Dr. Jennifer De Costa , LMFT

Dr. Jennifer De Costa is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) practicing in Hawaii with 22 years of clinical experience helping individuals, adolescents, and families navigate life’s challenges. She has worked with a wide range of concerns including depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties, parenting challenges, and the effects of trauma or abuse. Her background in marriage and family therapy informs a broad view of clients’ lives, attending to relationships and the systems that influence wellbeing.

Her counseling style is interactive, supportive, and designed to empower clients. She emphasizes dignity and respect while focusing on strengths rather than deficits, and she collaborates with clients to build personalized treatment plans. Her approach blends solution-focused methods with narrative therapy - which explores the stories people tell about their lives - and systems thinking, which looks at the multiple factors shaping a person’s experience.

Clients who seek Dr. De Costa can expect a partnership aimed at practical change and increased resilience. She views the decision to seek help as an act of courage and offers tools and guidance to support meaningful progress. Dr. De Costa welcomes the opportunity to listen, work alongside clients, and assist in creating steps toward a more manageable and purposeful life.

Therapeutic Approaches and Online Care

Dr. De Costa draws on client-centered therapy to place the client’s perspective at the heart of the work - the therapist listens with empathy, supports the client’s autonomy, and helps people identify their own goals and resources. This approach is helpful for those seeking a respectful, collaborative environment for addressing stress, mood concerns, or life transitions.

She also uses motivational interviewing, a conversational method that helps people explore and resolve ambivalence about change. It is especially useful for clients facing challenges such as addictions, behavior change, or readiness to pursue new life goals. Narrative therapy is another key element in her practice - it helps clients examine the stories that shape their identity and to re-author those narratives in ways that support resilience and purpose.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and Dr. De Costa works collaboratively with each client to determine which methods fit their needs, goals, and preferences. Together they tailor the plan over time so it aligns with the client’s changing priorities.

Online therapy options include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging, which provide flexibility to engage from home or wherever is convenient. These formats make it easier to fit sessions into busy schedules, to maintain continuity of care during life transitions, and to access licensed professionals from a distance.