Your arachnophobia has nothing on mine.
We’re taking this bus to Spidertown.
You’re probably wondering if you clicked the wrong button. You didn’t.
Once upon a time, I was confronted with an Army of Spiders* (That’s putting a cabin spider infestation lightly). They stood there with their beady eyes and 6 too many legs, glaring me down, putting a distance between me and my dream job of running adventure retreats for Veterans. I tried to tell myself they were just spiders. They were smaller than me. They were more afraid of me than I was of them. All the usual “conquer your fears” mantras. But it didn’t work. I was still petrified of these creatures. I knew I had to try to do something different.
Rather than stomp the suckers, someone taught me to tap myself through my fears. And it had such a profound impact on me that I started teaching it to others and then eventually got formally trained.
From therapist to certified EFT practitioner
I began honing my tapping skills while facilitating retreats for veterans and after having some pretty profound results in my own life---like being able to be within INCHES of spiders---as well as seeing what EFT could do for others, I decided to pursue a certification in Clinical EFT.
If you’re anything like me 4 years ago, you’ve probably had thoughts like:
“I ain’t meditating, that sh*t’s stupid.” Or
“I’d look dumb tapping my face like that.” Or
“Matrix Reimprinting sounds like some Twilight vampire sh*t.”
Meanwhile, you’re sitting in a Target parking lot, blasting Don’t Stop Believing wondering when the hell all the personal development work you’ve been doing will start to pay off. Just me?
Aloha, I’m Jess Johnson and I teach women to manage their emotions so they can think clearly.
And their fears. And their anxieties. And their guilt.
I’ve always been a helper. As a kid, I used to think that I wanted to grow up and be a psychiatrist…until I went to college and realized that psychiatrists went to med school. And I was not about that life. After majoring in everything from psychology to political science, to basket weaving and then back to psychology, I got kicked out of school… because as it turns out, a degree in frat parties doesn’t count for much.
Advocating for the underdog
Fast forwarding to the part where I’d gained some real-world experience, I went back to school and got my Bachelors in Social Work. I did so well in College 2.0, dedicating my career to serving the underdog that I was selected for an Advanced Standing program for grad school and graduated early. I became a licensed clinical social worker in 2010, and began working in the county correctional system, providing mental health services to incarcerated individuals in detention centers. After a 7 year career there, I decided to follow in my parents’ footsteps and join the Army at the age of 32! I served as an active duty Behavioral Health Officer for 5 years, which included a 9 month deployment to AFG before transitioning back to the civilian world away from clinical work and jumping two feet into life coaching.
Aaand back to the spider part…
Since then, I’ve worked with hundreds of clients and have been able to facilitate in some f*cking awesome transformations.
→ My client, Natalie, is no longer afraid of negative feelings.
→ My client, Olivia, no longer considers “having emotions” as a problem.
→ My client, Amber, now has the clarity needed to make confident decisions to move forward in her business.
→ And I have been face-to-face with more spiders than I ever thought I’d be able to physically, mentally and emotionally face.
Book a Free Consultation with Jess!.
“I’m noticing how issues that I spend years believing were things I would never get over are no longer a problem. I only think of them in relation to how far I’ve come now and being ready for the next layer isn’t as emotional as it once was. I still have and know I will have negative feelings, but they don’t feel as strong or scary.”
— Natalie Holmes, EFT Practitioner