You’re ready. And I’m ready to help.

Dr. Jill Garfinkle,
Licensed Psychologist
& Speech-Language Pathologist

Career and Job Counselor and Coach in MD

You hate this feeling of being lost and unfocused.

You may not know where to begin your career, or you might be in the middle of it and feel like you’ve hit a plateau. And as much as you’ve been trying to figure this all out on your own, you just keep feeling stuck. It’s overwhelming and you’ve had enough.

It’s time to do something about it.

My job is to work myself out of a job. (Wait—what?)

Yup. Careers will always throw us curveballs over the course of our lifetimes. My goal for all of my clients is that they will come out of our time together feeling confident navigating whatever twists and turns they encounter in their own personal career journey.

Clients find me at various stages of their careers, but everyone I work with has a few things in common. They want to feel motivated and successful, and they want to feel proud of themselves and what they do. They want to feel confident in their own ability to take charge of any given work situation to improve their own happiness.

How does career counseling work?

We will begin with an initial interview and collaborate to map out a plan tailored just for you. Depending on your goals, we might utilize things like career assessments or specific exercises. Subsequent appointments will be used to review those results and to dig into your experiences in completing them. Throughout all of our work together, we’ll continue assessing our progress toward your goals, helping you to refine them and ultimately achieve them.

A note about goals: they might shift over time, and this is absolutely okay and even expected. Clarity and direction come from deepened understanding, and these, in turn, lead to confidence and motivation. As you grow in your ability to make decisions and adjustments in your work life to improve your happiness, that confidence and happiness flows into other areas of your life as well.

Your time is valuable. I offer online appointments, which allow for flexibility and ease in scheduling. As long as you have a reliable internet connection and a private space, you’re good to go.

 

I know what you’re thinking.

You’ve taken the online quizzes, checked out the zillions of books out there, and listened to what feels like all the podcasts. But you haven’t found something that speaks to you.

I can relate. I’ve been there myself.

I have shifted my own career path several times, refining my niche each step of the way. I started out working in entertainment (highlights included The Late Show with David Letterman and several major film studios), but once I had my first job after college I decided that field was not the right fit for me after all.

I tried reading and researching and I even took a career assessment test that I found totally useless. It wasn’t until I networked with friends-of-friends-of-friends that I found my next field: speech-language pathology, which I loved. Once there, however, I soon tired of walking students down the hall “to meet my good friend the counselor.” So I decided to become the counselor myself, and I returned to school once again to pursue psychology.

I know making big decisions - especially making changes - and taking leaps can be scary.

 

But what if the outcome is good?

The only thing we already know for sure about your career journey is that there will always be one constant: you. With that in mind, my background as a psychologist offers a unique and invaluable perspective in the career counseling world, because I can help you to get to know yourself better in the ways that are most important to you. These insights will enable you to use that knowledge to navigate and increase your career satisfaction in the long-term.

Clients describe me as warm, open, and supportive. In our work they appreciate the opportunity to cut through the “noise” and take the time for themselves that they don’t often get in their busy day-to-day lives. It’s a time to really put thought into you: to figure out how you want your life to look, and what steps you need to take to get there.

Our work is explicitly client-driven; while I am of course here for guidance and assistance, you are the one who sets our goals. I will continually check in with you to make sure our focus is where you want it to be. 

Training & Experience

    • Licensed Psychologist (Maryland)

    • Licensed Speech-Language Pathologist (Maryland)

    • Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT) under the PSYPACT Commission; E-Passport issued 07/29/2021; Mobility Number 8791

    • Cambridge Health Alliance / Harvard Medical School: Fellow in Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Weil Foundation Pre-Doctoral Psychology Internship

    • The George Washington University: PsyD, Clinical Psychology

    • The George Washington University: MA, Speech-Language Pathology

    • Barnard College of Columbia University: AB, Sociology

    • Certificate of Clinical Competence in Speech-Language Pathology (CCC-SLP) from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

    • Recipient of ASHA’s “ACE” Award for Continuing Education, 2017 and 2020

    • American Psychological Association (APA)

    • Maryland Psychological Association (MPA)

    • American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA)

    • Maryland Speech-Language-Hearing Association (MSHA)