About Me
Jodi Escareño, LMHC
find your way back to yourself.
The Heart Behind Root + Wave
Jodi Escareño, MA, LMHC
License #: MHC.LH.70075283
I’m Jodi Escareño, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) based just outside of Seattle. Before becoming a therapist, I spent a decade working in physician education. But long before this career, I had spent much of my life trying to understand my own inner world and mental health experiences.
Finding this work changed the way I understood myself. Learning about trauma, emotions, the nervous system, and attachment helped things finally make sense in a way they hadn’t before. This is the work that helped me heal, and ultimately became the work I feel honored to offer others today.
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I received my Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Antioch University Seattle. I began my work primarily focused on EMDR, but quickly recognized how important parts work is in helping people build safety, understanding, and compassion toward their internal world. I also noticed that many people, myself included, were never really taught what emotions are, what they’re for, or how to move through them without shame. So much of this work became helping clients learn how to understand their nervous systems instead of fearing or fighting them.
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The work we do together is experiential and relational, and may feel different from approaches that focus primarily on talking through problems or analyzing thoughts. While there is always space here for your story, we’ll also pay attention to what’s happening underneath it by connecting with your body, emotions, nervous system, and patterns of protection. My goal is to help you build a deeper understanding of yourself so you can feel more connected, grounded, and able to move through life with greater trust in yourself.
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I work with adults navigating trauma, anxiety, identity, relationships, emotional overwhelm, and the feeling of being disconnected from themselves. My approach is warm, collaborative, and grounded in the belief that your reactions make sense in the context of what you’ve lived through.
Quick Q+A
What do you think people misunderstand about emotions?
I think many people grow up believing emotions are too much, irrational, unsafe, or something they need to fix. But actually, emotions aren’t bad or dangerous, they’re information. They’re how your body and nervous system communicate with you. However, many of us were never taught the language of emotions or how to stay connected to ourselves when feelings show up.
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When we slow down and learn how to listen instead of fight or avoid them, emotions can actually become incredibly intuitive guides. They help us understand what matters to us, what feels unsafe, where our boundaries are, and what we need in order to feel more like ourselves.
What’s something you hope clients leave therapy feeling?
Overall, I hope clients leave therapy feeling more like themselves and with an increased self trust. Life doesn't necessarily become easy after therapy, but they now have a deep belief in themselves and their capability to handle the things that come their way.
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On a week-to-week level, I hope clients feel a growing sense of hope and possibility in the work we’re doing together and that they begin noticing they can feel differently, respond differently, and relate to themselves with more understanding and compassion.
What’s something you’ve had to learn yourself?
I had to learn all of this too! I didn’t grow up understanding emotions as a language, or knowing how to actually be with feelings instead of pushing past them. I also didn’t understand how much trauma and stress live in the body and nervous system, even when things “look fine” from the outside.
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I had tried therapy before, but something always felt missing for me. Learning about parts work, nervous systems, and self-compassion changed the way I understood both myself and healing. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that self-compassion isn’t weakness or letting yourself off the hook, genuinely it’s often what finally allows real change and healing to happen.
What role do relationships play in healing?
We are biologically wired for connection. We’re meant to live, grow, and heal in relationship with other people, yet our culture often places so much value on independence and individualism that many people end up feeling like healing is something they have to figure out entirely on their own.
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I don’t believe healing happens in isolation. I believe the therapeutic relationship itself can become part of the healing process. It's a space where you get to experience safety, curiosity, repair, authenticity, and connection differently than you may have before. Sometimes healing begins just by no longer having to carry everything alone.
What’s something small that’s been bringing you comfort lately?
Lately, a lot of comfort has come from dilly dallying outside, live music, naps, and spending time with my elderly dog, Luna. One of my favorite things in life is laughing until I can't breathe.
I've learned that comfort often happens in itty bitty moments, so I try to find little snippets of connection, rest, and play to help me feel present and notice what is happening in my body.