(425) 405-5515
About Me
Serving Clients Since 1993
I have had the pleasure of working with people of nearly all ages, from 5 years old to 105 years old. I have worked with people of many different identities and backgrounds. I have been able to help people with struggles against mental illness, significant health concerns, affected of trauma and violent crime, abuse in relationships, and against oppression.
I earned my Master of Social Work degree from University of British Columbia in Canada. I am fully licensed at the highest level, to work independently. I am recognized for meeting Washington State criteria to provide clinical supervision.
No two people are the same, so I tailor my therapeutic approach to meet the specific needs of each of my clients. I will listen to you. I will help you to explore your situation without judgement. We will work together to fully realize your strengths, impart new skills, and adjust certain behaviors and thoughts to help you create a better life.
Finding the right counselor can seem like a daunting task for many people. The right combination of skill, trustworthiness, and experience can make the difference between success in therapy or feeling discouraged. From my own experience, I know that establishing an authentic relationship built on compassion is key, because as change, growth and vulnerability occur, wellness follows.
I offer a free 15 minute phone consultation. Contact me for an appointment. We’ll get to know each other and decide together if we would be a good fit. If we are, we’ll meet for our first session and at the end discuss how often we should meet and how long we might need to work through your concern. I can also answer questions you may have about the therapy process.
What To Expect In Your Visits
If you haven’t talked with a therapist before, it can help to know what to expect. It’s rarely like what people see in movies or on TV. Psychotherapy is about trying to understand something in a new way. At first, there might be lots of questions asked to understand your experiences. Usually I ask questions about the current situation rather than the distant past. I try to be very open and non-judgmental and I try not to offer suggestions, especially before we have a very good understanding of what has been happening.
I use effective, evidence-based psychotherapy methods to increase self-understanding among clients and encourage them to consider different attitudes and feelings toward life situations. It is essential to keep in mind that therapy is not a magic pill: therapy is a healing process that necessitates participation and investment from the client and counselor alike. But in the end, making small changes to self-defeating behavior and coping with feelings of sadness, fear, and pain can bring life-altering results. There are no surprises, no tricks and no coercion in the work that I do.
FREE CONSULTATION
I offer a free 15 minute phone consultation. Contact me for an appointment, we’ll get to know each other and decide together if we would be a good fit. If we are, we’ll meet for our first session and at the end discuss how often we should meet and how long we might need to work through your concern. I can also answer any further questions you may have about the therapy process.
OUR FIRST SESSION
Prior to our first session, please fill out the three New Client Forms.
We'll meet for our first session and at the end discuss how often we should meet and how long we might need to work through your concern. I can answer any further questions you may have about the therapy process.
Therapeutic Techniques
My therapeutic orientation is Humanistic. Humanistic psychology is a perspective that looks at the the whole person, the uniqueness of each individual, and the value of the person. Humanistic psychology begins with the existential assumptions that people are free to make their own choices and are motivated to achieve their potential. In other words, I know a lot about psychology, but you are the expert in your life and my goal is to help you to think about your options, not to tell you how to live.
Below are the three therapeutic approaches that I have been trained in using. They are evidence-based, meaning that they have been studied and compared to other therapies, they have been shown to be highly effective for the types of problems that I address. All three types of therapy involve asking questions, inviting the client to think differently about their concerns and to share their thoughts and feelings in a supportive environment. I might draw from any or all three types of therapy in the treatment of a client.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) & Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i)
I am trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) & Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-i). Cognitive behavioral therapy focuses on the relationship between our thoughts, our feelings, and our behaviors. By learning to understand how your thoughts, feelings and behaviors work, you will learn to make small changes in perception and achievable steps that will help you with the situation at hand and in the future. There is education I will provide, experiments and activities you will try on your own and a skills toolbox we will build together.
Motivational Interviewing
I am trained in Motivational Interviewing. Motivational Interviewing is a collaborative, goal-oriented style of therapy with particular attention to the language of change. It is designed to strengthen personal motivation for- and commitment to- a specific goal by elicitng and exploring the person’s own reasons for change within an atmosphere of acceptance and compassion. Bottom line, most people are unsure about change. On one hand, there seems to be something to gain, and on the other, something that could be lost. You will also learn how to get started, keep motivated and to achieve your goal.
Narrative Therapy
I am trained in Narrative therapy. Everyone has a story, and the way you tell yours makes an important difference. Narrative therapy is a form of counseling that views people as separate from their problems, allowing clients to stop seeing themselves or others as "the problem"and with this new perspective, individuals feel empowered to make changes in their thoughts and behavior and to rewrite their life story for a future that reflects who they are, what they are capable of, and what their purpose is, separate from their problems.
