Jessica McGowen, MFT

Its unusual to find a therapist these days that shows up as a human being. My experience with Jessica has healed my heart and changed my life. She was able to help me prioritize what was important in my life; notice the nuances and facilitate change. I was able to show up as myself, be myself, and she honored me as myself — I was broken and we completed our work whole. Jessica is very compassionate, mindful, intuitive and knows how to break down barriers that get in the way of one being honest with themselves. She is skilled and very wise. I am blessed.

Reviewing a mental health professional is a tricky thing. They can always say they were doing the right thing for you, you just don’t know it yet. But I am going to share my experience with Jessica anyway. I had 2 sessions with her.
I was having an issue with a family member. I thought about it for a long time, and I came up with an idea to address it. I talked about it with my friends; they thought it was a good idea. Then I called about 10 mental health professionals to see if they would help me implement it. Some said it sounded like a healthy and sound approach to addressing the problem, but they weren’t taking new patients right now. Some told me they didn’t think it would work. Some didn’t return my calls. I called Jessica, and we played phone tag briefly. Each time, I left a detailed message for her; so, she had a clear idea about what I had in mind. Ultimately, we used text messaging to find a time to meet. I guess I incorrectly assumed she was onboard with my plan.
She was 20 minutes late to our first meeting. Once she arrived, she seemed supportive of the issue and my proposed solution. She gave me feedback on it which I integrated. She did say also wanted me to «work» more on related issues, and I agreed. The next step was to call in the family member and discuss the proposed solution. At this point, I had reason to believe we were on the same page.
Once my family member was in the room, Jessica told us my proposed solution was controlling and disrespectful and that this needed be address through traditional therapy (incidentally, her standard service). If she had misgivings about my approach to addressing this problem, it would have been appropriate to discuss them with me individually, before we invited my family member to a session. Even though I had previously said specifically that I did not want to address the underlying issues during the session with this family member, Jessica brought them up at this session. Then, Jessica referred to an issue I have with my entire childhood as a single «memory» that I had «recalled», minimizing it in front of my family member. I want to emphasize at this point in the review that she had met me exactly once before, for about 40 minutes. We did not know each other.
Maybe she had forgotten our previous discussion and had forgotten that this wasn’t couples counseling — she was supposed to be helping me. She admitted forgetting how many siblings I have. Her involvement has damaged my family and undermined a possible solution that I wanted to at least try to make work. I profoundly regret working with Jessica.
UPDATE: Make sure you take a look at the reviews «not recommended» by Unilocal (there were about 10 at one point), including the one she wrote of herself (!). Many of these are people who came to her for legitimate help, and Jessica treated then unprofessionally and disrespectifully like she did me. Other reviewers are people who she has treated badly in other settings. Finding a therapist you trust is huge, there are A LOT of therapists in the Bay Area to choose among, and many did NOT find a person they can trust in Jessica.

I regret not writing this review sooner.
I started working with Jessica in February of this year and wow, have we accomplished a lot since then! Of course, there’s still a lot more to be done, and I look forward to continue sifting through my emotional inventory with the most effective MFT I have ever had the fortune of working with. I’ve been seen with many counselors, psychologists, and other mental health specialists and can tell you truthfully that your search has just ended because you have found the best of the best.
Jessica is an intelligent, practical, and authentic therapist. She’s going to be real with you, meaning you’re going to hear the truth sooner or later whether you want to acknowledge it or not… but only if she has determined that you have the capacity to handle it. Jessica has the ability to see your strength even when you feel that you lack it completely. Through this, I can say that Jessica has expedited my emotional and mental maturity to heights I could have never reached by myself in this lifetime, and the best part is that we’re still elevating. She also has a way with words and you will learn that she chooses them carefully in order to aid in your healing.
Bonus points: Jessica is tech savvy, which is a must in San Francisco but you’d be surprised at how many providers are yet not on-​board with the rest of us. You can pay through your credit card either through her website with PayPal or in person with Square. She also offers individual Skype sessions, which can sometimes be booked same-​day. Also, she is especially skilled with couples/​family therapy and is ready to incorporate whoever you are ready and willing to add to the picture.