Find a Therapist in Lake Forest Park, Washington.

Therapy with me is largely about dialogue and connection. I ask my clients to make themselves vulnerable in the process and I am willing to do the same. I try to stay with what the client is bringing to the conversation and really understand where they are coming from in relation to their larger context. I am curious and well-rounded and can connect with clients on many levels and on many topics. I ask insightful questions, connect seemingly disparate dots to find patterns, pose theories and suggest treatment plans. It's only through understanding where you are that you can then decide where you would like to go.

My approach to Psychotherapy is client-centered, collaborative, and individual to each client and the issues they are struggling to overcome. I use an attachment based, depth psychology focus with clients, including children and couples. Some of my clients may choose to use Sand Tray Therapy, which is a non-verbal form of expressive therapy. Sand Tray therapy can help to access and heal the deeper, non-conscious aspects of current life struggles.

I employ a holistic approach that bridges the worlds of shamanic healing, contemporary psychotherapy, and life coaching. The blending of these modalities recognizes and works with the invisible energies, the non-ordinary realities (however we each individually perceive these forces), and the physical world experiences and choices influencing our wellbeing. I bring to this work deep integrity, compassion, fortitude, intuition, and over 3 decades of shamanic practice in support of mine and others' journeys of healing, personal mastery, and authenticity.

I started as an intern clinical mental health therapist in a psychiatric center in 2007, and continued to practice therapy in elementary and middle schools, and in a community mental health center. Together, we will find the strengths of you, learning new coping and relaxation skills, and re-organize past traumas emotions into a harmless and neutral position. It is possible for you to feel valuable and joyful.

We are relational psychotherapists meaning that we use the relationship that develops between us to assist you in identifying deeper levels of your self and the patterns you may be exhibiting. Psychotherapy is about growth as person and as your therapist we attempt help you grow more comfortably into the person you are. Throughout the course of work we may discover areas of shame, sorrow or trauma in your life. It is our intent as counselors to help you develop a curiosity towards yourself that metabolizes such experiences.

Therapy is honest, cathartic, truth-telling, relational work. It's facing your story. It's feeling things long pushed away and ignored. It's being heard. It's hearing your own voice. It's coming into relationship with yourself. Psychotherapy is a lot of different things and ultimately it's about the relationship and rhythm you find with your psychotherapist. I would love to meet to see if it is a good fit.

Psychotherapy is an avenue for you to gain the skills and support you need to make the changes in your life that you want. My therapeutic focus is to get you some relief from your symptoms then address the underlying issues and trauma that at the root of those symptoms. We will tailor the mix of tools that we use to meet your particular goals. I often use elements of mindfulness, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy, and trauma focused modalities such as Lifespan Integration and Trauma Resiliency Model with the ultimate goal of an integrated self.

My approach to psychotherapy is rooted in a relational approach that engages not only your behavior but the ability to explore the meaning behind the behavior. You will be able to explore your story in an environment in which you will feel cared for and encouraged. Change takes place in our work together as we explore your current difficulties in such a way that will result in a different future. What clients have found is a sense of seeing and living differently in the world. My hope would be the same would be true for you.

I help individuals and couples get what they want out of life. Great lives are possible, but somehow we're not always taught how to get them while growing up. The reason for that is that everyone's "great life" is different from everyone else's and it's achieved differently from everyone else. Focusing on you and your life is a direct route to figuring out what has been bothering you and why. And moving forward, we figure out how to effectively make happen what you want to happen.