Jack Betancourt, LMSW
Jack Betancourt, LMSW
Licensed Master Social Worker
Supervised by: Dane DeCiero, LCSW-S
Hello!
My name is Jack Betancourt and I am a licensed therapist at Deep Eddy Psychotherapy. I believe a large part of therapeutic success comes from finding a therapist that’s the right fit, so below is a brief introduction to who I am and my approach to the work I do.
My Approach
I grew up in San Antonio, Texas before moving to Austin to attend the University of Texas at Austin. Here I received my BSA in Human Development and Family Sciences before going back to school to receive my Masters degree at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at UT. Throughout this time I worked at the campus writing center, conducted research in a sex lab, and volunteered for a community harm reduction outreach nonprofit. My classroom and field training in social work prepared me for my work with individuals, couples, and communities and view their mental health and wellbeing in light of the various environmental contexts that they exist in. This means digging into a client’s biological, psychological, and social systems and assisting them in recognizing and utilizing strengths as well as identifying challenges/barriers that have helped shape them.
Specialties
- Stress
- Substance Use
- Chronic Illness/Pain
- Anxiety
- Depression
- LGBTQIA+ Issues and Identity Exploration
- Grief and Life Transitions
- PTSD/Complex PTSD
- Teens
- Couples
- Young adults
My Training and Experience
My training and experience has a foundation in harm reduction philosophy which informs a lot of the values that I carry into my clinical work, specifically considering the dignity and worth of my clients, positioning them as experts of their own experience and the primary agents of their own change. I seek to walk with the clients I work with and create an environment that empowers them to not only cope with today but develop deep and sustainable change that will influence their lives as well as the lives of others in their communities. This background also prompts me to consider how structural inequities impact physical and mental health and how therapy can be one of many tools toward healing from historical and contemporary social issues. I hope to create a space where one feels enabled to understand their thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the context of relationships and social environment in order to take next steps on their journey of self discovery.
Another important component to determining a good “match” with a therapist is knowing what theories/modalities they use. I describe my approach as client centered and strength based and welcome feedback during the session. Understanding that every person is unique, I use an eclectic approach to provide a variety of practical, research-supported tools to move you toward goals you define. These tools can include
- Narrative therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
- Solution Focused Therapy
- Attachment Theory
- Relational Cultural Theory
- Systems Theory
- Mindfulness Based Techniques
- Trauma Focused Approaches
I also work with couples and utilize tenets of emotionally focused therapy to enable each partner to develop secure functioning within their relationships through focusing on strengthening communication through an exploration of partner accessibility, responsiveness, and engagement. In addition, I also utilize both top down (cognitive) and bottom up (somatic) approaches and am interested in building skills using somatic experiencing, sensorimotor psychotherapy, and other types of therapy that leverage both the body and the mind’s ability to heal attachment wounds and other forms of trauma.
In addition to working as a therapist, I am a person with hobbies and interests. When I’m not fostering personal growth and self acceptance in my clients, I am at home fostering the growth of my beta fish, ~50 shrimp, and the plants inside their tank and across my living room. I also love cooking, lifting, watching horror movies, playing video games, and exploring Texas’ best hiking trails, camping spots, and swimming holes.