Jennifer Tippett (PsyD '13) – Exploring New Frontiers in Mental Health
Jennifer Tippett’s path into psychology began in an unexpected place: the pages of a fiction novel. As a teenager, she became fascinated by a character living with dissociative identity disorder, and by age 16 she had already decided to become a psychologist. That early spark set her on the journey that would lead her to the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Professional Psychology (GSPP) and eventually to leadership in innovative approaches to mental health.
Her first professional role after graduation was as a case manager at Aurora Mental Health Center, an experience that tempered her youthful ambitions with the realities of practice. She described this time as a balance between “pie in the sky” aspirations and the practical question of what truly helps people.
Though her career has encompassed forensic psychology, private practice, and cutting-edge treatment research, Dr. Tippett looks back on her years teaching at GSPP as a highlight. Students’ honesty and curiosity kept her sharp. She describes the classroom and supervision space as invigorating: “It creates this really cool environment where people can trade ideas and hear how others conceptualize things.” Many of her students continued supervision with her for multiple years allowing her to witness the long-term impact of training and therapy side by side.
Dr. Tippett also credits her GSPP education with shaping the trajectory of her career. Lavita Nadkarni, she noted, was a steady source of guidance, while Kim Gorgons became a professional role model. Hale Martin inspired her love of assessment, which sustained much of her early work. Like many students, Dr. Tippett recalls moments of frustration during graduate school, but those feelings shifted when she compared her training with PsyD students from other programs. “At the end of the day, we are solidly well-trained clinicians — and that becomes glaringly evident when you compare programs,” she said.
Today, Dr. Tippett is at the forefront of psychedelic-assisted therapies, which she sees as one of the most promising developments in decades. Unlike traditional talk therapy, which often builds on incremental progress, psychedelics have the potential to catalyze change quickly and powerfully.
For Dr. Tippett, the promise of psychedelics lies in their ability to open pathways that conventional treatments cannot. She notes that while SSRIs marked the last major innovation in psychiatric care, their effectiveness is limited. “They were never meant to be used alone anyway,” she said. “Suppression doesn’t work. Psychedelics, instead, are about expression — you actually need to feel whatever it is in order to move through it.”
Research supports this shift. Studies show that psychedelics promote neuroplasticity, creating new connections in the brain. As Dr. Tippett describes it, “On an f-MRI [of a person on LSD], the brain is lit up like a Christmas tree — parts that don’t usually communicate start talking, and areas that aren’t usually online come online. That gives people the chance to experience things differently, and we’re all experiential learners.”
Still, she emphasizes that psychedelics are not a cure-all. “The biggest misconception is that it’s a silver bullet. That is absolutely untrue, full stop,” she said. “Ketamine is not solving everything from eating disorders to substance use to…name whatever. Not everyone should go do ayahuasca in the jungle. That has got to stop.” She welcomes the deflation of the early hype bubble, noting that it benefits the field by grounding expectations in evidence.
Accessibility is another key theme. Many of the people who could most benefit from psychedelic treatments — such as Veterans and service members — are currently excluded due to drug testing and employment restrictions. Dr. Tippett believes change will require systemic shifts, and that industry may ultimately play a pivotal role. “If something is FDA approved, it becomes a medication with oversight and insurance coverage. That’s a really different situation than someone going abroad for an unregulated experience,” she explained.
For her, the future of psychedelic-assisted therapy is both exciting and sobering: a revolutionary tool that must be applied with respect, rigor, and humility.
Among her career highlights, Dr. Tippett recalls her time as a forensic evaluator for the state of Minnesota, where she conducted sex offender evaluations for individuals in the civil commitment system. One case stood out: a man in his thirties who had been committed at just 18 years old. After decades of evaluations that deemed him too dangerous for release, Dr. Tippett’s assessment told a different story. She argued that his confinement was unjustified and that he deserved a second chance.
Her findings went all the way to the Minnesota Supreme Court — and ultimately secured the man’s full discharge, the first in the facility’s history. “It took everybody — lawyers, judges, his own family, and him — but it changed his life. That was one of my favorite moments of my career,” she reflected.
As she continues her work in trauma and innovation, Dr. Tippett has also redefined what well-being means for herself. Having once embraced the nonstop pace of early career life, she now views intentional rest as essential. “I’ve really gotten into this idea of rest as a form of rebellion,” she explained. “Sometimes the most radical thing we can do is to stop doing.” Rather than constantly striving to “do all the things,” she prioritizes meaningful work alongside time for friends, family, and restorative stillness.
For Dr. Tippett, the essence of psychology ultimately comes down to presence. Beyond techniques and interventions, she believes the true work lies in sitting with others in their pain, walking with them through discovery, and offering a therapeutic presence that can ripple far beyond the therapy room.
