Choosing Light

Dr. Jessica Thomas is a therapist, author, educator, and clinical supervisor whose work sits at the intersection of mental health, grief, and psychospiritual care. She holds an MS in Marriage and Family Therapy and a PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in Transpersonal Psychology. A longtime board member of the non-profit Northwest Association for Death Education and Bereavement Support, she has also served as a hospice volunteer and an advocate for Death Cafés, helping normalize thoughtful conversation about death and grief.


As a professor at Lewis & Clark College, Dr. Thomas designs and teaches coursework on death and grief, psycho-spiritual development and counseling, research methods, and clinical supervision. She also provides clinical supervision for counseling students at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her doctoral research explored mindful photography and anticipatory loss, work that led to the development of Within & Without(TM), a therapeutic mindful-photography program that supports people navigating grief after a death and through major life transitions.


Dr. Thomas offers professional and community workshops, presentations, and talks on death and grief, transpersonal psychology, and the Within and Without(TM) method. She is the author of Choosing Light: Transforming Grief through the Practice of Mindful Photography and podcast host for Transforming Grief, One Conversation at a Time. Learn more at DrJessicaThomas.com.