Jessica Lief, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Specialty: Eating issues, body image, borderline personality, self-harm, substance use Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Psychotherapist Jessica C. Lief, LCSW, is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who specializes in the treatment of eating conditions, body image, borderline personality, self-harm, and substance use. Jessica completed psychoanalytic training through the William Alanson White Institute of Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, and Psychology in the Eating Disorders, Compulsions, and Addictions (EDCAS) Program. She also completed the advanced clinical supervision training program through Smith College School of Social Work. Her approach is primarily psychodynamic but combines aspects of self-psychology, feminist womanist theories, dialectical behavior therapy, Seeking Safety, mindful self-compassion, and mindfulness. She is particularly interested in the treatment of eating conditions as a social justice issue, including how they relate to people of color and the LGBTQ+ community. She is also adept at treating individuals with a borderline personality diagnosis. Her grief and loss work is broad but focuses on motherless daughters, maternal grief and wounding, and emotional abandonment. Jessica also works with individuals who have experienced miscarriage, fertility-related issues, postpartum depression, anxiety, and psychosis, as well as postpartum posttraumatic stress (PTSD). She also works with individuals undergoing IVF, those who have struggled with women’s health issues such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and individuals who are pregnant and struggling with an eating condition. Jessica’s favorite part of being a therapist is guiding each client through their transformation and witnessing each step as it is achieved. Jessica will work with the client to identify what is deeply meaningful and important in that person’s life. The client will develop concrete skills to get their needs met directly. Jessica will help the client develop powerful inner resources, including self-compassion, emotion regulation techniques, radical self-acceptance, and confidence. Jessica earned her undergraduate degree from Sarah Lawrence College with a concentration in literature, nonfiction writing, and French. She earned a master’s degree in Advanced Clinical Practice in Social Work from New York University. She also earned a Master of Studies in Law with a concentration in Health Law with high honors from UC Law San Francisco. Currently, she is enrolled in a doctoral program in social work through Simmons University.

I am a faculty member at Smith School for Social Work, where I also serve as a practicum faculty advisor. I am also on the faculty of the psychology department at Sarah Lawrence College. I completed advanced training in supervision through Smith College.