Testimonials

Most of my life my view of the world, my perception of myself, and my experience of inhabiting a body have been colored by what I call free-floating anxiety. And after more than 40 years as a health educator, I have a pretty big toolbox of skills, tools, and practices to deal with change, lower stress and anxiety, and better achieve wellness.

But it was not until my recent work with Jessica Schaffer and her Nervous System RESET program that I made a quantum leap in my own sense well-being by increasing my ability to self-regulate my anxiety levels. Working with Jessica has given me the opportunity to fill in some missing pieces in my understanding of stress management and wellness and to deepen my experience of interoception and self-regulation with my mindfulness, relaxation, and active meditation practices. Perhaps most notably, Jessica taught me practices to discharge much of my anxiety, and reset my arousal level to one that is much more conducive to creativity, humor, kindness, and the enjoyment of life.

I am so grateful to Jessica and her Nervous System RESET program for helping me smooth out my jagged internal landscape and make room to invite in peace. I highly recommend Jessica, her work, her expertise, her grasp of the science behind the skills she teaches, and her presence in the world, to anyone of any age wanting to experience higher level wellness and well-being.

-- Suze Rutherford, Health Educator

Working with Jessica has been such a tremendous gift. The Personal RESET program provides an educational framework and accessible tools for working with one’s body, rather than against it. In working with Jessica I found that I continued to come home to my body.

This homecoming has allowed me to be with my experiences authentically, and be more present for others in my life. This experience has been invaluable for me personally, and incredibly supportive in my therapeutic work with clients. I highly recommend Jessica’s work to friends, colleagues and clients alike!

-- Amanda Zucker, LPC, Art Therapist

I came to Jessica suffering the effects of a traumatic brain injury. Before RESET, my management strategies often led me to be overworked, undernourished and exhausted from trying to outrun the anxiety and discomfort I felt. The reality was, I was achieving success externally at the high cost of my internal wellbeing. Working with Jessica, understanding my body, recognizing different states and how they affect me and finally learning to manage my experiences and responses by making peace with their reality and diffusing/disrupting the cycle I had imagined was my base state, has been life changing. The difference in knowing I can truly find peace within my body as opposed to the decades of trying to manage my ever changing environmental stressors has given me a awareness of personal confidence, resiliency and peace than I have ever known. I am happier, healthier and more in control of my internal experiences and external responses.

-- Kate Blazer, MSW, Clinical Social Worker at Alternative School

Since working with Jessica and the RESET program I have found a greater sense of control, where I felt completely out-of-control before in regards to my nervous system response. Previously when my anxiety would start to tick up, I felt as though I was being tumbled and overrun by the waves. Now that I have learned how to read the signs of activation I have a box full of tools that I can utilize immediately, allowing me to ride the waves of panic rather than to be a passive bystander. This has been invaluable to me in that I now have much more self-compassion and can actively participate in my body and my life. Jessica’s guidance is gentle, kind, clear, and very supportive. I highly recommend this program to anyone suffering from anxiety, trauma, post-traumatic stress, or really anyone with a nervous system.

-- Monika K., LMT, Yoga and Somatic Movement Teacher

I reluctantly attended my first RESET session as part of a group and was very skeptical about what was going to happen, having spent the past 3 years running a gauntlet of therapies and medications trying to find something to relieve depression, anxiety and PTSD symptoms. I haven’t had a panic attack since the first week of using RESET techniques and am now off all medications and sleeping better. I’ve felt very supported throughout the experience and am most grateful for learning that my body was trying to heal naturally, but I wasn’t hearing it. I learned how to listen to myself which has drastically changed my quality of life for the better. I recommend RESET especially if traditional treatments haven’t clicked for you.

-- MLR

After 35 years of living in a fairly terrified body (& a relatively recent car accident that amplified that) I really needed to move beyond my ‘mind’ in order to find healing. I had searched a long time for something that could help me get unstuck from the effects of trauma.

When Jessica and I started working together, I really had no practical concept of what it meant to work with my body. The techniques I started practicing through the first few sessions had enough of an effect on my nervous system that I was seeing – and experiencing – what I had been missing for so long – the opportunity to feel more calm and safe, to interact with friends and family without being blocked by defensiveness or feeling in ‘fight’ mode, more energy and creativity to focus on my dreams and goals.

Whilst I still very much consider myself to be on a journey of healing, the most profound gift has been the relationship and sense of trust I’ve built with my body. This has already seen me better managing terrifying situations (an earthquake, an anaesthetic reaction) with a sense that they have less of a lasting impact on me as my body regulates itself then and there. These are lifelong skills & so different to any ‘strategy’ I’ve learned before. I wholeheartedly believe that working with our nervous systems, and engaging with our bodies are foundational for healing – and this understanding will profoundly influence my own coaching practice going forward.

Jessica is so kind and compassionate and has immense knowledge and expertise – I truly hope that people like me who feel they have tried everything to heal will find her.

