Janelle began her education at Southern State University in Ashland, Oregon, to become an accountant. At the end of her sophomore year, she was called to become a therapist, so she changed majors and moved to California. She was privileged to have acquired her undergraduate degree in psychology from Bethany University and her master's degree from the University of San Francisco.
Janelle had the pleasure of working for nine years with Advent Group Ministries, a non-profit, non-denominational agency who provides foster family, adolescent recovery, and counseling services to the South Bay area. While at Advent, she supported both the group home and foster family departments by providing therapy for their clients, parents, and families as well as counseling clients from the community.
Janelle joined Hope Counseling Center of Silicon Valley in October of 2000, after being licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist in June. She thoroughly enjoyed working with the other therapists at Hope and has many fond memories of her 12 years there. In February 2009, Janelle joined the Addiction Recovery Center, the premier sex addiction treatment center in San Jose and the only licensed providers of LifeSTAR™ Program in the Bay Area. In early 2011, she was promoted to the Senior Staff position of the Partners Program, and also joined their Board. In 2012, Janelle and Invia Betjoseph, MFT, CSAT, became the co-directors of the LifeSTAR™ sex addiction program for the ARC. Janelle has embraced this challenge with a relish and it suits her outgoing personality well. She loves to plan and improve procedures and cares deeply for the people and marriages who are ravaged by the shame and pain of sex addiction.
In November 2009, Janelle received specialized training in gambling addiction and is authorized by the State of California to provide gambling treatment through the Office of Problem Gambling.
In June 2012, Janelle moved into her own full time office at the San Jose Counseling Center, Inc. In early 2016, Janelle began her CSAT Certification and plans on completing it in March 2017. In July 2016, Janelle resigned from all her positions at the Addiction Recovery Center to open a second office in San Leandro.
In January 2017 Janelle joined Concern, EAP in order to provide counseling and problem solving to the employees at Apple's Wellness Center. She loves her Apple iPhone and looks forward to being able to support Apple, Inc. by being of service to their employees.
In March 2020, the pandemic caused Janelle to move her practice online with therapists around the world. I learned to treat clients via TeleHealth platforms. in 2023, Janelle sees clients face-to-face in her office on Winchester Blvd in San Jose two days a weeks and provides counseling via TeleHealth the other three days a week.
Spirituality is an important part of life for many people and Janelle finds her spiritual fulfillment through her relationship with Jesus Christ. She enjoys supporting her client's spiritual walk on whatever path feels right to them and embraces the concept of "Higher Power as you define them" wholeheartedly. Janelle believes that meaningful therapy only exists within the client's worldview and she works to help them find solutions within their paradigm