Jennifer Zito is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Licensed Mental Health Counselor, LMHC. She is a National Certified Counselor. She graduated from Rollins College with her Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a certificate in Family and Relationship Therapy. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida. Jennifer has certifications in trauma and grief counseling. She has worked with children and families in foster care, school and home settings. She often utilizes play therapy, art therapy and sand tray with clients.
Jennifer is passionate about understanding the family system. She utilizes an evidenced based therapy known as Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP). This is a psychodynamic type of therapy that focuses on working with parents to help their children's mental health. This model has been found to be very effective for many childhood disorders, including anxiety, separation anxiety, school avoidance, and depression in children. The treatment is based in attachment theory but also integrates psychodynamic, developmental, trauma, social learning, and cognitive behavioral theories. Therapeutic sessions include the child and parent or primary caregiver. The primary goal is to support and strengthen the relationship between a child and his or her caregiver as a vehicle for restoring the child's cognitive, behavioral, and social functioning. Treatment also focuses on contextual factors that may affect the caregiver-child relationship. This type of therapy helps to heal the family as a unit, and removes the burden and stigma from the individual child. They utilize an approach that appreciates the complexities of children's lives and well-being, including the family dynamics, school setting and deeper psychodynamic factors.
She completed her practicum and internship at First United Methodist Children’s Home, a group home for children in the foster care system. This experience provided her with a passion for working with children and families as well as extensive knowledge in trauma and grief. Jennifer gained additional experience working with families through Kinder Konsulting, an agency providing mental health services to children in school and at home. She has also worked as a counselor in private practice with a focus on adolescents, adults and couples experiencing grief, anxiety, depression, family and relationship issues and trauma. Jennifer works directly with our physicians to provide integrated care.