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Jamie Ratowski, LMFT 
"Helping Adults & Couples Achieve Their Goals, Embrace Their
Full Potential, & Experience Fulfillment."

Are you looking to move on from a recent break-up? Want to build a strong, independent life? Are you stuck in an unhealthy or unhappy relationship? Or maybe you are feeling overwhelmed by stress or anxiety. If so, you have come to the right place.


As the founder of Brightside Therapy Services, I specialize in helping adults (18+) and couples to overcome struggles such as relationship issues, anxiety, break-up recovery, depression, self-esteem struggles, and more. 


We all have goals and aspirations for our life. We all also need a little help from time to time to achieve them. An essential part of your growth is to find a therapist who is the right fit for you, one who can help you achieve all you want and are capable of.


I make it my mission to provide quality, effective therapy to each and every one of my clients using a solution focused, strength-based approach that allows each person to work on their goals at their own pace. I tailor my approach to meet your needs, personality, and treatment goals to make your therapy experience enjoyable, comfortable, and successful!

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Learn More About How I Help Adults & Couples Live Their Best Lives...
Adult & Couples Therapy Services
in Plantation, FL

Therapy For Adults:

 

There are no limitations to the many struggles and stressors we go through in life. I have always felt pride in my work helping adults to challenge and overcome their struggles and to become the best, strongest, happiest version of themselves. Together we can work towards achieving your personal goals. 

Anxiety Therapy: 

Anxiety can be defined as a stress-related response which is generated as a result of any stressful situation. It can manifest as racing thoughts, physical discomfort, inability to relax, difficulty sleeping, or any mental or physical discomfort that affects your day to day functioning. If you can relate to any of these symptoms, anxiety therapy may be a great option for you. 

Anxiety is common, but it's also manageable! Through use of psycho-education to improve your understanding of your own anxiety, we can develop skills and improve your management of anxiety. We will set a goal to work towards controlling and decreasing your anxiety symptoms to feel more stable and at ease in your life. 

Depression Therapy: 

Don’t let depression define you. Depression is both a biological and psychological issue that needs to be treated, and CAN be treated. Depression can have an intense impact on our life within relational, occupational, financial, and even medical contexts. 

Therapy can help you to better understand some root causes of your mood shift and set attainable and realistic goals to help break the depression cycle to help you begin achieving your goals again. I want to focus on helping you explore what is important to you, understand your depression triggers, develop coping skills and enhance your capabilities. Together, we can help beat depression!

Self-Esteem Counseling: 

Have you ever struggled with accepting your differences or uniqueness? Do you have difficulty identifying your strengths? If you struggle with self-confidence and want to work on empowering yourself to reach your full potential and be proud of who you are, counseling is an incredible option for you. 

Self-esteem is described as the extent to which an individual values themselves. We will have a safe and supportive space to improve your ability to self-love and self-care. Developing skills to improve your self-talk, toxic thinking patterns, prioritizing your wants and needs, and feeling accomplished are some of the areas of growth you will achieve in self-esteem therapy.

Individual Therapy Focused on Relationship:

Therapy focused on relationships is not only for couples. Relationship therapy can be an incredible option for any individuals who want to communicate better in their relationships, focus on improving your role in relationship conflicts, and develop self-advocacy skills to achieve your relationship wants and needs. 

Not to mention, we can all benefit from healthy feedback and support to deal with any relationship problems. Couples therapy for one can highly benefit the individual to improve both your personal and relationship health.

Break- Up Recovery: 

Going through a break up is a deep and specific pain that often takes a lot of emotional processing and support to move past. A break-up is a loss that can often even feel like a period of grief. 

Therapy to manage a break-up can help to handle the confusion and stress that comes during this time, help to normalize, validate, and even heal your pain you may feel during this time. In addition, break-up therapy may help you to enhance your knowledge of healthy relationships and understand barriers that may have been preventing long lasting relationships. 

You deserve the chance to find this healing and have a place to feel heard and supported. 

Therapy For Couples: 

 

I have never been afraid of hard work, which made couples therapy a perfect fit for me for a few reasons. Establishing healthy, strong relationships requires hard work and commitment from both partners. As a therapist, there must be a certain level of patience, commitment, creativity, and of course hard work involved as well. We will work hard together to achieve your relationship goals.

