Blog Spotlight: Brandon Psychotherapist Advises 'Let Kids Be Kids'

If you don't recognize this face now, you soon will.

Psychotherapist and licensed mental health counselor Jenny Mannion seems to be everywhere, including on Brandon Patch where she just joined us as a blogger.

Although her office is located in Brandon, at 1219 Millennium Parkway, Suite 125, you'll find Mannion traveling throughout southeast Hillsborough County where she speaks on a variety of topics ranging from sexual trauma to anger management.

A National Certified Counselor and a juvenile sexual offender specialist, Mannion graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and holds a master's in mental health counseling from Nova Southeastern University.

Mannion has been working within the Tampa Bay area for more than 15 years. During this time, she has been sought out as a professional speaker for local and statewide organizations and a consultant to the professional community and private sector.

She continues to foster her passion in her writings. She has developed curriculum pertaining to sexual education for adolescents with sexual behavior problems and their families. The goal of this project is to reduce additional sexual offenses and to keep the community safe.

In addition, Mannion works closely with public and private agencies to improve ongoing treatment approaches. These resources include community mental health centers, residential juvenile commitment programs, providing supervision to mental health interns who want to work with juveniles with sexual behavior problems, providing court-ordered outpatient juvenile sexual offender assessments and treatment, and providing court -ordered anger management to adults and adolescents.

Mannion specializes in developing effective communication, healthy relationships and boundaries, sexual education, sexual behavior problems, sexual trauma, adolescent development, parenting, stress, anxiety, depression and anger/impulse management.

Her style for providing therapy is based in cognitive behavioral approaches, allowing the clients to take responsibility for their decisions and their actions while empowering them to recognize their strengths and supports.

Mannion volunteers her time as a guest lecturer at the University of South Florida in addition to teaching community organizations such as therapeutic foster parents, probation officers, Head Start and mothers of preschooler groups in an effort to prevent future abuse, to educate and offer insight to promote well-being.

Click here to see Mannion's latest blog.

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