Experiential Therapy in Anacortes, WA

I enjoy and am qualified to help individuals, couples, or families navigate life's challenges, whether personal, with a partner, family, or peers. You will find that I am respectful, personable, open, knowledgeable, and humorous in my sessions. All faiths, or lack thereof, are welcome. I am experienced with grief, loss, trauma, PTSD, depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, bipolar, schizophrenia, autism, ODD, and OCD. My therapeutic approach involves collaborating with clients to identify and enlist their strengths or resources to improve their quality of life.

People were created for meaningful relationships with one another. Everyone has a unique story they want to share, and therapy provides space and openness to explore this journey. Due to our environment, culture, family background and life circumstances, we look at life through a lens that shapes our present thoughts and behaviors. The psychotherapeutic modalities I use in treatment are Solution Focused Therapy, Emotion Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Experiential Therapy, Object Relations Therapy, and Structural and Strategic Family Therapy. Marriage and Family therapists look at the entire family system.

My therapy work is rooted in a systemic approach with children, adolescents, couples, and families experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, parenting challenges, grief, etc... . Through my own identities and experiences as a 1.5 generation immigrant from the Philippines, being raised in Los Angeles, and as an educator for over 20 years, I understand the impact of harm and losses that carry from generation to generation caused by systems that are not made for us. They surface in our lives and within our relationships.

Hurts from past experiences can create emotional and mental roadblocks that can keep us from achieving the quality of life and relationships we long for. If the problems in your life are causing you to feel anxious, stuck or alone there is hope. Therapy can offer the support and tools to help you heal, learn and grow so you can overcome the challenges in your life. I believe that developing healthy self-esteem and secure relationship bonds are key to emotional and mental well-being. I work with teens, couples and adults to build on their strengths and improve their relationship with self and others.

I think life can be compared to a Hero’s Journey. While we may not have the same linear storyline with visible obstacles and hard earned victories, we are on a journey nonetheless. Therapy can help us explore the uncharted domains of our psyche, our overwhelming fears, our surprising heroic capabilities, and our joy. I use an integration of many therapeutic modalities in order to explore this including relational psychodynamic therapy, somatic/body psychotherapy, and attachment based therapy creating a more experiential and formative experience overall.

My specialties are managing depression/anxiety, healing trauma, and relationship enhancement. I also enjoy working with individuals and families facing addiction, especially process addictions such as social media, pornography, gambling, and food. My style is best described as experiential, which means that we learn and grow through experience (rather than being told what to do). I view everyone's problems in the context of their life, history, and relationships. As a somatic practitioner, I believe that our body is our most effective healing tool.

I use a compassionate, holistic, person-centered approach because I recognize that you are the expert on you, and that exploring vulnerability began with you choosing to reach out for support. Because you are an individual with your own collection of needs and goals, I draw on several practices and modalities, including: Strengths-based Therapy; Narrative Therapy; Experiential Therapy; Somatic Therapy; nonviolent communication; personality typing; core values; identifying and holding boundaries; processing personal, social, and cultural roles; and achieving your best Identity of Self.

Do you feel like your partner just doesn’t hear you? Do you have the same fight over and over without resolution? Maybe you’re desperate for more emotional and sexual intimacy and don’t know how to get your needs met. Or perhaps you feel alone even when they’re right beside you. Let’s work together to better your communication, resolve conflict, create a stronger, more secure attachment, and learn how to express and receive your emotional and sexual needs. I support all relationship dynamics and structures, especially LGBTQIA+, kink, BDSM, and polyamorous/ENM.

In times that can seem harsh and unfair, it can be hard to find a way forward. I believe that our problems are not “all in your head.” There are real reasons we feel the way we feel, and those reasons and feelings deserve to be heard and honored. Systemic oppression, world events, and childhood experiences have a real effect on us. If the world has ever told you who you are is “not okay”, it may feel dangerous just to exist in certain spaces, let alone to act on your feelings and desires. I hope our work will help you better understand how to unite your Self, your values, and your circumstances to build the life you want to live.

I work collaboratively with you to identify stories or obstacles posing problems in your life so you can move through them. Whether you are a teen, an adult, a couple, or a family system, I utilize an integrative approach that is holistic and strength-based, supporting you in making peace with the past & the present, in order to live in a healthy balance of mind, body, & spirit. I work from a multicultural & justice-oriented context; am LGQBT+ friendly, & support you in your individual belief system, exploring the way dominant narratives have impacted you. I have experience working with complex trauma & grief.

Therapy is an incredible tool for healing, exploration, and liberation. I am specially trained in lending a neutral ear as you navigate new truths and find growth in old wounds. As a relationship therapy specialist, I know that enriching connections to Self, Partners, Family, and Community are key to achieving the high quality of life that you deserve. My role is to help you gain confidence, truth, and a chance to re-author your life’s narrative. I work with individuals, people in relationships (couples, spouses, polycules, etc.), and families of all kinds. I draw from a strengths-based narrative approach that is client-centered.

Our lives are the context for tremendous brokenness and tremendous beauty. I would love to walk alongside you as you tend to the brokenness and discover the beauty. I specialize in supporting individuals and couples towards healing and hope using research based therapy approaches. I provide a safe place to process life changes or relationship challenges. I work from a systems perspective, meaning issues do not exist in isolation but in the context of families, communities, and cultures.

Throughout my life, I have always been drawn to both art and psychology. I believe that art has a unique ability to transcend words and touch the deepest parts of our being. It allows us to express and explore our emotions, thoughts, and experiences in a nonverbal and often cathartic way. Art therapy, as an integrative discipline, embraces this concept and offers a therapeutic space where individuals can find healing, self-discovery, and empowerment.

I believe in providing the highest level of personalized therapeutic care for each client by integrating techniques from traditional and evidenced based therapies. I seek to understand each person from a systemic perspective and use an experiential approach that creates a secure environment where self-awareness, healing, and change can occur.