Meet Jill Thurber

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jill Thurber. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Jill, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

My confidence and self-esteem are ongoing, ever-changing part of who I am. There are aspects of what I do that I feel more confident in than others. At my core, I feel confident that I am a good person. I try each day to be present for my family first, spend time with my small circle of friends, and give back to my community when I can. I have become confident in my clinical skills as a child and adolescent psychologist based on years of experience, hours of dedicated training and time spent pursuing advanced degrees and certification. Overall I believe that my confidence as a person and clinician has grown with life experiences. Looking back, I can credit my confidence to situations in which I took risks, failed and tried again and again until I either succeeded or figured out how to move on.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a board-certified child and adolescent child psychologist who has been in private practice in San Antonio for the past 20 years. My clinical work includes individual therapy for children ages 3-18 as well as parent consultations, groups and parent coaching. Last year I launched a professional website and a newsletter with the hope of reaching parents who may not be able to seek treatment, but would benefit from the online content I can offer. I am excited to grow my online presence through the free newsletter, instagram and TikTok with the hope of eventually launching a series of parenting workshops and retreats.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

As I reflect back on my professional journey, the three skills that have been the most impactful are:
1) An openness to feedback.
2) A willingness to take risks.
3) A belief in my instincts.

In all of these three areas, I had to listen to others and take time to reflect on their feedback. I always found older, more accomplished women in my field to serve as mentors – I sought them out and asked to work with them along the way. This would be one of my main recommendations to anyone pursuing a new project – see out those with more experience. Find a mentor or someone who has carved out a path you admire and ask to learn from them. You will develop a relationship with someone in the field that you are passionate about while learning invaluable skills that you can use in that field along the way.

What has been your biggest area of growth or improvement in the past 12 months?

My biggest area of growth over the past 12 months has been in the area of setting boundaries for myself and improving my ability to trust my own instincts. This means that instead of saying “yes” to every request that others made of my time, I would instead pause and give myself time to think about what I really wanted before giving an answer. Instead of worrying about pleasing the other person first, I’d step back and consider what I felt was the right thing for me. As it turns out, my instincts tend to be good. When I take the time to reflect before giving an answer, I tend to give the right one at the right time. My “yes” means more in the moment and my “no” is firm and doesn’t change.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jillthurber.com
• Instagram: doctorjillpsychologist
• Linkedin: Jill Thurber, Ph.D., ABPP
• Youtube: @jillthurber,Ph.D.
• Other: TikTok:@jillthurberphd