My Approach

  • The goal of psychodynamic therapy is to relieve mental and emotional distress.

    This type of therapy does not follow a script. It is a collaborative, unfolding process where we explore what emerges, as it emerges. As we talk, we begin to notice the emotional themes and relational habits that may be keeping you confined or disconnected from yourself, from others, or from the life you want to live.

    Therapy offers the opportunity to build a relationship that is attuned, respectful, and open that can support healing at the nervous system level. Over time, many people find they feel more alive, more connected, and more able to be themselves.

  • Our earliest relationships shape not only our emotional world, but our brains and nervous systems as well. When those relationships are nurturing or “good enough,” our brains develop a strong foundation for resilience, trust, and emotional balance. But when there’s trauma or inconsistency, our nervous systems can stay in states of alert or shutdown–sometimes long after the original experiences are over. 

    Neuroplasticity allows us to achieve healthy attachment in adulthood even if we didn’t have it in early life. Psychodynamic work can offer a new experience of connection that can create the foundation for deeper, more satisfying relationships in your life today.

  • My practice is informed by my background as a student of meditation and Buddhist and Contemplative psychology. At the core of these traditions is a belief that each of us has inside of us an inherent clarity, wisdom, and goodness. Contemplative psychotherapy invites us to turn toward our experience not as a problem to fix but as a meaningful expression of our journey through life.

  • At the heart of many centuries-old indigenous worldviews is the understanding that healing happens in relationship—in our relationship to ourselves, to others, to the land, to those that came before us, and to something greater than ourselves. 

    From this perspective, emotional pain is seen not just as a personal problem, but often as a response to disconnection or loss of meaning. Finding our way back to purpose and direction involves seeing and feeling into our connection not only with ourselves but also with others and the world around us.



Stuart Jeckel, LCSWA, Ed.M.
Asheville Licensed Psychotherapist

People often come to me with challenges related to:

  • Relationships

  • Anxiety

  • Depression

  • Grief & Loss

  • Complex Trauma

  • Major Life Transitions

  • Identity Changes

  • Addictive Behaviors

  • Self-Esteem

  • Guilt & Shame

My Training & Education

    • Master of Social Work, Western Carolina University

    • Master of Education, Harvard University

    • Bachelor of Arts, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    • Fellow, Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy

    • Center for Modern Analytic Studies, Advanced Coursework

    • Center for Group Studies, Weekend Training Program

    • Graduate Clinical Placements: Matone Counseling and UNC Asheville Health & Counseling

    • Fox Healing, Grief Tender Training

    • Experience working in residential, outpatient, and wilderness therapy clinical settings

    • North Carolina mental health practitioner: LCSWA License #P022049

    • Carolinas Group Therapy Society, Member

Your Work is also My Work

As there is no finish line to growth, I remain engaged in my own therapy. This helps me stay connected to the process I’m inviting you into. It allows me to notice and reflect on my own emotional responses and relational patterns so that I can offer a space that is as supportive as possible. It helps me sit with complexity and not-knowing—essential in any therapeutic relationship.

Get in touch

Click this link to choose a day and time for a free, confidential consultation.