Emotionally Focused Therapists in Lake Forest Park, WA

Hello, I am an individual, couple and family therapist who helps clients learn to be with themselves and to be with others in a healthy and authentic way. I have interests in working with clients around family life transitions, anxiety and depression, and grief and loss. I work from a strength-based, humanistic, and family systems approach in that I view concerns through an individual lens but also through a much broader relational, social, cultural, spiritual, environmental context.

Life is a difficult and confusing journey for all of us. Occasionally we get "stuck" along the path. Sometimes that growth is blocked because of issues, patterns and behaviors from the past which affect the way we feel, do or react in the present. If you are experiencing issues such as depression, anxiety, stress and relationship concerns. I can offer you: a combination of heart, skill, and understanding to help you find your own solutions to these problems that face you. Through the use of solution-oriented, emotionally focused, and reality based techniques, can help you and your relationships overcome obstacles and achieve your goals.

You may be struggling to see and believe in the goodness of yourself and others because of attachment challenges with a caregiver, patterning gifted to you, past experiences or trauma, and current reinforcing experiences. You desire a change in your relationships. I support my clients in finding a compassionate and just relationship with themselves and the world around them by exploring implicit and explicit material in their historical and current narratives. I engage and help clients in an emotionally-focused and somatically-present space. My clients are ready to accept my care, heal, grow, and step into the life they desire!

I offer 100% teletherapy for adults (individuals and couples). The foundation of my practice is based on attachment and guided by research and work by Dr. Sue Johnson and Dr. John Gottman. I am passionate about helping others strengthen and build secure attachments. My work is centered around treating anxiety, depression, women’s issues, self-esteem issues, trauma, grief, and attachment disorders. The treatment modalities I utilize are attachment-based, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), feminist perspective, the Gottman Method, motivational interviewing, and Trauma Focused-CBT to name a few.

I work with people who are motivated to go deep because working on the surface has not brought results. If you are seeking therapy, it's likely that you are in some sort of pain and are looking to move through and beyond that pain to a place of greater safety and trust. Together we can commit to walking a healing path. We can address your needs for a fulfilling life in the here-and-now while processing old issues that perennially impact your ability to freely and joyfully relate to yourself and others.

Do you find yourself caught in a cycle of negative interactions with your partner, in your closest relationships, or even with yourself? I specialize in working with couples, individuals, and families to foster deeper connection and security within their relationships with self and others. Some common issues that I work with are relational conflict, anxiety, depression, and trauma. Together, with curiosity and compassion, we will explore the places where you feel stuck and create new ways of interacting with yourself and others to bring greater healing and flourishing in your life.

As a therapist, I believe that building healthy and fulfilling relationships is the foundation of change in all areas of life. I work with both couples and individual clients in identifying and achieving personal and relational goals. In therapy, we will work together to understand the struggles that a couple or individual client is facing and provide helpful tools to navigate them. I am committed to creating a safe, honest, and collaborative therapeutic space with a dash of humor, where I encourage my clients to explore and challenge their negative patterns and beliefs to produce lasting changes.

I help people heal from trauma, anxiety, and grief. You struggle in intimate relationships, being vulnerable, feeling good enough, with overwhelming emotions and/or negative thoughts, and the exhaustion of overthinking because of past painful experiences. You’ve been dealing with the same issues for years, tried solving these problems on your own, and realize you need help. You’re looking for long term solutions to long term issues.

Couples or individuals struggling with conflict, stress, or overwhelming circumstances will find a safe place here to sort their thoughts and feelings about the issues while learning to repair and create deeper connections with loved ones. As a systems therapist, I understand the challenges of life transitions and help strengthen couple relationships and family cohesion and resilience through various life challenges. For clients struggling with past family of origin issues, we work to heal difficult memories. I help clients grow from brokenness, trauma, grief and loss to find healing, hope, peace and a new direction.

Are you feeling trapped in an unending cycle that leads to frustration and pain? Whether it's the patterns within you, your relationships with your partner, children, colleagues, or friends, life can start to feel like a relentless struggle. I specialize in guiding individuals, couples, and families through breaking free from the grip of inevitable loneliness. I approach my work with unwavering empathy. My ultimate aim in each session is to provide a secure haven where you can confront these negative cycles and delve into the narrative of your life.

Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy is a research validated method in which partners learn to identify harmful and entrenched patterns within their marriage and develop the skills to engage in a new way. Your relationship may be highly reactive and conflictual or feel like an emotional desert where closeness disappeared long ago. In either case, EFT can help you create a partnership that is nourishing and a haven for personal growth. I am an advanced practitioner of EFT. I work with both heterosexual and same sex couples.