Today we’d like to introduce you to Jessica Hagen.
Hi Jessica, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always had an interest in private practice, but for a long time, the idea felt too intimidating. I stayed world of agency work because it felt safer. That changed two years ago, when I was diagnosed with a condition called Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD), a brain injury–related disorder. Navigating life and work with PPPD required a huge shift in flexibility and accommodations that traditional employment simply couldn’t offer.
What at first felt like a limitation and significant loss ended up being the push I needed to step into private practice. Leaving behind the W-2 world was daunting, but it opened the door to creating a career on my own terms—one where my health and my work could actually support one another.
Now, I balance contract work while building an integrative practice that combines traditional therapy with nature-based approaches like trauma-informed yoga, cold plunges, sauna, forest bathing, and walk-and-talk sessions. I’ve always loved the outdoors, but after my brain injury, nature became a key part of my healing. I’ve noticed I actually thrive more outside than inside, and that realization has shaped the vision for my practice: helping others experience the same connection and healing nature has offered me.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. When I was first diagnosed with PPPD, I experienced significant balance issues—I would fall, bump into walls, put forks in cupboards, or redo a load of laundry. Struggled with brain fog, forgetfulness, word recall, and fatigue. It deeply impacted my work, and I had to drastically cut back on my hours, take daily naps, and face the real fear that I might lose my dream of being a therapist altogether.
During that same time, my grandmother, who has always been “my person,” suddenly became very ill after a lifetime of good health. My partner and I invited my grandparents to move in with us, and I became her caretaker. It was truly a labor of love, but it also meant navigating the demands of caregiving while adjusting to my own new limitations.
That season of life was filled with hard decisions—accepting that my grandmother might not be with us for long and grappling with the possibility that I might never fully return to the way I was before my diagnosis. It was humbling and painful, and it also shaped my perspective on resilience and compassion, which is actually where the name of my private practice was born…Sisu Therapy. A Finnish term that loosely translates to ‘courage in the face of adversity’.
As of today, my symptoms have improved, and I have found my new normal. My grandmother had an astonishing and miraculous (no one saw coming) recovery, so much so, she has gotten to move back home. But I still hold onto my Sisu and try to access nature every single day. Both help keep me grounded and support me in continuing the work I do as a therapist.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
I named my practice Sisu Therapy because it grew out of the hardest parts of my story—navigating life with a brain injury, becoming a caretaker for my grandparents, and trying to rebuild when things felt like they were falling apart. Even though I was originally scared to step into private practice, out of those challenges came the push to finally create it.
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I work mostly with people who are dealing with trauma, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, and life transitions. I am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement and Desensitization and Reprocessing), ART (Accelerated Resolution Therapy), and I’ve been exploring IFS (Internal Family Systems). Those are “therapy speak” for niches and modalities. But if you asked my clients, they’d probably say I’m known for being interactive, conversational, and genuine. I don’t sit back and nod—I show up as a human, and we do the work together.
What I really love is weaving together my training, my own lived experiences, and nature. My goal is to integrate therapy and nature-based activities to optimize whole-person healing. This could include trauma-informed yoga, walk and talk therapy, cold plunges and saunas, grounding, and having an office space held in a nature setting (both outside and inside) to embrace the natural healing properties nature holds for us. That nature held for me when I needed it the most.
There’s nothing better than when someone realizes how the tentacles of something in their life or past is tugging on their present, and they’re able to loosen that grip. You can see it in how they breathe differently, how they move through life differently—even in the slight shifts. Honestly, those moments make me geek out. They’re why I love this work so much.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I was afraid for no reason in coming into private practice. If I could do this with a brain injury, caretaking for my ill grandmother, I could have absolutely done this prior. In reflection, I realize it wasn’t fear (although I had a list of lots of fears that I felt were legitimate that were holding me back).
What was actually holding me back was doubt in myself and my abilities. My ability to figure things out as a I go. My ability to be resilient, even if a mistake is made. My denial that I had any Sisu.
My advice would be to listen to the encouragement of others, ground in, and see if there is even a tiny little voice inside you trying to get your attention, thinking you can, in fact, do it. And consider for a moment that perhaps it could be right.
Pricing:
- Initial Diagnostic Assessment $225.00
- 53 minute Session=$175.00
- 36-52 minute session $150.00
- I accept Insurance
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sisu-therapy.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61566884562110
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessica-hagen-ma-lmft-33683869
