A Note From Jennifer Acker

Why insight isn’t always enough—and why this practice now includes both therapy and coaching.

For many years, my work was rooted entirely in traditional therapy. I spent a lot of time sitting with people as they tried to make sense of their stories. They gained insight. They began to understand what happened. They could often name their patterns. And much of that work was meaningful and necessary.

Over time, though, I started to notice something.

Even with awareness, many people still felt stuck in familiar emotional loops. The same relationship dynamics would repeat. The same inner dialogue would show up. Insight helped, but it wasn’t always translating into the kind of change people were hoping for.

Talk therapy tends to engage the conscious mind. It helps us understand our story and give language to our experiences. But many of the beliefs and emotional responses that shape how we move through the world live at a deeper level, in the subconscious. What seems to matter most is not only what someone went through, but what that experience left behind. How they see themselves. How safe they feel in relationship. How they relate to their own inner world. This is often where change begins to take hold.

Because of this, I began exploring ways of working that reach beyond insight alone and engage the subconscious mind more directly. These approaches aren’t about analyzing experiences in a different way. They’re about gently accessing where patterns are formed and held, and creating space for them to shift.

I also came to understand something that felt important to name. Many of the wounds people carry were formed in relationship, and they tend to heal in relationship as well. Trust, safety, and depth take time. For that reason, we often spend more time with clients and offer longer sessions when it feels supportive. Having more space allows us to slow things down and work at a pace the nervous system can actually tolerate and integrate.

As this work deepened, another need became clearer. People would have meaningful sessions and important realizations, and then leave wondering how to bring those changes into their daily lives. Integration and application aren’t always built into traditional therapy, and some people needed more structure and support around that process.

This is where coaching began to make sense. Not as a replacement for therapy, but as something that could sit alongside it. Coaching can offer structure, clarity, and support around next steps. It can help bridge the space between insight and action. It also allows this work to reach people who may not need or want therapy, but are still seeking depth and meaningful change.

I’m thoughtful about how this work is held and about the people involved. Training and credentials matter, but they aren’t the whole picture. The coaches I work with bring lived experience and have spent years doing their own inner work. They understand these processes not just intellectually, but through having walked them themselves.

This is why this practice now includes both therapy and coaching. For me, this combination has created a space where insight, deeper emotional work, healing in relationship, and real-life integration can come together. It’s what I’ve found best supports change that feels grounded, sustainable, and human.