Jennifer Kooshian, Valencia Christian Counseling

About Jennifer Kooshian

Jennifer Kooshian lives in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with her husband of 32 years on a small homestead near Lake Superior. They have five adult children and one grandson. She also has an ever-changing number of chickens, a mellow old cat, and an aspiring farm dog. The passions that God has pressed on her heart are hospitality, giving college students a home away from home, and helping people learn to grow and preserve their own food. Jennifer spends her spring and summer months growing vegetable plants and flowers to sell to her community and for her own gardens. Her fall and winter months are spent having local college students over for dinner and board games, participating in her church’s college ministry, crocheting, and dreaming of her summer gardens. She also loves living where 15 feet of snow is a light winter. She documents her homestead adventures on Instagram and Facebook as Cooper Island Homestead and runs an Etsy shop under the same name.

Test Anxiety: Symptoms and How to Address It

Test Anxiety: Symptoms and How to Address It

Jennifer Kooshian2025-09-30T06:42:40+00:00September 30th, 2025|Anxiety, Featured, Individual Counseling|

Challenging times come to us all. For students, some of the most challenging seasons they experience are related to tests or examinations. Those times can be upsetting, and they can be worsened if anxiety enters the picture. Cliff Notes on Test Anxiety Many people feel anxious before a big or important event. In the life of a student, taking a test is a big deal, and it can bring anxiety to varying degrees. When a person has test anxiety, they experience extreme distress and anxiety in testing situations, and this anxiety has the effect of not only impairing learning but also hurting performance during tests. Test anxiety can prevent someone from doing their best. There are several reasons why a person might struggle with test anxiety. For one thing, a fear of failure can be a cause, particularly if one’s self-worth is linked to test scores. When too much emphasis is placed on a particular test, that can also cause test anxiety. Other reasons include being unprepared for the test and being afraid of not meeting others’ expectations and consequently losing their respect or affection. Additionally, if a person has a lackluster record with tests, whether due to anxiety or poor preparation, that can cause further anxiety and negative associations with tests. Lastly, if a person feels helpless and believes they can’t do anything to affect or change their grades or performance, that can add to feelings of anxiety. The stress from tests can trigger the release of adrenaline, making it difficult to concentrate on the test. Symptoms Of Test Anxiety Test anxiety, can manifest in various ways, including physically, emotionally, and behaviorally. Some of the more common symptoms of test anxiety include the following physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling or shaking, nausea or stomach discomfort, [...]

Comments Off

Healthy Ways of Finding Self-Acceptance

Healthy Ways of Finding Self-Acceptance

Jennifer Kooshian2025-03-12T09:37:15+00:00August 27th, 2024|Coaching, Featured, Individual Counseling, Personal Development|

In your lifetime, there will only be a small group of people who can say that they’ve known you for most of your life. Your folks, older relatives, your siblings, and some friends from the neighborhood that you’ve somehow managed to stay in touch with will be among these. As we go through life, relationships end and we part ways with people, and by the time one is 25-40, there’s typically only a small circle of people we truly know and trust, which makes self-acceptance important. Of course, as you go throughout life, you’re doing it with and as yourself. In whatever situation you find yourself in, you’re bringing your thoughts, hopes, dreams, deepest fears, gifts, and everything that you are. As you make decisions, work, engage in relationships, have conflicts, make up, and apologize, you do these things in accordance with your values or beliefs, though sometimes you may choose to compromise. Valencia Christian Counseling helps individuals navigate life’s challenges while staying true to their faith and values. Whatever else happens in your other relationships, you should be able to live with yourself at the end of the day. Being able to accept yourself and be content is such an amazing gift because it has many implications for your well-being. The struggle for self-acceptance Self-acceptance allows you to face the world with confidence, and it also allows you to be more impervious to criticism. When you accept yourself, you see yourself for who you are without pretense or judgment. You can recognize your own strengths, accomplishments, and weaknesses, and you can see your value and see yourself with sober judgment without needing the approval of others. Accepting yourself helps you to navigate the world better without the harsh background noise of what other people think. You’re [...]

Comments Off

Three Common Teenage Problems

Three Common Teenage Problems

Jennifer Kooshian2025-03-13T09:02:01+00:00November 20th, 2023|Christian Counseling For Teens, Family Counseling, Featured, Individual Counseling|

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since most of us were teenagers. Time, technology, and culture have moved on, and while some teenage problems have not changed, many of them have. Three common teenage problems parents need to understand. A teenager’s stage of life is often characterized by the changes in their body and mind as they mature from childhood into adulthood. This brings several physical and psychological changes that the teenager needs to navigate. While teenagers want independence from their parents and families it is not realistic to expect that they can decouple themselves from the necessary support of their parents and family unit. However, even supported by parents and siblings who love them, various teenage problems are almost unavoidable. Valencia Christian Counseling offers guidance to help families navigate the challenges of adolescence with faith and understanding. Peer pressure. Having a personal device means that the content that is sent to the teen, or that they access, is immediately accessible at any time. Take sexting for example. While research is ongoing in this field, some researchers have found that there are primarily four reasons why adolescents become involved in sexting: flirting to attract a potential partner, expressing their sexuality with their romantic partner, experimenting with sexuality and identity, as well as a reaction to pressure from either their romantic partner or friends to conform to perceived normal behavior. Many teens do not understand the possible life-long impact of sharing explicit photos of themselves. It is the responsibility of parents to equip children with the skills to make healthy choices in these common situations. School problems. Did you know that in the US one in twenty-five high school students drop out each year? Researchers find that a high school dropout has a high likelihood of earning [...]

Comments Off

Jennifer Kooshian

About Jennifer Kooshian

CONTACT INFO

Valencia Christian Counseling

ABOUT US