Jeremy L. Smith

Psychotherapist & neuroscientist

After a successful twenty-year career as an academic researcher in neuroscience, STEM educator, and scientific consultant, my personal experiences have motivated me to transition to a career in psychotherapy. I'm in private practice in the Bellingham, Washington area and am continuing my collaborations in clinical and cognitive neuroscience as a scientist-practitioner.

As this site is intended for colleagues, researchers, and other professionals in clinical and research fields, it offers some background information about me, a professional weblog, and my curriculum vitae. You're also welcome to visit my client/patient-facing site here.

The image to the left represents my personal, holistic approach to therapy, which includes hope and motivation (fire, the sun), the mind-body connection (earth, the fern), cognition and rationality (wind), emotion and personal symbology (water), and personal spirituality (spirit, the oval encompassing the rest).

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The Family Guide to Dementia Caregiving

NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON

When someone we love is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, Lewy body disease, or another form of dementia, we're faced with more questions than answers. What is happening inside my loved one's brain? Why did this happen? Will I develop the disease? What should we expect in the days to come? And how can I care for them and show them the love they deserve?

This informal, engaging book explains normal aging and the process of dementia in easy-to-understand terms. You'll learn some of the fundamentals of brain functioning and how it changes as we age, and how these natural changes can be disrupted by genetics and inflammation; the biology of five common types of dementia and how this biology contributes to some of your loved one's odd behaviors and other symptoms, and how you can prepare for and respond to those behaviors. You'll be introduced to all the professionals who can help you and your loved one throughout the process. And you'll discover some tools and techniques to make life easier for you both. Along the way, you'll find out:

Why you shouldn't (necessarily) be afraid of getting older
How you might stave off the symptoms of aging and disease through healthy habits
When "senior moments" might be cause for concern and when to seek help
The biology and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, mixed dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and Lewy body disease — and how these diseases evolve and what to expect
Common medications and how they work
Recruiting friends, family, and community as a support system
Medicare, Medicaid, living wills, and estate planning
Taking care of yourself, improving your quality of life, and dealing with grief

Important concepts and vocabulary are helpfully summarized in the page margins as well as a Glossary for easy reference. The Family Guide to Dementia Caregiving also includes resources for activity and bonding ideas, seeking community support, and self-care strategies to help you be the best caregiver you can be.

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Areas of Expertise

Clinical neuroscience and medical family therapy/integrated behavioral health

Jeremy L. Smith, Clinical Neuroscientist and Student in Medical Family Therapy.

As a psychotherapist, I specialize in working with patients and families who are coping with:

Complex presentations, such as comorbid schizoaffective disorder and autism
Chronic and terminal illnesses, grief, and pre-bereavement
Familial and caregiver issues, especially in the areas of late-life care and the dementias

I take an integrative approach to psychotherapy based on evidence-based research and client needs and preferences. Because I believe that clients and their families have the strength and resources to overcome most problems in life if they have the guidance and support they need, an existential and humanistic perspective is foundational to my approach. However, I am careful to consider the whole person, and will often incorporate techniques from cognitive-behavioral family therapy (CBFT), somatic therapy and mindfulness, and internal family systems (IFS) to support and nurture my client's rational, physical, and deep emotional needs, respectively. Being a systemic-relational therapist, I believe that many issues are best resolved at the level of couples and families, but am happy to see individuals (children, adolescents, and adults) as well.

I also offer contracted data analytics consulting in human and animal neuroscience (neural data science), including:

Functional MRI processing and analysis using connectivity and graph-theoretic techniques
Voxel- and surface-based morphometry and volumetrics processing and analysis
Single- and surface-electrode signal processing and analysis
MR spectroscopy processing and analysis
Psychophysiological interaction (PPI) analysis

Please see my CV and Areas of Expertise for more information.

Services

Would you like to set up a meeting?

I use Calendly for scheduling. You can book a meeting with me on my Calendly booking page.

Contact

Contact Me

I'm always eager to network with others in Medical Family Therapy, Marriage and Family Therapy, and integrated behavioral health, particularly within the Pacific Northwest. The best way to reach me is by email, filling out the form below, or connecting with me via LinkedIn or CFHA.