My approach to working with individuals and couples is collaborative. I believe the client brings wisdom and insight about their own needs and patterns. I appreciate the emergent and organic processes that occur in therapy. I want clients to explore what they feel compelled to share and process. I balance that need with clear and defined treatment goals that build self-efficacy, authenticity, a greater ability to work through distress, stronger relational patterns, and greater dexterity in knowing both the self and important others. I am versed in a lot of therapeutic modalities, including psychoanalysis, existential therapy, ACT, DBT, MBSR, CPT, exposure therapies, and couples and relational therapy. I tailor my approach and conceptualization to the needs and effectiveness of each client or couple.

I approach this work as a sacred, transformational journey of helping you embody your medicine, the unique presence and purpose you bring to the world. Your medicine offers the power to heal, nurture well-being, and embrace courageous wholeness. Dancing with all that obscures and blocks your true heart and spirit is a beautiful, challenging adventure of tapping into deep compassion, fierce love, and radical acceptance of yours and others authentic selves. A journey I invite you to take and am honored to support. I bridge the worlds of shamanic healing, contemporary psychotherapy, and life coaching. The blending of these modalities engages the invisible energies, the non-ordinary realities (however we each individually perceive these forces), and the physical world experiences and choices influencing our wellbeing. For more than 3 decades I have supported mine and others' journeys of healing, personal mastery, and authenticity through shamanic practice with deep integrity, compassion, fortitude, and intuition.

Are you confused, frustrated and angry? Have you invested a lot into your relationship but your partner always makes you feel "not good enough"? Are you treated like a second class citizen in your own house? Slowly even you believe that something is wrong with you? The more unfair it gets, the more you try to prove how good you are. Now you have reached the point to where you do even more for your significant other. What's wrong with that picture? Doesn't it feel like a trap? It might be and it is called Emotional Manipulation. On the surface it might sound loving and caring, but in reality it is designed to induce guilt, shame or anxiety. Without recognition, anyone would do whatever it takes to avoid those painful, negative feelings. The manipulator only needs to give "hints" or "directions" what you are expected to do and you instinctively jump to do it. It?s logical. Gradually, the manipulator controls more and more parts of your life. The emotional toll is devastating: the relationship is highly pressurized. Your Self-Esteem is deep down from the constant negative judgments. You are full of doubts about yourself and about the motives of your partner. You feel no matter what you do, you cannot change the situation. I see why you feel that way: someone else controls your emotions and behavior. Additionally, you are right when you think you cannot change the manipulator. Although there is a slim chance for change: you can change your responses to the manipulative attempts. By so doing, it changes the whole pattern. There is help and there is hope! I can help you to unveil the manipulative process, to respond differently and to override manipulation. You can restore your confidence and improve your Self-Esteem. You can create a fairer, more respectful, more balanced relationship. Please check my website for details, and don't be shy to give me a call. Free Initial Consultation I am preferred provider at First Choice Health Aetna United Behavioral Health Group Health Regence Other Insurance Companies might pay partial fee as "Out of Network Provider". Please ask your policy!

You’re capable, thoughtful, and accustomed to managing what needs to be managed. But lately, you may feel anxious, overwhelmed, stretched thin, or simply not quite like yourself. Maybe you’re navigating pregnancy or postpartum, the demands of parenting and caregiving, changes in your relationships or career, or the physical and emotional shifts of perimenopause and menopause. (Deep breath.) Hi, I’m Laurel. I offer a warm, down-to-earth space where you don’t have to have it all figured out. I’m an active and engaged therapist. I’ll listen deeply, but I won’t simply sit back and nod. We’ll make room for honest exploration and difficult emotions, alongside humor, practical tools, and kind challenge when it’s helpful. My approach is integrative and tailored to you. Sometimes that means understanding patterns, relationships, and experiences that have shaped you. Sometimes it means learning concrete ways to manage anxiety or regulate an overwhelmed nervous system. Often, it’s both. I draw from years of clinical experience and a broad foundation in psychology to help you better understand yourself in context and make changes that feel meaningful and sustainable. It is a genuine privilege to be invited into the meaningful, complicated, and vulnerable parts of my clients’ lives. Therapy can be a place to feel deeply known and accepted, while also being invited to grow. You set the pace, and your goals guide our work. I know that reaching out to a new therapist can feel like one more thing to do when you’re already overwhelmed. So, start in whatever way feels easiest. You’re welcome to send me an email, or you can schedule a free 15-minute phone or video consultation through my website. I genuinely enjoy meeting prospective clients, and there’s no pressure. We can simply talk about what’s bringing you to therapy and see whether working together feels like a good fit.

