Meet Jennifer Chapple | DBT Therapist & Founder of The Awakening Center Houston

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jennifer Chapple and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jennifer, what’s the most important thing you’ve done for your children?
What was your thought process behind starting your own business?

After just focusing on DBT for about 15 years as a private practitioner, I wanted to do more. And my kids were finally at an age where they were a little bit more independent. And I was just really wanting to do more than just therapy. Therapy is just one gateway to healing. There’s other ways to heal. Mindfulness has done wonders for me in my own healing. So mindfulness, and specifically teaching mindfulness in schools was really in the forefront of my mind when I started the new venture. When I created the Awakening Center, I wanted regular folks, like me, who are not so much practicing Buddhism, or Hinduism, but somebody who wants peace and calm and wants to be connected and wants to feel their aliveness. And so I, I just started thinking abou the ways that I could do that, the ways that I could bring mindfulness to people, because anxiety and depression in my office has risen.

If you are a parent, what do you think is the most important thing you’ve done as a parent in terms of the impact on your children?

My son, who’s about to graduate highschool and go off to college, has been writing me these letters as part of his process in the transition from teen to adult, about what I’ve meant to him as a parent. I think that I’ve been consistent with showing them their value. And believing in them and giving them all the resources they needed to help them build their character. And I’ve been strong with school. My kids come home and they do their homework. I don’t have to get on them. And it’s because I think I’ve just early on just really set a foundation for that. They’ve seen me work hard. So you know, we have a work hard play hard kind of mentality. They they know their value and they know they’re capable. They have built a strong sense of themselves.

How to know whether to keep going or to give up?

I think I’ve learned to kind of step back and say to myself, What is the best use of my time and energy and skills? And if I’m giving time to something that’s draining me or is not energizing me, that’s when I know. It’s this aliveness thing, right? If I’m not getting excited about it, that’s how I know it’s time to let something go or reprioritize it. I really want to spend my time doing things that are energizing me and I think I can tell when that when that’s happening. When I’m feeling drained and when I’m feeling this aliveness. That gap.

What is the most important factor behind your success / the success of your brand?

Being able to create programming that has such an impact on people. It’s, it’s very rewarding. And I think it comes across genuine to, I’m not just you know, trying to make money. The passion for my business comes from a genuine place in me of wanting to help people find a community and wanting people to live their best lives. And so I think there’s, I don’t know, just raw, it’s all genuine, it’s raw, honest, it’s, it’s who I am. That and, and I think that comes across.

What makes you happy?
Anytime I’m fully participating and connecting, whether that’s in nature, with my family, with my friends, with my clients, with my employees. Anytime I’m connecting and fully participating, that makes me happy.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
(Hello, employee here, filling this out for Jen).

The Awakening Center of Houston strives to help individuals mindfully examine their relationship with suffering through individual therapy, skills and support groups, and community building, to spark growth and a deeper connection to life.

Jen has been actively practicing and facilitating guided meditations for many years and is about to finish a two year meditation teacher certification. Mindfulness is a very important component of DBT. (PLEASE PUT THIS IN THERE)

We are a DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) center. DBT is a therapeutic approach initially targeted for individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, DBT has proven effective for a broader range of mental health conditions. It’s tailored for individuals dealing with intense emotional dysregulation, self-destructive behaviors, and challenges in interpersonal relationships. DBT is particularly beneficial for those facing chronic suicidal thoughts and/or self-harming behaviors.
DBT is for the teen who has anxiety attacks at school; the adult who repeatedly finds themselves in toxic romances; the father who turns to substances to find peace amid their chronic self-hatred; the person who allows rumination of past events to hinder their ability to find meaning in the present; to name a few examples.
It offers dialectical strategies that combine acceptance (of the things we can’t control) and change (of the things we can control), and incorporates mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills. DBT can also be adapted for individuals with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, ADHD and more.
Treatment involves individual therapy, skills training groups, and phone coaching. It aims to empower individuals to build a life worth living by providing practical tools to manage emotions, navigate crises, and improve relationships with themselves and with others.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?

Jen loves loves loves birding. She often drives out to Galveston and Port Arthur to spend time in nature and take pictures of birds. Jen will prepare whole field trips with friends and clients to go birding with her. It’s very wholesome and she really comes to life and has an undeniable sense of joy when she is in nature with birds. It’s heartwarming.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Jen wants to shout out her children, who have taught her so much along the way.

Website: https://www.awakeningcenter.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awakeningcenterhouston/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-awakening-center-houston/?viewAsMember=true