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Psychotherapy and "The Forge"

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Dr. Jackson Newsome

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

I am a believer in symbols.

 

In naming this practice "The Forge," I hope to evoke imagery of the essential components of effective psychotherapy: hard work, processes of softening (pain) and reshaping (the mind), and the mutual creation of a healing space. 

Forging a deep and meaningful relationship. ​The evidence is clear: many psychotherapy outcomes hinge on the strength of the alliance between provider and patient. I approach care with radical curiosity and an eye toward deepening understanding of processes both in and out of awareness. Depth psychology does not shy away from addressing unconscious material, from the telling nature of dreams to the unnoticed subtleties of communication between us. I respect how therapy involves a meeting of two psyches and two subjectivities, meaning that our relationship - while professional - will be as open to exploration as any other.  

Forging personalized care. Patients find a peculiar landscape when seeking quality outpatient care. Brief interventions have been confused for "best practice," which can leave a patient feeling discouraged after departing a 6 or 12-session treatment course still experiencing the very symptoms with which they arrived. Many patients will seek care who have engaged in psychotherapy before. I find some patients have only experienced providers who offered simple answers for complex concerns. If you have felt frustrated by passive providers and care that did not feel tailored to your needs, consider a depth-oriented approach. 

No care by committee, no insurance mandated session limits, no kidding. 

Forging ahead. Insight means little without translating knowledge to action. At the end of treatment, the typical patient can expect to have grown toward a more authentic and value-aligned way of being, discovered how to co-exist more peacefully with emotional pain, and experience relationships in a more fulfilling manner. Even so, I acknowledge I can provide no guarantees.

Professional Experience

Much of my professional training and experience has centered on facilitating patients' trauma recovery processes in acute settings and within a VA medical center. However, I have trained and practiced as a generalist, successfully caring for a wide variety of other conditions, from mood and anxiety conditions to adjustment challenges and personality-related phenomena. I am currently the director of Compass Health Center's trauma partial hospitalization (PHP) and intensive outpatient programs (IOP) in Chicago. In this role, I treat patients who experience distress that substantially interferes with their ability to persist in work, school, or home responsibilities as an outpatient. I also train and supervise a team of professional counselors and clinical social workers to bolster patient care and foster professional development.

When I am not in a clinical setting, you may find me teaching or otherwise mentoring students early in their careers. I have served as a routine adjunct faculty member of Roosevelt University for nearly six years. Courses for which I have served as the primary instructor include psychodynamic counseling, the psychological study of racism, and human sexuality, among other classes. For the last four years, I have also supported students' doctoral internship applications (all have matched to preferred sites), provided formal recommendations for students seeking employment after graduation, and written letters of recommendation for students pursuing doctoral study.  

I hope it goes without saying that mentorship is one of my core professional values.

While I generally employ depth-oriented interventions, I am prepared to offer protocol-based psychotherapy depending on our mutual conceptualization of what is bringing you to treatment, including Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for trauma, Prolonged Exposure (PE) for trauma, and Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) for depression. Patients who engage in brief protocols are generally welcome to continue their care thereafter, albeit with shifts in the structure of sessions (i.e., long-term interventions differ from short-term interventions). I sought training across modalities, which has enabled me to tailor care for you. Patients may experience interventions derived from various schools of thought, including psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral (including acceptance and commitment therapy and dialectical behavior therapy), existential, and narrative approaches. 

Additional information about my background is available by request.  Thank you for your interest.

Professional Recognition and Affiliations
  • Compass Health Center, Director - Trauma Program (Chicago)

  • National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI: authored article available here)

  • Adjunct Faculty (Roosevelt University)

  • Multicultural Concerns Scholar of Division 39, 2020-2021 (American Psychological Association)

  • Social Justice Award, 2020 Recipient (Roosevelt University)

  • Fellow of the Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis, 2017-2019 (CCP)

  • Academic Achievement Award, 2011 Recipient (Marshall University)

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