“My name is Dr. Jakob Mauer, DSW, LCSW, and I provide professional and compassionate support with a focus on research-backed care for the LGBTQIA2S+ community and relationships. My goal is to nurture your personal growth, healing, and self-understanding.”

Services

I provide psychological and behavioral health services to teens and adults, such as individual therapy, relational counseling, and biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment (for more information on these services, click here).

Although I work with a diverse array of presenting issues, my career, education, and personal experiences led me to take an interest in the following areas:

• LGBTQIA2S+ Affirmative Care

• Identity Development and Exploration

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Stress Management

• Life Transitions and Changes

• Trauma

• Grief and Loss

• Disabilities (Learning and Physical)

• Relationship/Marital Counseling

• Supervision

Therapeutic Approach

I strive to provide a warm, safe environment for my clients to explore their unique experiences. I utilize a strengths-based perspective that highlights client ability, fosters a strong client-therapist relationship, and emphasizes client-driven care. I view my clients through an intersectional lens, taking careful consideration into how larger structural issues such as classism, racism, cisheterosexism, etc. impact their presenting concerns. My therapy style is evidence-based and eclectic, and interventions may be drawn from:  

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - trained

• Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy - Externship trained

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) - completed the 5-Day Intensive training

• Gottman Method Couples Therapy - Level 2 trained

• Motivational Interviewing - trained

• Psychodynamic Therapy - trained

Education and Experience

I began providing mental and behavioral health services as an Intake Case Manager for youth group homes. I worked for AWARE, a non-profit mental and behavioral health agency in Montana. At AWARE, I witnessed how financial barriers, such as insurance approvals or denials, influenced whether families could obtain necessary medical treatment. This experience inspired my pursuit of a Master’s in Social Work (MSW) to assist individuals and families challenged with mental and behavioral health issues influenced by larger systems of privilege and oppression. I graduated from Walla Walla University (WWU) with my MSW. Enthusiastic about pursuing further education and looking forward to advancing my clinical and teaching skills, I enrolled in the Doctor of Social Work (DSW) program at WWU and graduated in 2022. I have over 11 years of direct work experience with kids (ages 5+), adults, couples, and families across diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. In addition to my clinical work, I teach college courses to both undergraduate and graduate students, conduct and present research at national conferences, and supervise future mental health practitioners.

Courses I’ve taught:

• COU315 - Counseling Skills in Human Services

• PSY468 - Psychology of Inequality

• PSY452 - Psychology of Trauma

• PSY453 - Psychology of Anxiety Disorders

• PSY481 - Principles of Psychological Assessment

• SOWK510 - Privilege and Oppression

​For more information on my research and publications:

The Stories of Gay Men in Social Work Supervision: A Qualitative Exploration, click here.

Perspectives on Social Work, vol. 16, issue #2, click here

Perspectives on Social Work, vol. 18, issue #1, click here.

For more information about my education and me:

https://stemmedfrompod.buzzsprout.com/2161670/12566555-chels-is-wet-with-dr-uncle-irohh

https://stemmedfrompod.buzzsprout.com/2161670/12665671-bonus-episode

Personal Interests 

I am a queer outdoorsman from Montana who loves trying new foods, playing board games with friends, and exercising. I grew up playing soccer and tennis, and competed as a gymnast throughout high school. During my undergraduate studies, I taught acrobatics to youth and adults at a small-town Cirque-style performance company. Currently, I play pickleball and softball. Hiking is another of my interests, as is doing a celebratory handstand when I reach the top of a mountain.