Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapists in Lake Stevens, WA

I believe our wounds point us in the direction of healing. I provide a warm, supportive, and non-judgemental space for clients. I support clients with issues such as anxiety, depression, transitions, relationships, and identity. I am trained in Counseling, Art Therapy, and EMDR and have experience and enjoy working with clients from diverse backgrounds.  

My therapeutic roots are in attachment and complex trauma, the relational wounds that shape how we move through the world and who we let close. I work with anyone navigating the layered terrain of identity and connection. For couples, I specialize in ENM and polyamorous relationships, interracial and cross-cultural partnerships, and discernment counseling for couples weighing whether to stay or go. I also work with individuals carrying complex childhood or relational trauma—the kind that doesn’t just affect how you feel, but how you attach, trust, and show up in relationships. My clients often feel caught between worlds, wanting to feel seen and understood without having to explain everything. In our work, we slow down, explore what’s happening underneath the surface, and create room for healing and growth.  

My path to becoming a mental health counselor is deeply personal. After experiencing trauma in 2010, counseling became a turning point in my life. It not only helped me heal but also gave me the confidence to return to school and pursue an entirely new career. Looking back, I feel tremendous gratitude for the growth I experienced and for the people who supported me along the way. That experience shaped the counselor I am today. Since becoming a mental health counselor in 2019, I have been passionate about helping people navigate life's challenges with compassion, curiosity, and hope. I believe that healing is possible, even when life feels overwhelming, and that therapy can be a place where meaningful change begins. My early professional experience includes volunteering with hospice, supporting individuals living with brain injuries and dementia, working with people facing chronic and terminal illnesses during my internship, and providing care through EvergreenHealth's In Home Mental Health program. These experiences have strengthened my appreciation for the resilience of the human spirit and deepened my commitment to helping people grow, adapt, grieve, heal, and find acceptance when life presents difficult realities. I strive to create a safe, collaborative, and nonjudgmental space where clients feel heard and understood. Whether you're working through trauma, coping with illness, navigating life transitions, or simply feeling stuck, my goal is to meet you where you are and support you in creating a life that feels more authentic and fulfilling. Outside of my work as a therapist, I'm a self-proclaimed plant nerd. I hold a bachelor's degree in Herbal Medicine, and my love of plants reflects my appreciation for growth, resilience, and the healing that can happen over time—both in nature and in ourselves.  

I am a trauma-informed Social Worker who provides counseling to individuals, couples, families, and polycules. I support my Clients to live on their own terms and have the best life that they can. My goal is to support the dignity, autonomy, and self-expression of everyone and work within a feminist, anti-racist, liberatory framework. I believe in freedom and vitality for all people everyone and have been working towards that world for decades. I believe in supporting my Clients to pursue their own goals in therapy and to live according to their own values.  

Welcoming the Smart and Unusual! I provide counseling and coaching services for adults as individuals and in various relationship groupings, including couples, extended and 'chosen' families, and alternative family structures such as polycules. Contact me for a free consult, and let's see if we're a fit.  

