Therapists in Vashon, WA

Have you or someone you love received a recent diagnosis of a serious or terminal illness such as cancer? Has coping with a chronic illness left you feeling isolated and struggling to make sense of yourself and the world around you? Has someone you loved died and you need extra support as you grieve? Do you experience disenfranchised grief, such as divorce, facing an empty nest as children enter adulthood, aging childless when having a child is something you wanted, or any other life transition that shakes our sense of meaning and identity?

When you listen to your mind and body about what you really want, you are aware that -above all else- you want freedom: freedom to be spontaneous, to fear less, to love yourself and others without hesitation, to be present to yourself rather than being caught in the past or the future...You struggle and you sense that others may not struggle as much as you do. You want closeness but you feel cut off from yourself; it doesn't feel possible to be close to others (not in the way you would like.) You want inner freedom and have no idea how to get from where you are now to that kind of experience. What would freedom even feel like?...

Integration of traumatic memories will elicit profound change, and enable us to feel and act from the love that is inherent in all people. I believe we are best able to become more aware of ourselves through studying our relationships. I will work with you to discover how you relate to others; we will study how your brain functions to bring past experiences into the present moment, distorting your sense of self and creating conflict. Clearing trauma can enable you to differentiate between then and now, so you are more free to make conscious choices about how you relate today.

I work with individuals, couples, and families. Counseling is an art form.... the art of listening, the ability to create visual understanding of deeply embedded meaning regarded as truth vs. constructions. Healing begins when a client feels safe enough to deconstruct and replace maladaptive beliefs and behaviors. Integrating new perspectives and a fresh understanding of old stories is a means to sustainable change - a gift of self acceptance. As a therapeutic guide, I believe that each of us is the best source of our own healing....I am there to facilitate what is already true and wise in each client.

I believe good therapy is a bit like alchemy. As in alchemy we work to turn lead into gold: the heaviness of a weary psyche into the brightness of the luminescent soul. And like alchemy, even the most thorough rational or scientific understanding of the process is insufficient to account for psychological metamorphosis. I work with people who would like to use their capacity for memory and imagination as a force for change in themselves and their circumstances and I help people manifest their vision within the context of everyday life.

As humans, we are hardwired for connection, love and a felt sense of belonging. I can help you to create deeper connections in relationships that matter, with partners, friends, family, and most importantly, with yourself. Together we can create a space, for you to design what you want for your life. I offer compassionate guidance assisting individuals and couples, who have arrived at some sort of impasse in their lives. It takes courage to begin to examine one's life and relationships. Mary Oliver wrote in The Journey, "One day you finally knew what you had to do...and began."