Marriage Counseling & Couples Counseling: 

Whether you and your partner are fighting, having difficulties communicating, struggling to resolve conflict or make compromise, marriage/couples therapy is a great option to get the help you may need to overcome these struggles. Therapy for relationships can help the couple in identifying their strong and weak areas so that they can begin exploring necessary changes to make on their path to improvement. 

My couples therapy process involves a combination of collaborative work to help a couple understand their issues and psycho-education to help the couple learn the necessary skills and techniques to manage problems in a healthier manner moving forward. Contrary to the misconception that couples therapy only works when the couple is at the brink of breakage, marriage/couples therapy can benefit couples at ANY STAGE.

Pre-Marital Therapy: 

Premarital counseling is a specific type of therapy focused on the sole purpose of helping a couple prepare to make the transition from engaged to married. It provided the opportunity for both partners to gain the skills necessary to confidently handle new challenges or decisions a marriage may bring, eliminate fears, and explore the specific needs of your own relationship. 

Engaging in this therapy process can help to reduce the risk of divorce, improve communication and understanding, reinforce intimacy, and even reduce wedding stress. Pre-marital therapy is a fantastic way to explore all the possibilities in which both partners can fulfill their goals, needs, and wants without having to compromise the core values of your relationship.

My Background in Counseling & Psychology

I have always known I wanted to pursue a career in therapy as I had an early passion to work with people, treat mental health, and help strengthen relationships.


​I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Temple University in Psychology. I furthered my education here in sunny south Florida where I attended Nova Southeastern University and received my Masters Degree in Family Therapy.


I have experience working with adults struggling with many life challenges such as anxiety, stress, self-esteem, depression, relationships and more. My higher education and training was done in relational therapy. I developed my love for couples therapy and treating various relationship issues. In addition, having training in Level 1 Gottman Method Couples Therapy has aided me to assist couples looking to overcome relationship struggles such as communication, loss of trust, intimacy issues, conflict resolution, parenting struggles, and more. 


I am also a Florida Qualified Supervisor for Marriage and Family Therapy Registered Interns. I love being able to help students achieve their goals of becoming a licensed marriage and family therapist and learning as much as they can about the MFT field. 

Just for Fun

I am always teaching the importance of self-care in my therapeutic approach and I make sure to practice it myself as well. I was born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania, so I make sure to cherish the beauty and weather of sunny South Florida as much as I can. I absolutely love going to the beach and being on or by water whenever possible! Taking walks and attending a good fitness class are some of the things I always prioritize. Exercise is so important to me.


I love the dynamic food choices available here in south Florida, so I am constantly trying new restaurants and exploring the foodie scene in Fort Lauderdale.


I would be lying if I didn’t say I love staying in and watching TV as well. I am a Netflix fanatic. Music is also one of my favorite coping skills. Most of all, spending time with my family and friends is my favorite therapy. There is nothing that makes me happier than being in the company of good, funny, genuine people.

Why Work with Me? 

I am well aware of the many therapy options available to you and I fully support the search to find the perfect fit for you. So let me provide a little bit about what makes my practice different. 

 

  • I offer flexible appointment times including evening hours 

  • I offer in-person AND virtual therapy through a HIPAA complaint online platform to help more individuals across the state of Florida

  • I utilize a collaborative, solution-focused, strength based approach in order to tailor the therapeutic experience to meet your PERSONAL needs and goals

  • I bring my fun, energetic, and passionate personality to sessions in order to make your therapeutic experience enjoyable while you are creating the changes you seek

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Let’s Start Your Brightside Therapy Journey!

Contact me today to get your first session scheduled. I offer complimentary phone consultations so we can chat about how I can help you reach your goals and answer any questions you might have. I invite you to call our office at (954) 391-5305 and then request to be connected with me for your consult. 


I offer sessions at our beautiful office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and at our brand new office in Plantation, Florida located within the Bank of America Building on North Pine Island Road and Sunrise Boulevard. I also offer sessions across the state of Florida via our secure telehealth platform for busy professionals and those who travel a lot. 


For more information about my approach to counseling or my services, visit my website. I look forward to speaking with you!

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