Hi, I’m Ryan. I became a therapist because I know how powerful it can be to have someone genuinely in your corner. Someone who sees the good in you when you’re struggling to see it yourself, who stays grounded when life feels overwhelming, and who believes that your current circumstances do not have to define your future. I believe people are capable of meaningful change, even after years of feeling stuck, lonely, anxious, disconnected, or shaped by painful experiences. Sometimes we simply need a relationship in which we feel safe enough to be honest, supported enough to take risks, and gently challenged enough to begin doing things differently. I hope to offer that kind of relationship to my clients. My path to becoming a therapist has not been entirely conventional. I grew up in Bellingham, Washington, earned degrees abroad in Italy and Spain, and previously worked as both a marketer and a psychometrist before entering the counseling profession. Living in different countries and moving through several professional worlds taught me to be curious about people. Their stories, cultures, relationships, contradictions, and the experiences that shape how they see themselves. In therapy, I want to know the person behind the symptoms. I want to understand what you long for, what keeps getting in the way, what you learned about yourself growing up, and who you might become if fear, shame, trauma, or self-doubt were no longer making so many of your decisions. You do not need to arrive with the perfect explanation for what is wrong. You may simply know that you feel lonely, overwhelmed, disconnected from yourself, haunted by the past, or tired of repeating the same relationship patterns. You may be outwardly successful while privately feeling insecure or lost. You may want deeper relationships but find yourself withdrawing, avoiding vulnerability, choosing unavailable partners, or questioning whether anyone could truly understand you. Whatever brings you here, you do not have to perform or pretend with me. I aim to create a space where you can speak honestly. Even about the thoughts, experiences, desires, fears, and parts of yourself that feel difficult to share elsewhere. My style is warm, grounded, direct, and deeply human. I will listen without judgment, but I will not simply nod along with everything you say. When helpful, I will gently challenge the beliefs or patterns that may be keeping you stuck. I believe we can be compassionate toward ourselves while also taking responsibility for creating change. Therapy with me is both insight-oriented and action-oriented. We will explore how early relationships, childhood experiences, unconscious beliefs, and protective behaviors may still influence your life today. I take an Adlerian and psychodynamic approach, meaning I am interested in the deeper story beneath your current struggles. However, I do not believe your past permanently determines who you are. Awareness gives us choices. Once we understand why a pattern developed and what purpose it once served, we can begin deciding whether it still belongs in the life you want today. Insight is important, but I also want therapy to extend beyond the hour we spend together. Depending on your goals, I may suggest small behavioral challenges (what I sometimes call “missions”) to help you practice new ways of relating to yourself and others. That might involve initiating an uncomfortable conversation, setting a boundary, reaching out to someone instead of isolating, tolerating the possibility of rejection, making eye contact, expressing a need, or interrupting a pattern of avoidance. These challenges are collaborative and paced carefully. The goal is not to overwhelm you or push you before you are ready. Instead, we gradually build your capacity to do things that once felt impossible. Little by little, you begin gathering evidence that you can survive discomfort, respond differently, and become more secure in yourself. I also use evidence-based approaches such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, or EMDR, as well as Cognitive Processing Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. These approaches can be especially helpful when painful memories, traumatic experiences, intrusive thoughts, or deeply rooted negative beliefs continue to affect your relationships and daily life. We can discuss these options together and determine what feels most appropriate for you. Therapy is not one-size-fits-all, and I want you to understand and feel comfortable with the work we are doing. Many of the people who feel drawn to my practice are young adults, members of Gen Z and the millennial generation, and people who want to build more meaningful relationships. I often work with men experiencing loneliness, insecurity, relationship difficulties, or questions related to sexual identity. I particularly value working with gay and bisexual men and hope to provide a space where you can explore identity, dating, intimacy, coming out, attachment, and relationship dynamics without having to explain or defend who you are. I also enjoy working with women navigating attachment concerns, dating patterns, motherhood, single parenthood, major transitions, and the desire to form healthier, more secure relationships. Across identities, I tend to connect well with people who are introspective, curious about themselves, and ready to move toward a life that feels more authentic, even if they are not yet sure how to get there. My goal is not for therapy to become the only place where you feel known and supported. I want the trust we build together to ripple outward into the rest of your life. Over time, I hope you become more comfortable expressing yourself, navigating conflict, forming close relationships, recovering from setbacks, and allowing others to truly know you. Ultimately, my goal is to help you build a life so full, secure, and meaningful that you no longer need therapy in the same way. Outside of my work, I enjoy spending time with my fiancé, family, and friends. I love being outdoors, walking through neighborhoods and cities, riding my bike, growing food, and working on DIY and home-renovation projects. I also practice Vipassana meditation, although, like many people, not quite as consistently as I would like. These parts of my life help me stay curious, grounded, and connected to the ordinary moments that make life feel meaningful. Choosing a therapist is deeply personal. Training and therapeutic methods matter, but so does the feeling you have when you speak with someone. You deserve a therapist with whom you can gradually lower your guard and feel more like yourself. A free consultation is an opportunity for us to talk, for you to ask questions, and for you to get a sense of my personality and approach without pressure. You do not need to commit before knowing whether the connection feels right. I would be honored to meet you, hear what has been happening in your life, and explore whether I might be the person to walk alongside you as you begin creating something different.  

I offer trauma-informed virtual therapy intensives for adults who need more flexibility, depth, or support than traditional weekly therapy can provide. Intensives give us dedicated time to move beyond surface-level coping and work more deeply with trauma, emotional patterns, relationship wounds, or experiences that feel stuck. You’ll leave with greater understanding of your patterns, practical tools for regulation, and a clearer path forward. Intensives are designed around your needs and capacity, with accommodations for chronic illness, fluctuating energy, sensory needs, and other factors that can make conventional therapy difficult. My approach integrates somatic, trauma-focused, and parts-based therapies, with the flexibility to take breaks, move, change positions, or adjust the pace as needed—all from the comfort of your own environment.  

You deserve a space where you don’t have to explain or shrink who you are. I work from a queer-affirming, trans-affirming, and trauma-informed lens to support individuals navigating identity, transition, relationships, and major life changes. Many of my clients come in feeling overwhelmed, disconnected from their authenticity, or unsure of the next step. Together we create space to slow down, explore, and reconnect with yourself. My approach is warm, collaborative, and grounded in empowerment. Whether you're questioning, in transition, or working through old patterns, I’m here to support you in building a life that feels aligned with your truth. Therapy with me isn’t about “fixing” you. It’s about helping you feel seen, grounded, and understood.  

You deserve therapy that already gets you, not therapy where you spend half the hour explaining yourself. I'm Sarah, a queer, neurodivergent, non-monogamous, kink-informed LICSW with 14 years of experience, and I created Courageous You for people whose full selves have sometimes felt like too much for the therapy room. My specialties are Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) and Somatic EMDR therapy - deeply supported, body-informed approaches that can help when trauma, depression, burnout, or long-held patterns just haven't shifted through talk therapy alone. I share these communities and identities myself, so you truly won't have to translate your life for me.  

My role is as collaborator, guide, coach and empathetic listener. Together we will work to explore your goals and how I can best support your journey there. I believe clients can become the heroes of their lives and help them tap into their own wisdom and healing capacity.