My Approach to Helping
I believe that the struggles that bring you to therapy are often symptoms of deeper unsettledness. Thus to address the current symptoms of your distress we may need to look beneath the surface and reflect on your life up to this point. That data is then used to enhance your awareness and to help you deliberately and consciously choose who you want to be and how you would like to move forward.
I believe that your past relational experiences are immeasurably influential upon the development of your beliefs, ideas, thoughts, and choices. Based on this premise, we will explore the intricacies of these relationships and their influence on your specific struggles in an effort to identify, understand and address the sources of these struggles. We will explore how your way of relating contributes to the nature of your relationships, with the hope of cultivating awareness, compassion, and volition. By seeking and attending to the source of your distress we will address the symptoms as well as the roots.
Our relationship is the primary context for change. My role as a therapist is to create a safe space for you to discover and live out your truest self. We will work together to identify barriers that may stem from past experiences or limiting beliefs that keep you from relating most authentically with others. And we will work together to develop strategies and tools that may help you along the way toward greater authenticity and contentment.
More Info About My Practice
I gladly accept insurance, and I am a preferred provider with Premera, First Choice, Group Health, and Regence. Most insurance companies will offer a percentage of reimbursement, even if I am not a preferred provider. Please feel free to contact me with questions.
As a Physical Therapist, I enjoyed working with people of all ages in a variety of settings, including hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, and in clients' homes. I had the privilege of partnering with clients and families to enhance their physical well-being. Through this work, I became increasingly aware of the emotional, mental, spiritual and social components of physical health. Therefore I decided to pursue education and training as a psychotherapist.
Later, I earned my Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology. During a year-long internship at a home for women in transition, I worked with women and their children addressing issues including childhood abuse, substance abuse, domestic violence, depression, anxiety, grief and loss.
My extensive understanding and experience in the physical realm is an asset that will benefit you as we work together in the emotional and relational realms. My holistic approach honors the beauty and complexity of our humanness.
What I Love about Being a Psychotherapist
I love this work! Here's why... Entering into a therapeutic process requires much courage and remaining in it requires deep commitment. I feel great admiration and respect for each client who recognizes their need for healing and pursues that healing. I feel deeply honored and humbled to walk with people through challenges and struggles. It is a privilege to offer a compassionate presence to another along their journey. I am repeatedly amazed and inspired by the strength, wisdom, beauty, and courage that I witness in my clients. The inner shifts that people make in therapy have the power to lead to more visible and significant changes in one's life and relationships, and therefore in the lives of others. I find great meaning and fulfillment in my role as a facilitator of change, growth and healing for individuals, couples, and families and therefore communities. I practice psychotherapy because I believe that inner wellness is a cornerstone of wellness in every other area of our lives.
How My Own Struggles Made Me a Better Therapist
I believe that my willingness and desire to be present with myself and my story has served me well in my work with others. Through my work with a therapist, I have experienced a healing relational context from which I have built a new framework upon which I live and love. I experience freedom from past beliefs, thought patterns and relational styles, and I consciously choose who I am and how I interact with the world around me. I grant myself the opportunity to reflect, extend grace, and grieve in order to open space and release energy so that I could live fully, volitionally, and joyously. By facing fears about what I might discover and through saying yes to the invitation of curiosity, much understanding has been gleaned and much compassion has been cultivated. By practicing kindness toward myself through my therapeutic work and through experiencing the goodness of this practice, I am able to facilitate this nurturing of compassion in others. By experiencing my own pain and process of healing, I offer richness, understanding, and wisdom to my clients in their processes.
