Couples Counseling Therapists in Anacortes, WA

I can offer you and your spouse, partner or family, Therapy to Support your Life. I have been trained in many modalities and work with my clients in the way that best suites your personality and communication style. I have been a therapist for over three decades working with individuals and family groups to heal wounds, promote understanding, forgiveness and compassion. Strengthen your self Image, become your best self, express your highest potential and awaken your creativity. Live a happy, awakened and conscious LIFE. I can assist and support you in empowering and creating the present and future you desire.

Are you struggling with life? Have you been trying to figure things out on your own but feel like you are not making progress? Do you wish you had more effective tools to help you navigate your problems? Do you want to become your best self? Sometimes we need someone to come alongside of us and help. I am passionate about working with clients to help them gain new perspectives, insights, and skills in an honest, supportive, collaborative, and non-judgmental way. Coming to counseling will be the beginning of a new you! As a Christian therapist, I also offer counseling from a Biblical perspective to help clients on their journey.

Are you concerned about your own or someone else's substance use or addictive behavior? Worry, confusion, shame, making excuses to others, relationship struggles, accidents and just getting through each day are typical signs of trouble with drugs and alcohol, gambling, technology or other addiction. If you have been or are exposed to another's addiction you are likely effected by this disease. I understand and want to help you by offering my 30 years of professional and personal experience. If you think you may have a problem and are ready to create happiness, peace, confidence with my support and help, contact me. There is hope!

I love serving my community in Anacortes and surrounding areas. I have a wide range of expertise. I offer counseling for individuals, couples and minors. I work with all ages, especially children and teens, and take state insurances. I have significant experience working with couples, especially in domestic violence situations and in family reunification. I am also a Guardian Ad Litem for Island county.

Working with people facing numerous challenges has shown me incredible resiliency and an amazing capacity for growth found within every human spirit. Together we will seek to discover these potentials within you. It is my belief that our nature as social beings brings an abundance of life nourishing solutions. I offer 23+ years of professional and volunteer experience successfully helping people achieve their individual and relationship goals. Please feel free to inquire about my services through a free initial 20 minute phone consultation at: 360-708-1087.

As a licensed psychotherapist and coach specializing in loss and transition, I support people of all ages before, during and after serious loss by: Providing practical tools for coping with serious illness, death, divorce, retirement and other life transitions, allowing the pain of loss to serve as an opportunity for positive change. Facing loss can remind us of what we value most providing opportunity to consciously make choices that re- affirm these values in all aspects of our lives. Over time, this process of reaffirming and recreating our lives reveals the skills, gifts and talents we bring to the world.

I offer counseling services for adults, couples and teens in Anacortes, Washington. Remote services are available if you live in Washington State. My areas of expertise include working with clients who are recovering from: historical and complex trauma, work-related burnout, body and food related issues, anxiety and depression. I also love working with couples, adolescents and parents who need help with challenging parent-child dynamics. I use a variety of trauma and attachment informed techniques (internal family systems, emotion-focused & somatic approaches) and anti-oppression theories to guide my work.

I have been working in counseling and mental health for over 30 years. In my practice, I work with both couples and individuals. Currently, I mainly work with couples using Gottman Method Couples Therapy. I like to focus on specific changes that my clients want in their lives, build on skills and mitigate the impact of old emotional and behavioral habits that no longer serve life as it is now. It is important to look at all aspects of life: mental, emotional, behavioral and spiritual; quality of relationships, even diet and exercise, in building a positive, satisfying and fulfilling life.

Serving as a minister and earning a PhD in Counseling Psychology equipped me to care for people in crises. Working with vulnerable children and their families or caregivers, also proved to be a valuable foundation for clinical care. In a medical academic setting, training residents in the use of spirituality and psychology as they cared for their patients, deepened my own understanding of just how complex clinical issues can become. This also increased my understanding of the level of stress healthcare providers and victims themselves experience during illness.

