Ash and Breath Counseling  ·  Jen Paluska, LMHCA

You don't have to carry
this alone.

Counseling for betrayal trauma, addiction, religious wounds, and the moments when life stops making sense. Telehealth across Washington State.

Request a free 15-min consult
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Healing is not about forgetting what happened. It is about reclaiming who you are.

Betrayal Trauma Recovery

Jen Paluska, LMHCA | Ash and Breath Counseling

Who I Am

A safe space

Jen Paluska is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate in Washington State. She is also a Certified Spiritual Director, trained with the Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica, bringing a dual lens of clinical and contemplative practice to her work with partners navigating the aftermath of Betrayal Trauma.

In twelve-step rooms since she was seventeen, Jen has loved people who chose the substance over the relationship, and she has been the partner on the other side of the discovery. If addiction has shaped your story, in your family of origin or in your marriage or both, you don't have to translate it for her. She has sat where her clients sit, and that changes everything about how she shows up.

Her approach is somatic and trauma-informed, paced to what each person's nervous system can actually hold.

LMHCA, Washington State supervised by Dr. Tanya Johnson ·  Certified Spiritual Director, Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica  ·  Advanced Training in the Enneagram and Holy Ideas with Russ Hudson  ·  Focusing-Oriented Therapist Candidate  ·  M.S. Psychology, Avila University  ·  M.A. Human Factors & Applied Cognition, George Mason University  ·  B.S. Psychology, Northern Arizona University

My Approach

Holding both the clinical and the sacred

What makes my practice distinctive is the integration of evidence-based clinical therapy with contemplative spiritual direction. Many people carry wounds that are simultaneously psychological and spiritual, and they deserve care that honors both.

Whether you are rebuilding after betrayal, exploring your inner life, or navigating a crossroads, my role is to offer a steady, compassionate presence and to trust your own wisdom to lead the way.

Partner-Centered

Your pain is real and valid. We keep the focus on your healing first, not on fixing the relationship at your expense.

Contemplative & Grounded

Drawing from contemplative traditions across faiths, I offer a spacious, unhurried presence that makes room for silence, uncertainty, and the deeper questions of life.

Radically Inclusive

My spiritual direction practice welcomes people of all traditions: Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, interfaith, spiritual but not religious, and secular. All are home here, including no faith.

Trauma-Informed Throughout

Every session, every interaction is shaped by an understanding of how trauma lives in the body and the spirit, and what genuine recovery actually requires.

Begin

Take the first step.

If any of this sounds like where you are, I'd like to hear from you. A free 15-minute consultation is just a chance to talk and see if we're a good fit. No pressure, no commitment.

Request a Free 15-Min Consultation