Existential Therapists in Seattle, WA

Sometimes you just need a safe and confidential space to sort it all out. Life and relationships can challenge us to our very limits as we try to love other people and hold onto our own sense of self at the same time. It can feel overwhelming to navigate the emotions, interaction cycles, and patterns at play in relationships. As difficult as these challenges are, they are ultimately the key to our personal growth and development. I work with couples who want a better partnership, and want to feel heard, valued, and understood. I help them find genuine connection in their emotional, mental, spiritual, and intimate relationship.

You might be ready for a change, but you’re feeling frozen. You might be struggling with bad memories, but worry that addressing them might mean you have to relive them. You might want to express your needs, but you don’t know how to say it or feel shut down. When I started therapy as a client years ago, my thoughts were: how will I tell a stranger about my personal life? What if they’re secretly judging me? Can I be helped? What if there’s just something wrong with me? These thoughts about therapy are totally normal. We will go at your pace in this process, I won’t judge you, and believe that there is nothing wrong with you.

I provide non-judgmental care for Sexual and Gender Outsiders. *NOTE* I do NOT return phone calls without a Voicemail message requesting a return call and letting me know if it is safe to leave a message. My additional clinical specialties involve working with the chronically ill and high-achieving clients who struggle with impostor syndrome and perfectionism. I am currently accepting new clients.

So...the news isn't good. Anxiety, trauma, and stress are at all-time highs. Jobs that promised satisfaction fall short. And then you go and surprise yourself with a drinking problem, depression, or overwhelming burnout. You might work in a demanding field, like medicine, tech, or finance. There's been a HUGE amount of normalization for mental health issues recently. And while that's been all to the good, you still need help sorting through things: why do I keep finding myself in the same place, over and over again? Or...how did I end up in this unknown place, and do I even want to be here? TikTok isn't cutting it.

It was a long time coming, but somehow, it still doesn’t feel real. You spent so much time and energy building a life with your spouse. But now that the marriage is over, it feels like it was all for nothing. The bright future you’ve been dreaming about is destroyed – the new one is dark and frightening. You can’t stop thinking about where things went wrong. Is it my fault? Should I have done something differently? Have I made a huge mistake? You’ve defined your identity as part of this relationship for so long that you’re unsure who you are outside of it. And you’re scared to make a new plan for your life when the last one failed.

I am passionate about helping you reach your potential. We accomplish this together through a psychoanalytic, interpersonal, mind-body-spirit integration that draws on your strengths and resources. I believe psychoanalysis and psychotherapy are not about fixing what is wrong, but about using what is working well for you and deepening your skills to increase your health, well-being, and overall freedom and flexibility. I care deeply about providing excellent care, and trying out new ways of relating and understanding yourself that will lead you to optimize your health and connections with others.

Being human is both beautiful and hard. Along with joy and happiness, we can feel anxious, depressed or experience other forms of emotional distress. Together, we will investigate what your experiences of grief, loneliness, isolation, and anxiety may be trying to tell you about your life and where it may be possible to change these conditions to find more joy and happiness. We will explore larger questions about what it means to be human. As a therapist at Self Space, I seek to create a safe space where you can feel seen, heard, and understood so that you can have the courage to look inward and discover what may be holding you back.

I work with adult individuals of all ages and genders dealing with a range of issues. I especially love working with anxiety, existential concerns, grief, identity challenges, and struggles with family and relationships. I enjoy helping clients navigate life transitions and make meaning out of painful or challenging experiences. I view therapy as a collaborative process and I take a relational, client-centered approach.

I often describe therapy similar to the saying "everyone has baggage". It can be difficult to hold your own baggage while sorting the contents, trying to organize the things inside, or trying to find something you lost. My role is to hold your baggage to allow you the space, time, and understanding to do what you need to with what is inside.

