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Name - Jessica Varas

From - San Francisco

Currently - Studio City

Maybe some day - Brooklyn

Fave food - pizza, tiramisu, and flourless chocolate cake

Fave shows - Breaking Bad, Sex & the City, Real Housewives of NY

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I've worked as a personal trainer, nutritionist, and health coach with my own business - Nourish with Jess for the last 17 years. I am very passionate about this work, but know the extent to which I can help others is limited (for now).

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This is my perfect beautiful cutest cat in the world, Penelope. My husband, Carlos, and I live in home and are lucky enough that she lets us use the kitchen, bed, and couch. She was found hiding under a car when she was a kitten in my apartment building before I moved to LA. My roommate worked in the apartment office and told me to watch this kitten that someone brought in while she was working. And that was that - my child came into my life.

I got married in New York almost 2 years ago. I am very lucky that I found this person to share my life with.

For fun, I like to go to bed early. I have to work up every morning at 5:45 - so late night classes are rough. I also love to workout, play pickleball, hike, go the movies, and travel once I've saved enough money once every century to do so. I love New York of course, Paris, Hawaii, and Italy to name a few places.

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I don't really have a specific self care routine. Instead, I like to think about how I can sprinkle in little bits of self care throughout the day.

I try to get sunlight as early as I can in the morning - this calms me and keeps me away from a screen.

I have matcha every morning with my breakfast - yes I am addicted and I love it.

I make sure to make time to eat, cook, and pack food. Nutrition is a non negotiable for me - it helps with my mood, energy, and of course it preserves my money maker, my brain.

I walk at least 10 minutes a day - this is good for my nervous system and blood sugar.

I lift weights 3 times a week.

I carve out time to read and be away from my phone. I turn my phone off usually around 9pm.

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I've wanted to pursue the path of becoming a therapist for a long time. It was a long road to get here, but I got here. My personal history is the reason I want to be a therapist along with my own almost 20 year therapy journey.

While I won't go into too many details about my past, I will say there were times when I really didn't want to be here. There was a teeny tiny light at the end of the tunnel that I kept moving towards. I am finally there, out of that dark tunnel, and leading myself in the direction I was always looking for.

When I become a therapist, I hope to work with adolescents and young women. I want to support them in developing healthy coping skills, learning how to regulate their emotions, and setting boundaries in their life. These are all things I was never taught and instead was only shown terrible examples. My goal is to help them build a strong foundation early on, so they don’t feel like they have to rely on unhealthy habits, relationships, or substances to cope with pain or feel a sense of worth.

Dr. Gabor Mate's work and books, along with IFS / parts work, has really inspired me.