-- Vicki Evans, Life Coach

I honestly cannot imagine my own healing journey or that of my clients’ without Jessica’s work. Her presence as a healer and person is its own force, but then she has brought incredible clarity, brilliance, groundedness, and hope to working with the how our lives are lived in the body, whether it’s the trauma we are carrying, the ways we limit ourselves, or access to our own healing processes.

By emphasizing safety and self-regulation, she has created a system that empowers. What I notice most as a practitioner in my clients who work with Jessica is much greater self-regulation while doing work in session, and the ability to stay regulated out of session. This means many things — not the least of which is a decreased need for me to work to regulate us both — but especially the possibility of creating more space for deep process and lasting healing. I cannot recommend her more highly, and I refer almost all of my clients to her work.

-- Erin Moline, MA, LPC

As a psychiatrist I have been treating the wounds of trauma for many years, and I’ve received many diverse trainings based on the unified Body-Mind-Spirit model. The professional training I received from Jessica has proven itself to be extremely valuable to my understanding of the BodyMind and has advanced my skills as a clinician greatly. Jessica is a gifted teacher, and a remarkably thorough student of the many wisdom sources she has so well integrated into this very impressive training. As someone treating PTSD I am pleased that this program offers a healing process that is adapted to each individual’s capacities, needs and limitations. This training which offers a body-focused program belongs at the front end of trauma treatment and will make clients’ participation in formal psychotherapy, when that is the natural next step, far more tolerable, effective and briefer. Any clinician seeking to deepen personal and professional knowledge and skills to deal with the myriad woundings that real life offers would be lucky to be trained by Jessica Schaffer.

-- Charles E. Thompson, MD

Jessica’s program was extremely helpful for me in re-establishing healthy sleep patterns. I suffer from a benign nervous system condition, which for many people (including me) starts after a period of stress. Though benign, it greatly impacts the ability to fall asleep. Jessica’s in depth program and materials helped me work with my stress on various levels, and I have been able to reduce the dosage of my sleep medicine! I’m also getting more hours of sleep and waking up more restful. She supplies tools to use throughout the day, regardless of the situation, for you to manage stress and regulate your nervous system. I highly recommend the program! And Jessica is amazing and caring as well.

-- Stefanie V.

Jessica is truly gifted in her ability to connect, and convey a sense of safety and hope in the nervous system work she shares. My understanding of my own nervous system and my ability to reset has been invaluable. I believe everyone should have sessions with Jessica- the world would be a truly amazing place to live if this were the case. I can’t recommend her work highly enough!

-- Becky Blanco, Mental Health Therapist, England

My work with Jessica was an unexpected, and very special gift in my healing journey. Living with an overactive nervous system and continuing to seek and learn what really works best for me, my system, and my heart has prompted me to try many different things I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Nervous System Reset sounded a bit out there, but if you could see underneath my skin, you would see the extensive activity of unrest. Holding my breath, shallow breathing, rapid heart rate, hyperarousal, overthinking… Jessica’s kind and gentle demeanor were instantly calming and reassuring. That, along with her thorough and confident knowledge of how our nervous system works allowed me to build trust with her as I learned some solid basic tools of downregulation, and then moved on to a deeper way to discharge what at times feels so overblown in my system. I am so very grateful for this experience. It has been very helpful and totally fits with the other work I have been doing. Awesome tools for my self-love and self-care toolbox.

-- Linda Shaddy

Through supportive, nonjudgmental, compassion and calm Jessica helped my son process severe fears of swimming underwater from Anesthesia trauma. Using RESET Jessica slowed things down, allowed him to be accepting and honor what his body was doing by keeping him safe. Within 1 week working with Jessica, my son was able to swim, handstand, somersault and learned 4 swim strokes, today he holds his breath for up to 40 seconds underwater. He is no longer cautious to get this face and head wet…Priceless to be uninhibited with the joy of swimming. Love learning her simple but empowering methods, this is easier than taking a pill and feel like we have usable tools for life!

-- Joan Cass

Jessica Schaffer is a wonderfully insightful provider and trainer. She has a gentle, respectful and grounded presence that promotes healing for her clients. Her unique, integrated approach offers a knowing sense when it comes to working with people as she accounts for the whole: body, mind and nervous system. Her commitment to understanding the science behind the healing is apparent in her clinical work and when teaching clinicians. She is dedicated to emphasizing with both clients and practitioners the need to attune to the sense of comfort and safety within. In doing so she empowers individuals to internalize this experience and gain their own attunement and regulation within. As a psychotherapist I have learned so much from Jessica’s expertise in the body and nervous system as it relates to trauma. It is clear that working with clients to attune to their body and mind is a necessary and integral piece in laying the foundation for the path to healing. There is no question that knowledge and guidance from Jessica has made me a better provider on so many levels.

-- Christa Hines, LCSW, CADCII

I had a great experience working with Jessica and her RESET program. It helped me to develop skills for managing my daily ups and downs, and recognizing those as a normal and natural part of my body. Some of the tools have helped me to manage acute anxiety, while others have led me to develop a practice to help keep my anxiety more level on a daily basis. I’d definitely suggest folks check out this program.