I am honored to provide psychotherapy for individuals and groups regarding life issues: work, aging, health, finances, and relationships. I work with people living with ongoing loss, such as aging, adoption, chronic illness, medical diagnoses, micro and macro aggressions, forced estrangement, or caregiving for a family member. Coping skills are formed early to survive the family-of-origin, which is a microcosm of the culture. As we age, these skills may become less adaptive, causing pain. Living authentically involves changing ways of coping with life-enhancing skills and building resilience through healing attachment issues and trauma.

Do you wonder if you and your partner are growing apart? Do you keep having the same argument, without anything changing? Do you feel like giving up? Sometimes the feelings that bring couples together get lost in the struggles of everyday life. Learn how to resolve conflicts and share feelings without arguing. Use conflict to create deeper intimacy instead of distance. I work with relationship issues almost exclusively in my practice whether it is with couples or an individual who is seeking to improve his or her relationship skills. Counseling helps couples learn to grow together instead of drifting apart. I work with couples and individuals to help them grow together and stay together. I would like to help you and your partner have a loving relationship.

Are you feeling that things are bleak and hopeless? Are you struggling with the reminders of difficult experiences in your past? Or maybe you are living with a chronic illness that has lowered your quality of life. We all feel the pull not only to survive but to thrive in our lives. Depression, anxiety, trauma, illness, and pain can limit our ability to reach our goals or even make it difficult to get through the day. These limitations are not a personal failing. Sometimes, it takes a trained professional to help us overcome or manage these personal challenges. Together, I believe we can work towards making positive changes in your life, relationships, and self.

I offer psychotherapy and counseling to individuals and groups for healing trauma and healthy transition along the lifespan. I believe that release of blocked energy transforms emotional experience and becomes a path to authentic personal and spiritual relationship. Therapy is essentially about moving energy. For example, coping skills may be developed in childhood to survive family of origin and cultural projection, and then as we age, pain results from using skills which no longer work and continue to mask the authentic self. Therapy may be about developing trust, self-forgiveness, and new coping skills while keeping parts of the original coping skill that still work. I may use systems, cognitive, developmental, psychodynamic, family-of-origin, BRAINSPOTTING CERTIFIED, EMDR CERTIFIED, EFT Tapping therapy modalities. Therapy is based on individual need, and so may include exploring conflict resolution as well as focusing and self-esteem skills. Developer of concept Chronic Loss Syndrome (non-death loss). Secure video telemedicine. Edmonds, Washington State

I use a psychodynamic, relational approach to therapy. This means I'm interested in helping you safely examine the ways in which your early experiences may be shaping your emotions, worldviews and relationship patterns. I'm committed to creating a secure therapeutic connection with you. I believe our connection can serve as a crucible for your healing and transformation. Within the safety of our relationship, I can assist you with exploring and understanding your inner feelings and needs, while helping you link new insights with effective self-care skills. Depending on your inclinations, we may focus on a single, specific challenge, or we might explore your circumstances more broadly. My primary interest is in your holistic healing and growth, and I consider it an honor to be a part of such a personal and transformational process.

I employ a bio-behavioral approach to assist in processing and integration of emotional responses and resultant problematic behaviors or relational difficulty. I espouse a biopsychosocial model that addresses both emotional and physiologic responses and their impact on individual and interpersonal functioning. I strongly believe that my clients come to me already possessing the answers to their presenting problems, and I see myself as a guide walking side by side on their path, finding ground, moving forward on the path and bringing aspirations into fruition.

My approach to counselling is warm, collaborative, and grounded in the belief that meaningful change begins with understanding ourselves more deeply. I strive to create a space where you can speak openly, feel supported, and explore difficult experiences without judgment. Our work together goes beyond simply managing symptoms. We may explore the patterns, beliefs, emotions, and past experiences that continue to influence how you respond to yourself, your relationships, and the challenges in your life. I particularly enjoy helping clients understand recurring relationship and behavioural patterns, attachment dynamics, emotional responses, and the protective strategies that may have once been helpful but are no longer serving them. I believe counselling should be both insightful and practical. Depending on your needs, I draw from CBT, DBT, person-centred therapy, somatic approaches, and parts-based work. Some sessions may involve exploring emotions and experiences more deeply, while others may focus on developing practical tools, challenging unhelpful thinking patterns, strengthening communication, or learning new ways to regulate difficult emotions. I aim to meet you where you are while also gently challenging you when it may support your growth. You don't need to have everything figured out before coming to counselling. We can work together to understand what's keeping you stuck and begin creating changes that feel meaningful and sustainable in your everyday life.