At Hope Clinic Behavioral Health, my approach is based on a person-centered and cognitive-behavioral therapy philosophy of care as I work with individuals, couples, and youth in need of support. Together we outline approaches that best match your needs and goals. I strive to use my experience, and honest and open style of communication to act as a positive support to help you establish and fulfill therapeutic and life goals, providing psychotherapy in accordance with an evidence-based practice recovery model. If you're a couple reaching out for support, I will work with you to encourage a deeper connection and accountability.

Sessions with me will include open and honest conversations about your past and present while of course exploring and helping you to create your hopes for the future. I begin helping you, or you and your partner, from an understanding that growth and change can be both scary and exciting. I meet my clients wherever they are, and work with them in a non-judgmental and supportive manner to build a life of meaning, both in relationship to themselves and in relationship to others.

I work with clients to clarify their goals and then figure out what we can do to support those goals and identify anything that has been interfering with achieving those goals. In other words, I start with focusing on the future, not the past. I prioritize understanding over suggestions because I believe that once people understand what they want they will make healthy choices.

Choosing to explore therapy can elicit a number of emotional responses. For some, this is an important step in recognizing an issue and deciding to move toward resolve. Others may experience a lack of clarity in regards to what exactly needs to change and uncertainty about entering therapy. No matter where you are in your healing, I offer a safe and personal therapeutic process to fit your specific needs. My goal is to work toward your desired outcome by offering a collaborative and supportive exploration of your concerns while utilizing an integrative style of therapeutic modalities that are all firmly established through research.

I love working with the seekers - the ones who are feeling stuck in relationships or patterns, who have as deep a desire to understand as to move beyond. I am here for the psychologically curious - those who want insight and meaning while they strive to create a life that isn't painful all the time. Your pain needs to be tended to, but your capacity for joy and fun and play must simultaneously be cultivated. Life is complicated and problematic. Our power lies in our creative and flexible responses to our setbacks.

During my career, I've worked with many diverse individuals, couples, and families to find healing and restoration from a variety of complicated and often very messy problems. I offer a unique measure of acceptance, support, and assistance for my clients. Besides my experience and training, I've personally struggled with difficult life issues myself. I know healing is possible and I am committed to helping you find it. If you choose to work with me, together we'll discover the root causes of your predicament and strive toward making changes that will ultimately lead to greater happiness and satisfaction.

The intention I have is to explore with you your desire to have a more healthy balance in the emotional, mental, spiritual, and physical aspects of your life. A central question that I keep in mind is: "how can I be helpful?" I encourage my clients to make overall goals for our counseling relationship as well as for each appointment. Your happiness and freedom is my goal. My hope is to create together an atmosphere of safety, respect and trust. My focus is to encourage my clients' exploration of their own personal power, wisdom and resources for understanding, healing and happiness.

You want to break free from painful relationship issues, self-defeating behaviors, and just feeling "stuck." The wonderful thing about therapy is that it provides you with a sense of relief - with hope that things CAN get better - by giving you a safe, respectful and non-judgmental space to speak freely about what is troubling you, or what is painful in your relationship. I work to create a safe, respectful and supportive environment that alleviates feelings of aloneness, and facilitates connection, awareness, healing and positive change.

I am accepting new clients. Are you seeking honest and useful feedback? Stuck in thoughts, feelings or behaviors that are causing distress? Are "blind spots" causing conflict, depression or anxiety? My counseling practice is guided by 3 core beliefs: (1) Past or current Emotional stress creates imbalance which affects perception, feelings and/or behavior. (2) Awareness of the origins of Imbalance and how it manifests in your relationship with yourself or others is necessary for change. (3) Feeling supported, validated and challenged to incorporate small, realistic change will help you re-balance and move forward with your life.

With your partner: Do you feel alone in your relationship? Are you recovering from infidelity or broken trust? Do you want to communicate in a way that pulls for your partner's understanding and connection? For yourself: Do you want to resolve your internal conflicts? Do you want to learn self-compassion and feel at peace with yourself? Do you want to break negative patterns in your relationships? I'm here to help. Over the past 15 years, I've helped hundreds of couples and individuals create emotional security, happiness, and connection through evidence-based and empirically validated therapy methods.