-- Angie Ebba

I am so grateful for Jessica and her ability to help me to down regulate my nervous system responses. I searched out someone who could intimately understand trauma responses and help me to identify what was happening to me on a physiological level and also had a systematic method to help override my heightened panic responses. I had already done a lot of work on myself and realized so much of my panic and anxiety was tied to old conditioned responses from challenging life experiences and realized I could not figure them out on my own.

Lifelong anxiety had led to what seemed like endless panic attacks. I had become like a scared animal where even the smallest trigger would incite panic. I could still manage to cope in public but was finding it increasingly difficult to keep it together to have a “normal life”. So I searched for someone or a program that could help me help myself. I came across her on the internet.

Jessica earned my trust with her incredible knowledge of the nervous system, her gentle yet firm guidance and her understanding. She encourages me to keep going. There were so many times that she walked me through my overwhelming confusion, fear and crippling self doubt to a place of calm peaceful insight. I had to do the work but she was there with her incredible summaries, validation and direction. The changes were subtle, but as I have come to realize, this is the language of the nervous system. Subtle, gentle consistent practice over time yields solid true foundational change at my core.

I am now able to create more space between my triggers and my responses. I am more able to create that loving space within me and around me to allow my nervous system to heal. I learned that I am not broken and my nervous system was only doing its job. I am also becoming so much more capable of consciously controlling my fight, flight and freeze response. I am no longer having multiple panic attacks a day. I am able to cope much better when I do experience them every couple of weeks now. I have changed. Those subtle changes over time have accumulated into strong solid way of being now. I have been able to down regulate my nervous system to a calmer baseline. I still experience daily anxiety and trust that this process combined with Jessica’s guidance will help me slowly dissolve the anxiety as well. Life isn’t nearly so scary. That is such a gift. I am grateful to be alive now.

I will continue to work with Jessica and learn from her to continue to help myself.

-- Shannon S., Canada

Working with Jessica has been an eye-opening and transformative experience for me. Sincerely caring and extraordinarily knowledgeable, she provided me with potent insights about my long standing anxiety and shared practices to help me self-regulate and gradually dissipate accumulated stress. I am deeply grateful for having had the opportunity to work with her and wholeheartedly recommend her services to those of us who know what a burden anxiety can be.

-- G. A.

Due to life long struggle with anxiety, I developed a pretty antagonistic relationship with my body and nervous system. I saw it as this thing that got out of control. Like a monster lurking in the dark corners of my mind. Through my work with Jessica I coming to see that there is no monster. That my system is doing the best it can and that it does actually do a lot of work to soothe me and calm my down as well. This is a HUGE shift for me. She has provided with invaluable tools and insight that have allowed me to be gentler with myself and to open up my perspective to see all the things my system is doing right. I highly recommend anyone who struggles with trauma and/or anxiety to work with Jessica. She’s has been a tremendous help.

-- Jim H.

I must share my profound and life changing experience of the Nervous System Reset program which so simple yet so powerful on so many levels!!!!

To name some of shifts I have seen:

I am more in tune with my nervous system
I am more aware of what triggers me
I know how to practice simple tools and awareness in the moment to down regulate my nervous system
My stress levels are staying at a healthier and more balanced state.
My body feels like it is running more optimally
I have more space to enjoy and appreciate all of of life

My recommendation to each and every person is schedule with Jessica for her 6- session program. It is the best gift you could give yourself or anyone you love

-- Laura Houston

In the 23 years I have been attending trainings and in my 44 years of life, I have never met someone like Jessica. Her ability to hold space for and keep safe a diverse group of people is absolutely beautiful. Her compassionate and skillful way of communicating is awe inspiring. Her organization and time management are impeccable. The content of Jessica’s training has forever changed both my personal and professional life. Her understanding of the nervous system and the human organism is deep and vast and the ease with which she presents complex concepts is a joy. My newfound understanding of the nervous system has facilitated a whole new level of healing in my bodywork practice. My clients are amazed when they become aware of the subtleties of their nervous systems and their innate ability to come into balance. My own personal journey of healing has been profound with Jessica’s guidance. I have so much respect for Jessica and I hold her as a mentor of the highest order.

-- Kelley Curtis, LMT

Over the course of a year, I had the privilege of having Jessica as a teacher, guide, and mentor. From the instant I met her I was struck by her calming presence and open heart. I felt that she really understood me and cared about me. This immediately helped me feel at ease and open to learning new concepts. Learning from Jessica was easy because she is very clear, concise, smart, and engaging. She was able to meet the diverse learning needs of all the individuals in my cohort. I left each class with a deeper body of knowledge that could be immediately integrated in my career. I highly recommend Jessica as a teacher. Knowing her is a privilege. Learning from Jessica has deeply impacted my life which in turn has helped me to be a better therapist.

-- Shanti O’Connor, Licensed Counselor, Registered Yoga Instructor