My belief is that one of the most important elements of therapy is the experience of a safe and trusting relationship. In the context of this relationship one can increase self-awareness, learn new skills, challenge old beliefs, and remove barriers that hinder personal growth and development. You are the best expert on your own life, and I view my role as a support and guide on your journey. My approach to counseling is strengths-based and tailored to meet the unique needs of each client. I view the individual in the context of the larger system, and stress the central role that relationships and family play in influencing behavior. Clients are encouraged to set their own goals for therapy and be active participants in their own treatment. While the primary form of treatment typically involves client-therapist dialogue, a variety of interventions may be drawn from, including Cognitive-Behavioral therapy, and expressive modalities such as the use of art, play, and sand tray.
More Info About My Practice
I provide perinatal and postpartum counseling for women and their families, which may encompass such things as: preconception counseling, birth choices counseling, mindful pregnancy, labor, and parenting, prenatal and postpartum adjustment, birth trauma resolution, preparing abuse survivors for birth, grief and loss issues (including infertility and neonatal loss), and parenting consultation and support. Individual, family, and group counseling is also available for children, adolescents, and adults. Other areas of therapeutic specialty include: attachment and bonding, foster care and adoption issues, parental post-adoption anxiety and depression, the impact of trauma and abuse, and emotional and behavioral disorders of childhood. In addition to my private psychotherapy practice, I am a Certified HypnoBirthing Practitioner. I offer private childbirth instruction for growing families. HypnoBirthing shows women how to use their natural instincts to bring about a safer, easier, more comfortable birthing. Emphasis is placed on pregnancy and childbirth, as well as on pre-birth parenting and the consciousness of the pre-born baby. For more information please visit www.blossombirthandbaby.com. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Washington, and a Master of Arts in Psychology from Antioch University Seattle. In addition, I received a Post-Graduate certification in Foster Care and Adoption Therapy, also from Antioch University. I have received additional training in the areas of attachment and bonding, trauma-focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, and in the creative modalities of play therapy, animal-assisted therapy, and horticultural therapy. I have fifteen years of experience in the social services, providing advocacy and counseling for adult female survivors of domestic violence and their children, and extensive experience providing therapy and case management to high-risk youth and families with multi-system involvement. I currently serve on the Board of Directors for Postpartum Support International of Washington, and am the Washington State Co-Coordinator for Postpartum Support International.
