Services
Sometimes we lose touch with parts of ourselves. We learn to hide, adapt, or disconnect in order to feel safe, loved, or accepted. I provide depth-oriented therapy, primarily though not exclusively to queer and/or trans clients, that supports reconnection of head, heart, and body. Together, we can explore the patterns that once helped you survive, creating space for greater emotional regulation, natural resolution of symptoms, and a deeper sense of wholeness, self-acceptance, and aliveness. I also offer supervision and consultation for therapists and professional groups seeking to deepen their clinical practice.
Individual therapy is a place to slow down, get curious about what’s happening beneath the surface, and make room for meaningful change. I work will work collaboratively with you to understand how past experiences may be showing up as patterns in the present, help you develop new ways of responding that feel more authentic and sustainable. I offer both in-person and virtual sessions, with most clients meeting weekly or bi-weekly. Our work is often longer-term, giving us the time and space to build trust, explore things deeply, and work toward the changes that matter to you.
Individual Therapy
“I'm not a religious woman but my time with Janet has been spiritual. Having gone through over a dozen therapists in my life, finding someone who I continue to visit weekly after 6 years feels like lightning in a bottle. Janet won't hesitate to tell you that there's nothing to fix. Every habit, every pattern in our lives, arrived to us for a reason. Janet's approach to therapy guides you to understand why these habits are here and why they're important before helping you find your way to a new way of living within these patterns. Janet will genuinely feel your greatest joys and your deepest pains, with you. It was obvious the day that I met Janet that this was beyond a career for her, it was a calling and a way she lives her life. Janet will not repeat the tired therapy tropes you may have heard your whole life. Janet understands there is no sweeping solution to "fix" the things that ail us, rather, she will guide you to look and feel inside yourself, to know you, and from there begin to live a life that you want to live.
It's a cliche to say that when I first approached Janet I was lost. This is partly true. I lived with a painful pit in my throat that terrified me as much as it held me hostage. Janet taught me that this feeling had purpose. Through our work together, whenever I felt this pain, I learned my body and heart were telling me something. The goal was never to get rid of it and even further I don't think that would ever be possible. I learned to let this feeling in, really feel it, and listen to it. 6 years later, I still have this feeling, but it no longer scares me. This once awful feeling has become my greatest compass through life, showing me exactly where to go and where to look. Your heart is a muscle, and with Janet, you'll strengthen it to hold whatever needs to be held.”
-AL
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“I've been a licensed therapist for the past 17 years. I believe in the immense value of therapy and the power of empathy and compassion. To experience this power as one of Janet's clients has been valuable beyond measure. Time with Janet feels sacred and grounding. Through her care and compassion I have gained a better understanding of my own humanity. I have learned that I have a life story worth telling and feeling. I think the most profound result of my work with Janet is that I really like who I am becoming.”
- AS“ The impact of sitting with Janet has been profound. She has helped me get unstuck and move forward in my healing. Janet is remarkably compassionate, attuned and skilled. I am so thankful to have her walking beside me on this journey.”
- ES“In our work, Janet has held my whole self, honoring all of my life experiences and giving me the tools and know-how to encounter and process them.
Janet engages with the world in an intentional way, creating space to hear one’s narrative, facilitating healing through creating a deeper and more conscious relationship with yourself.”
-TB
Supervision/ Consultation
I truly enjoy providing consultation to licensed and unlicensed therapists who wish to increase their capacity to support deeper healing for clients, moving beyond focusing on symptom reduction. I am a certified supervisor with the MN Board of Social Work as well as the Board of Behavioral Health.
“I've been consulting with Janet for several years, and I continue to learn and grow from our work together. Janet is deeply skilled at going beneath the surface level in a way that not only allows me to do better work with my clients, but also to better understand myself as both a therapist and a human. Working with Janet has certainly changed my life for the better.”
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“I began working with Janet a couple of months after I graduated from my master's program, at which point I was able to see clearly who I wanted to be as a practitioner, but I had little idea of how to get there. Janet has provided an intensely caring space to be witnessed, not just as a practitioner, but as my whole self. Through her grounded presence, years of experience, and genuine care, she has helped me be brave enough to be truly honest with myself about how I get in my own way, which has helped me alleviate some of the pressure I feel in the therapy room, get clearer with my professional boundaries, and feel more compassion toward myself. Our work together has been challenging in ways I couldn't have predicted and has profoundly shifted the ways I view therapy and myself as a therapist. Our work together has provided me with a clearer, more compassionate path toward the kind of practitioner I wish to be, and for that I am so grateful.”
-SA“During our consultation last week, Janet gently invited me back to myself as I tried to retreat into intellectualizing again and again. She has always been able to see through to my heart. What an incredible gift to have a mentor like this. Because our work together is long now, I also get the gift of hearing her voice come back to me through my own mentees and students.”
-AS
Consultation with groups at agencies/ non-profits
Sometimes, an experienced external perspective is a breath of fresh air to groups of clinicians. I can provide consultation around discreet issues or on-going support. My presence can lighten the load of a clinical director and help a team be both supported and challenged.
I have provided clinical consultation to therapists at Augsburg Counseling and Wellness Center for a number of years, as well as for clinicians at RECLAIM.
“Janet Bystrom has provided indispensable case consultation that challenges us to center ourselves as therapists so we can grow as providers, colleagues, and individuals. She possesses a unique ability to keep our focus on the clinician’s internal process with incredible care and insight, ensuring we never shy away from the hard work of self-reflection. Our team is fundamentally stronger, more self-aware, and better supported because of her attentive guidance and outside perspective."
-EO
I embrace opportunities to provide training to professional groups and am energized by creating new content that is specifically designed to meet the moment needed for professional development.
Trainings included but not limited to:
Gender and Sexuality
Professional burn out
Responding to community crisis
Adapting during times of rapid change
Come to me with what you need and I will listen deeply and offer immediate ideas for what I can provide. Together we can determine if there is a good fit between your needs and my skills.
Training
“Janet is communicative, aware of, and responsive to the needs of our participants. She provides a knowledgeable perspective in a way that's approachable and applicable for our staff and their roles. Janet is flexible and interested in collaborating with us (as organizers) to provide the best learning experience for our staff.”
-JV
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“Janet's workshops held so much tenderness, wisdom, and compassion for those of us doing frontline local government work and carrying the weight of secondary trauma. With warmth and expertise, Janet created space to explore what we are grieving, what our anger and rage may be communicating, and the important functions of depression and anxiety—without judgment or pathologizing.
I especially appreciated the grounding invitation to notice what happens as we move into and out of crisis and fight/flight states, and the reminder that our hearts need offerings, too. The integration of music, writing and quiet reflection, and movement made the experience deeply human, accessible, and restorative.
Thank you for creating a space where the realities of this work could be met with compassion, curiosity, and care. It was a meaningful reminder that tending to ourselves is not separate from the work—it is part of how we sustain ourselves while doing it.”
-JS from Ramsey County
Does this sound familiar?
I overwork to the point of exhaustion. Being sick is when I take breaks.