Therapists in Freeland, WA

I embrace a solution focused cognitive behavioral approach to treatment within a humanistic framework. I help clients understand how underlying thoughts and belief systems impact behavior and trigger emotion. The outcome of healthy and integrated thinking opens up the opportunity for clients to grow and discover new modes of thinking and feeling. The result of which allows for a more meaningful and healthier way of living and relating to one's self and to the world.

What kind of life do you want? Is it important to have truthful and clear communication, loving relationships, and successful work? Whatever your traumas, losses, and fears have been, there are ways to work through and let go of the past, enjoy the present, and create hope for the future. Skills are available to handle grief, anger, depression, guilt, procrastination, and resentment while maintaining the connection to those we care for and love. Good self-esteem is produced when through positive intention and careful attention we meet our challenges and difficulties to the best of our ability and live a meaningful life.

In this time of unprecedented loss and stress due to COVID-19 and other world events such as accelerating climate change, I can help you deal with anxiety and depression. My orientation is transpersonal as I see physical and emotional issues as doorways to transformation and spiritual awakening. In my psychotherapy practice, people have achieved new levels of personal freedom and self-esteem. Together, we can enrich your quality of life and enhance your creativity. Integrative healing encompasses body, mind & spirit. We all deserve to be happy in our bodies and our lives. I work also with couples to resolve relationship issues.

I'm passionate about helping individuals and families harness their strengths and motivations to create positive change in their lives. With over a decade of experience in the mental health field, I've developed a unique approach that blends various therapeutic methods, including Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, mindfulness, trauma-informed practices, and existential therapy. Whether you're dealing with ADHD, PTSD, mood and behavior disorders, or anxiety, I'm here to support you on your journey towards healing. Let's connect and work together to achieve your goals and find a brighter path forward.

Occasionally, it is difficult to discern our needs and desires during changing stages of life or after significant life events. During these times, we may be unable to see all our available choices. Additionally, we can experience self-defeating behaviors that are barriers to experiencing the full range of life. Sometimes this is based on learned belief systems causing faulty assumptions and cognitive distortions we have adopted about ourselves, others, and life. Through therapy, I provide counseling services to a wide variety of diverse adult clients, aiding their navigation of transforming life's obstacles into opportunities.

My primary approach is based on family systems. Our values, relationships, and self-image are impacted by our culture and family and it can take time and empathy to understand their impact. Therapy may take the form of structured behavioral therapy, or of a free flowing existential conversation with the goal of helping you become centered with the awareness of the forces that surround you and the ability to understand and cope with them. I will provide a calm, non-judgmental, compassionate and supportive atmosphere in which you can learn and explore. I look forward to meeting you and hearing your story.

Hello! My name’s Chris and I have immediate openings— my hope is that we’ll be able to work as a committed team to address your most challenging mental health concerns. It is tough work facing and feeling things we typically want to avoid. As we get started, it’s important to ensure that you feel completely safe to bring your full self into session— thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Our time needs to be effective and results-driven, and in my years in practice I’ve built a skillset that utilizes evidence based practices (EBPs) in tandem with your unique strengths and innate talents and adds to your mental health toolbox.

Thank you for taking time to read more about me and my approach. Whether you are embarking on a journey of self-discovery, facing a life challenge, or seeking new ways to actualize personal/professional growth, talking with a mental health counselor can help people gain insight, break unhealthy patterns, and cultivate well-being. If you are feeling stuck, facing major changes, wanting to address emotional pain from experiences like loss, family conflict, or trauma, you are welcome. I enjoy working with couples and individuals from all walks of life, especially those within the LGBTQIA+ community.

As a therapist, I believe in being genuine, respectful and empathetic. For a therapeutic relationship to develop, clients need to feel seen and understood. I strive to help my clients understand their own emotions, cope with difficult feelings, improve their relationships with themselves and the people they care about. Years ago, as a beginning therapist, I was influenced by research showing that the critical therapeutic element in psychotherapy, regardless of the discipline, was the relationship between the therapist and the client. Contemporary research confirms the importance of relationship in fostering therapeutic change.

