clients.