Seattle Individual Therapy & Counseling Services for Adults, Children, Adolescents and Teenagers

I provide individual therapy to children, adolescents, teenagers and adults in Seattle, WA. I also provide couples counseling. I view therapy as an opportunity for growth and self discovery in the context of a safe, supportive and collaborative environment. I utilize an integrative approach to psychotherapy, which includes a holistic approach to mind-body healing. This means that I take the individual, current environment, past history and additional factors into account.

I believe that the way we respond to current situations is often rooted in our past experiences and I draw on many approaches in my work. In addition to traditional talk therapy, I also use Lifespan Integration Therapy (see below), Eye Movement Desentization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) which includes Mindfulness Techniques. I may also refer you to other health care providers, such as general practice or naturopathic physicians, nurse practitioners, or psychiatrists, as indicated.

Lifespan Integration Therapy:
Lifespan Integration is a psycho-neurological / body-mind therapy. Created by Peggy Pace, MA, LMHC, LMFT, and based on early neural development research, it is a simple and straightforward therapy for anxiety, depression, attachment disorders and trauma resolution.

Lifespan Integration Therapy is body-mind based in that memory is stored in the neurological system and comes forward in recalling experiences (explicit memory) or in body sensations (implicit / before- cognition memory). LI is usually carried out in individual therapy. However, it may be done in context of couples therapy if past trauma is relevant to the disruption of intimacy in the relationship.

The LI therapy process involves first creating a Personal Lifespan Timeline of age-specific memories which is referred to, as needed, in the LI session. Often, the client may do this at home before the actual LI session. If the client has suffered recurrent, prolonged childhood neglect or trauma, (complex trauma), there may be little or no explicit memory of childhood. For some, just the creation of the timeline may trigger traumatic anxiety or flashbacks. In this case, the Personal Timeline is created with the therapist prior to the first LI session.

For more information please visit: www.lifespanintegration.com

EMDR

EMDR connects the "here and now" parts of your brain to the "there and then" trauma parts, until your brain says, "It is over. I'm okay." You focus on the memory of the traumatic event, your beliefs about it, the awareness of you're here-and-now emotions and sensations while responding to eye movements, hand taps or alternating tones. Your brain takes you through the event, and then it fades. EMDR works quickly on one-event traumas. It works more slowly on pervasive childhood trauma and neglect. EMDR has been extensively researched and proven effective. To date, EMDR has helped an estimated two million people of all ages relieve many types of psychological stress.

DBT

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a treatment that has been researched and shown to be effective with lots of different people who have lots of different life circumstances. DBT can be helpful for individuals and couples that have difficulty with interpersonal relationships, assertiveness, self - esteem, coping when life is painful, and regulating and tolerating emotions. DBT includes skills that help with mindfulness, or as Marsha Linehan (the creator of DBT) says in her Skills Training Manual, "learning to be in control of your own mind, instead of letting your mind be in control of you."