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Jennifer LeClair

Jennifer LeClair Avery is the founder of Healthy Routes, a counselling and life-skills practice supporting youth, young adults, and families. Using a hybrid approach that blends counselling with practical life-skills coaching, she helps young people develop emotional regulation, resilience, and confidence. Jennifer is also the author of Not Today, Frank, a book that helps young people understand anxiety and build the skills needed to navigate life’s challenges with steadiness. Connect with Jennifer here…

Family Addiction Counsellor , Mental Health Coach , Author, Jennifer LeClair Avery

June 22, 2026
Contributed By: Jennifer LeClair

Tell us a little something about your business...

Healthy Routes was created from a simple observation: many young people are trying to navigate increasingly complex emotional and social pressures without ever being taught the practical skills to manage them.

Through counselling, life-skills coaching, workshops, and my book Not Today, Frank, I support youth and young adults in developing the abilities that sit beneath confidence—emotional regulation, resilience, communication, and decision-making.

In my work with families, I often meet thoughtful, capable young people who assume something is wrong with them when they feel overwhelmed. In reality, many have simply never been taught how to work with their emotions, navigate setbacks, or build confidence through experience. Healthy Routes focuses on strengthening those skills early so young people can move through challenges with greater steadiness and self-trust.

When was your lightbulb moment?

I wish I could say my lightbulb moment arrived in one clear flash. It didn’t. It unfolded over time.

Growing up with ADHD, I didn’t have language for what I was experiencing—because back then ADHD wasn’t something we talked about or fully understood the way we do today. What I knew instead was self-doubt, big emotions, avoidance, and the quiet feeling of always being behind. I worked hard, but confidence wasn’t always in my corner in those early years.

Looking back, many of those moments felt like “setbacks”.

My path into adulthood wasn’t linear. I explored different careers, built businesses, and closed chapters that no longer fit. Each experience required a “shift”—in perspective, direction, and understanding of myself.

The real clarity came years later as I watched my own children, and their generation, navigate ADHD, anxiety, and the pressures that intensified after COVID. I began noticing something troubling: bright, capable young people quietly believing something was wrong with them.

But what I saw wasn’t weakness. I saw people navigating a far more complex world without the skills or guidance to manage pressure, emotions, and setbacks.

That realization changed the direction of my work. I returned to school to deepen my counselling training and focused on strengthening the skills behind confidence—emotional regulation, resilience, communication, and decision-making.

Because with the right support, early setbacks can become opportunities to shift and ultimately “strengthen”.

What are your three words of advice?

My three words are Setback. Shift. Strengthen.

Life rarely unfolds in a straight line. Setbacks are part of growth, not proof that something is wrong. The key is learning how to shift—our thinking, our approach, and sometimes our direction.

When we do that, we strengthen the skills and resilience needed to move forward with steadiness and confidence.

These three words matter to me because they reflect my own journey and the work I now do with young people and families. When we learn how to navigate setbacks rather than fear them, we build the strength and perspective needed to keep moving forward.