Behind so much of how we think, what we long for, and how we relate to ourselves and others lies unacknowledged shame, trauma, and the strategies we developed, sometimes very early on, to cope with and hide these realities from ourselves. These make up the “muscle memory” of our emotional worlds, which cannot always be easily recalled, but determine our lives nonetheless. Therapy aims to cultivate awareness of what lies underneath in disconnected, dissociated ways, and provides a space to move through the pain, accept, and integrate the past so that it no longer repeats itself in our lives.

Therapy can be a space to pause, explore, bring curiosity and play. I do not view therapy as a place to fix or even “cure”. Rather my approach is grounded in the core belief that it is in and through safe, respectful connection that we find meaning, emotional health, and wellness. When pain and stuck places are given compassionate and non-judgmental attention, one can often access greater self-compassion, connection and possibility. One can explore opening, loosening, and shifting patterns and ways of being, with the goal of creating new ways to learn and listen to all of our parts.

I am a licensed psychologist who is skilled in Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Solution Focused Therapy. I also integrate client-centered, existential, and gestalt approaches, and tailor them to client’s unique needs and goals. My specialties include relationship difficulties, depression, career concerns, work stress, anxiety/panic attacks, identity issues (sexual, developmental, racial), and cross-cultural relationship.

Relational in nature, my approach to therapy is rooted in witness rather than analysis. I believe that healing is the result of being truly seen by a compassionate other. In our time together, you can expect me to set all judgements aside in order to create space for your unique complexities to unfold. In this opened clearing, we will do the work of therapeutic integration so you can rediscover that sense of wholeness that was always there even when obscured.

Accepting new clients! Let's work together with compassion and creativity to align you with your goals. Collectively, we can illuminate deeper insights, shed light on behavioral patterns, tend to emotional wounds, and clarify aspects of your identity and values. I work with adult individuals, and adolescents. I hold extensive experience within the LGBTQ+ community, and specialize in treating symptoms of anxiety and depression. I also provide support for those at the intersection of transition, individuals experiencing grief and loss, those healing from trauma, navigating chronic and terminal illness, and those overwhelmed by burnout

I specialize in grief and loss; LGBTQ+ issues; depression and anxiety; and trauma processing. I approach therapy from a place of curiosity, humor, and collaboration. It can be difficult to go through challenges alone and sometimes we need an outside perspective to challenge the unhelpful and negative narratives we have constructed for ourselves during those challenging times. I am here to help uncover and create a narrative that reflects your strengths and intrinsic identity.

I love working with adults and older adults. I often work with people on anxiety, depression, trauma, and difficulty with life transitions. My approach is supportive, warm, and nonjudgmental. My theoretical orientation is eclectic, drawing on humanistic, existential, and narrative approaches as well as skills-based frameworks such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical-behavior behavior therapy (DBT). I work with a feminist, social-justice focused, and antiracist lens to appreciate the ways in which people and their wellbeing are affected by systems of oppression and how this may challenge or connect us in therapy.

I offer therapy for adults and have professional experience with a variety of populations. I bring my heart to our sessions and you can expect an approach that demonstrates dignity, compassion, and genuine care. I approach therapy with respect for the unique experiences of each person. My intention is to help create awareness of yourself and your capabilities, allowing for greater personal freedom. While I rely heavily on training and professional experience, I also believe that each person is the greatest expert about themselves.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver / In most of our lives, there isn’t space for everything we want to be & become. Frustrations & anxieties arise when we feel we aren’t living our best life or have forgotten what thriving feels like. Yet our parts that have been called unworthy, often carry our greatest strengths & giftings. Wherever you are in your journey, it is an honor to walk alongside you. Whether this is your first experience with therapy or you're continuing work from before, each session is attuned to your specific goals & needs.

Are you struggling with loss of identity and heightened anxiety? Do you experience anger and feelings of powerlessness? This can be a common experience for those with marginalized identities. I'm an ideal fit for those struggling with issues related to sexual health, neurodivergence, and/or systemic trauma…and those from marginalized backgrounds. In addition, I am a trained death doula who enjoys working with chronic illness and grief. Together we will reduce shame and guilt and increase self-esteem. You deserve to feel seen and heard - you deserve to take up space and to feel empowered.