About Jennifer
Welcome! First, my real name is Jennifer Swantkowski. After decades of watching people panic at a string of consonants when trying to pronounce my name, I've decided to use the easier "Swan" for my online presence.
A quote often attributed to Viktor Frankl best sums up the focus of my coaching practice: "In between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
When that space between stimulus and response collapses, we often feel a sense of overwhelm, fear, anger, or frustration. We lose our sense of agency, and it can feel like life is living us rather than the other way around. We may feel out of control, uncertain, extremely sensitive, and highly reactive.
Learning that our reactivity is nothing more than a strong habit — and realizing that we have the capacity to carve out the space to choose our response — can be a game changer.
We are in relationship with everything from our kids and families, to our friends and colleagues, to our community and healthcare teams, to our political parties and technology, to our own bodies, minds, thoughts, feelings, and sensations. When we don't practice carving out that space between stimulus and response, our relationship with our internal and external world can become dissatisfying at best and absolutely miserable at worst.
We get good at what we practice. Period. If what we choose to learn and practice is slowing down to the speed of wisdom, discerning what is and what is not in our control, and intentionally choosing wisely how we will respond — well, we eventually get really good at it. It is then that we can see our relationships shift and change, and our trust in ourselves grow. We feel free to move about the world knowing that we always have the power to choose our response no matter what occurs. Bottom line — we feel equipped.
That is how I see the work I do with my coaching clients. I work to help them feel equipped to navigate their lives with freedom, flexibility, and resilience. I help them slow down, practice discernment, and operate from the realization that there is a range of responses they can actively choose from, rather than simply deferring to a highly reactive stance.
I help them identify what habits and patterns are getting in the way of feeling steadfast in their lives by focusing on the relationship they have with their circumstances. In essence, I help them grow the space between where they end and where the things they react to begin.
Just a bit about me: I obtained a master's degree from the University of Houston and a PhD from Smith College. Over the nearly thirty years that I served as a therapist, I worked at world-renowned residential psychiatric institutions, maintained a fulfilling private practice, and taught at the graduate level at the University of Houston, Smith College, and Boston College. I decided to retire my state clinical license in 2024. Since then, I've worked as an educator, author, content creator, and personal development coach with individuals nationally and internationally.
In the fall of 2025, I published the book I May Have Pushed Your Buttons, but I Didn't Install Them: 52 Pieces of Practical Wisdom to Live and Love Effectively, which is available on Amazon and in select bookstores. Many chapters in Buttons touch on topics that come up often in my coaching practice.
If you are interested in working with me, please submit your information on the Contact page and I will be in touch to determine if we might be a good fit.
Thanks for stopping by my site and I look forward to hearing from you.
Jennifer Swantkowski