Deep inside of you is the awareness of what you need to heal. I help facilitate and unearth that inner wisdom with individuals, couples, and groups. Together, we'll practice tuning into your own unique embodied awareness. From there, we can translate that increased clarity into tangible action that aligns with your greatest, most authentic wellbeing. Our bodies exist within larger systems — many of which can disconnect us from ourselves and each other. We'll look together at the messages we've internalized from these systems in order to unearth the ones that are no longer helpful.

My practice is currently full. I have worked intensively with adolescents, adults, and their families for over 30 years. I work with individuals and couples to address life transitions, relationship, parenting issues, women's empowerment, and challenges including depression and anxiety. Specific foci/areas of interest include family dynamics, adolescent rebellion, strategies for success in school, ADD diagnosis and treatment plans and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). I spent two decades working with pregnant and parenting teens, and teaching childbirth education at my local hospital.

I'm honored when clients contact me because I know it takes a lot of courage to reach out when you feel stuck in your life and don't know how to move forward. I recognize there are many ways a person or couple can feel stuck, including low self-esteem, relationship difficulties, and lack of direction in their life. I see therapy as a collaborative effort between client and therapist, and requires more than just listening (though that is important) but also requires a framework or strategy to help individuals discover who they are beyond the problems that prompt them to seek a therapist.

Therapy is a process that can lead to change and growth. It is a process that involves mapping, examining, and exploring the past, the present, and the future in order to alleviate whatever symptoms, difficulties, and struggles are bringing you in. Psychotherapy can address many areas of discomfort and difficulty such as anxiety, depression, concerns regarding sexuality, self-esteem, numbness, compulsive repetition, trauma, abuse, vocation, and relationship to self and others. By thinking, talking, and imagining in a space that is confidential, we can work towards opening up possibilities and empowering transformation.

If you, or someone you care for, are having difficulties with relationships, personal challenges, emotional balance, or past trauma, I can help. I have 30 years of experience working with adults, couples, children and adolescents supporting emotional health and well being. People seek my help because they find me easy to talk with, experienced and insightful, genuine, open and supportive. My areas of expertise include: anxiety and stress management, child/adolescent/adult depression, family conflict, relationship counseling, communication skills development, anger management, adoption and attachment, sexual and physical trauma, ADD/ADHD, divorce, childhood adjustment and self-esteem.

I aim to help you cultivate a sense of home, peace, and nurturance within yourself. My approach combines somatic, attachment-based, and emotion-focused work with cognitive and action-oriented perspectives. I will work with you to develop greater self-understanding, process traumas and emotional wounds, and build a life you want to live. I commonly help clients with anxiety, depression, childhood trauma and PTSD, low self-esteem, relationship challenges, and feelings of being lost or overwhelmed with life. I also enjoy helping clients explore themes of meaning, spirituality, and expanded states of consciousness.

I work with couples and individuals who wish to address emotional, relational, and identity conflict. This involves tailoring my treatment approach to the unique needs of each client. In my couple and family work, I aim to nurture clients' skills related to intimacy, shared understanding, communication, and connectedness, while respecting each partner's need for independent growth. I believe in the healing power of human connection, and that this bond can be a path to fulfillment and meaning in everyday life. My work with individuals addresses issues related to anxiety, depression, self-esteem, grief, sexuality, dating, and career.

Clinical Psychology practice with an emphasis on clinical interviewing, psychological and neuropsychological assessment, diagnosis, as well as evidence-based therapies for teens and adults suffering from depression, social anxiety, excessive worry, low self-esteem, insomnia, relationship difficulties, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity. Therapeutic approach combines action with an emphasis on making changes in how one thinks and acts and insight with an emphasis on gaining a greater understanding of the motivations underlying one's thoughts, feelings, and relationship patterns.