Behavioral therapists in Lakewood, WA

Hi, I'm Dr. Annette Tardif, a licensed Counseling Psychologist who is passionate about guiding women in pain towards their best lives. I believe you deserve to find freedom in your circumstances and live to your fullest potential. Pain shouldn’t stop you. I use interventions that impact the whole you, are informed by social justice and up-to-date research, and are realistic to use.  

I believe therapy should be a space where you feel comfortable, understood, and supported as you navigate life’s challenges. My approach is compassionate and empowering—I work collaboratively with you to uncover patterns in your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that may be holding you back. Together, we’ll identify these cycles and develop tools to help you break free from them, build healthier ways of thinking, and create lasting change. My goal is to help you strengthen self-awareness, increase emotional resilience, and move toward a more balanced and fulfilling life.  

ADHD Testing and treatment available: New patients seen the same week. Are you struggling with ADHD, anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder, insomnia, or other mental health challenges? You do not have to face them alone. I have over 8 years of medical experience caring for adolescents and adults across a variety of mental health settings. I am a board-certified Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and I see patients ages 10-65.  

Everyone at times needs some support or coaching on their life journey. I'd be happy to sit down with you or talk on the phone and compassionately listen to your story and lend some hope and encouragement. I view "problems" as opportunities to work on and overcome the 'threats' within and around us and to open up our lives to new levels of growth.  

My approach to mental health care is collaborative, compassionate, and rooted in the belief that each person’s story matters. I work with teens and adults who are navigating challenges such as anxiety, depression, ADHD, stress, and life transitions. My goal is to create a supportive space where you feel heard, understood, and empowered to move toward meaningful change. In our work together, I combine psychiatric medication management with brief therapeutic support. This allows us to address symptoms while also exploring practical strategies that improve daily functioning, resilience, and overall wellbeing. I believe mental health is influenced by many factors, including stress, sleep, lifestyle, and physical health. I take a whole-person approach when developing treatment plans. Seeking help can be a big step, and my role is to walk alongside you in that process. Together, we focus on identifying what is getting in the way of the life you want to live and creating a path forward that feels realistic and sustainable. My goal is not only to help reduce symptoms but to support you in building a life that feels balanced, fulfilling, and aligned with your values.  

My counseling philosophy is simple yet profound: to build a genuine therapeutic relationship where you feel understood, supported, and empowered. I am committed to equipping you with the tools and strategies to navigate life’s challenges and create lasting change and renewed purpose."  

Avanour Behavioral Health Clinics provides compassionate, personalized, and evidence-based online care in a secure and supportive environment. Clients contact us for help with anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship concerns, life transitions, psychological assessments, and medication management. Our diverse team is committed to understanding each client’s unique needs and helping them achieve meaningful, lasting change.  

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'm a licensed clinical psychologist with over a decade of experience helping clients make sustainable change for the better. With extensive training in motivational interviewing, I help clients explore and understand the impact behaviors like substance use, overeating, and others are having on their well-being, and guide them in making an individualized plan for change. Taking into account your life context and environment, we'll work together to address underlying issues such as stress, anxiety, and depression in order to reduce unwanted behaviors and develop coping strategies that work without causing their own problems.  

Dr. Jayson L. Mystkowski received a Ph.D. from UCLA’s Clinical Psychology program in 2003 and a B.A. Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa in Psychology, with Departmental Honors, from Northwestern University in 1997. At UCLA, where he has been a Clinical Professor for over 20yrs in their Psychology Clinic, Dr. Mystkowski acquired a strong foundation in applying behavior theories to the understanding and treatment of anxiety disorders while working with Dr. Michelle Craske and has published several papers on this topic. His clinical training is diverse, with time spent on anxiety treatment studies at UCLA, practicum and post-doctoral training at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Administration Hospital System, and an APA-accredited internship at UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). After 15yrs as a licensed clinical psychologist and the Associate Clinical Director at Cognitive Behavior Associates in Beverly Hills, Dr. Mystkowski founded Cognitive Behavior Health Partners in 2019. Dr. Mystkowski is licensed in CA (#20077), CT (#4416), NY (#027100), WA (#61634860) and British Columbia (#1035249), has been granted the Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT: E. Passport Mobility #14145) and a Certificate of Professional Qualification (CPQ) by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB).