Relationship Issues Therapists in Newcastle, WA

Something needs to change, you can feel it! The confusion, loss, and flashes from one emotion to another seem to turn every day upside down. Gratefully, stepping from where you and your loved ones are to where you long to be is so much more possible than you may now realize! Together we can create a better way forward.

Accepting New Clients- My name is Justin and I'm a social worker and therapist. I help my clients understand who they are and how they fit into the world around them. First-generation Asian Americans Pacific Islanders, and Black Americans experience this in unique ways. I specialize in working with AAPI and BIPOC clients and their loved ones. We can find solutions to improve quality of life while honoring important cultural/ identity values and needs for today. This work can be so empowering for you engaging relationships, dating life, marriage, partnerships and family life!

Therapy can be a powerful vehicle for insight and self-discovery. Working together, we will explore self-defeating thoughts, patterns, and behaviors so that you can cultivate a more compassionate and loving relationship with yourself and others. As we move through a process of self-discovery, one that recognizes your unique strengths, I will help you gain insight and balance so that you can more effectively meet life’s challenges and create lasting change. I believe in the resilience of the human spirit and heart to transcend and transform personal challenges.

Life has so many transitions and challenges. Fertility issues, cancer, death of a loved one, work conflicts, relationship issues, and so many more. Are you are looking for a therapist that will listen to you and provide support? Then contact me.

My therapy work is rooted in a systemic approach with children, adolescents, couples, and families experiencing trauma, anxiety, depression, relationship issues, parenting challenges, grief, etc... . Through my own identities and experiences as a 1.5 generation immigrant from the Philippines, being raised in Los Angeles, and as an educator for over 20 years, I understand the impact of harm and losses that carry from generation to generation caused by systems that are not made for us. They surface in our lives and within our relationships.

I enjoy working with adolescents, teens and adults and couples struggling with depression, bipolar, anxiety, disordered eating, relationship issues, and adjustment to life transitions. I’ve worked in the middle and high-school settings, helping adolescents and teens address issues of low self-esteem, stress and anxiety, lack of academic motivation, bullying, peer pressure, anger management, and family problems. Having had personal experience with infertility, I have a passion for working with those struggling in this area, helping them with the feelings of frustration, stress, loss and relationship challenges.

Now taking free consultations for a waitlist; no current openings. Wait is approx. 2 months. I spent a lot of time making this page perfect, then realized it was boring. This page is actually supposed to be a snapshot of what you will get in the therapy room. I’m warm, inviting, and funny, and I value this intimate space. I want this page to help you decide if we’ll work well together, not just list what I’ve done. And what you probably want to know is (a) Do I know what I'm doing? and (b) What inspires me to work with clients around anxiety, trauma, and family-of-origin issues?

Trust, initially, is not earned, it is a risk. And so it means if you experience distrust upon our first encounter, well then you might just be a member of the human race. The safer someone is, the more likely they are to venture into trust, and so this is the primary specialization of therapy, to create a space that is safe. There are varying degrees of safety, but for the most part it comes when: you can be yourself, feel acceptance and positive regard, do not have to protect yourself from abusive behavior, experience confidentiality and kindness, a willingness by someone to help, and that the person before you is authentic.

Are you hoping to better communicate, manage conflict and revamp your connection with your partner? Or are you in the midst of a major life transition? My clients struggle like you. Despite their brilliance, creativity and drive, the pressures of adapting to life's changes or communicating with their partner seem overwhelming. Before my clients came to see me, they figured that it was “too late” to make a change, and their life “is what it is.” They feared that if they took any drastic steps to improve their lives, it would be considered “selfish.” The fear of change, but also the fear of never changing created tension and anxiety.

Are you the person everyone depends on to have it together? The friend they call when they need support, the manager they trust to complete the important projects, the daughter they lean on the most. You’re kind, empathetic, and extremely capable, yet somehow these traits are used against you. You’re constantly thinking of you’re to-do list, but there’s never enough time. You pride yourself on giving 100% but it's impossible to do anymore. And you wish you had someone YOU could lean on. I support women as they learn to prioritize themselves, build their self-confidence, and start living lives that actually fill them with joy.