Helping you build a life with more ease, connection, and confidence.
JANET NELSON, LMHC, SOUTH SOUND THERAPY AND COUNSELING: IN PERSON AND ON LINE THERAPY FOR INDIVIDUALS AND COUPLES IN WASHINGTON STATE
Whether you’re an individual ready to live with more peace and purpose or a couple hoping to repair and reconnect, you’re in the right place.
You’re ready to:
Find some freedom from the anxious thoughts that keep you spinning your wheels.
Let go of people pleasing and feel more confident and secure in your relationships.
Experience a healthy relationship with your emotions, learning to welcome and learn from them, but not let them control you.
Truly get to know yourself, learning to speak to yourself with kindness and respect.
Have more confidence that you can weather the ups and downs of life without over-functioning or collapsing.
Ease up on the expectations that weigh you down.
Create healthy, mutual relationships where you feel free to show up as yourself and generously love and care for the people in your life.
As a couple, build intimacy, reduce conflict, and break out of the unhealthy patterns that keep you stuck.
THE PROCESS OF THERAPY:
Moving from anxious, stressed, and lonely to more peaceful, self assured, and connected.
Building Trust and Safety
You need to know that you can trust me to be there for you with empathy, curiosity, and complete acceptance. The relationship we build is the foundation of our work together. I promise to show up for you, so that you feel seen, heard, and understood.
Patterns and Themes
What experiences and emotions are on repeat for you? We’ll talk about the themes that keep coming up and the patterns that keep you spinning your wheels. This is where we pay close attention to your emotions. As we honor your emotions as messengers, you can learn to welcome and learn from them, rather then letting your feelings take charge.
Early Experiences
The truth is you carry your past experiences with you, sometimes as delightful memories that have taught you well, but your past can also play a powerful role in the way you negatively interact with yourself and the people in your life. The critical messages that reverberate in your mind are a repetition of harsh voices you heard earlier in life. Understanding your past influences, helps you uncover the way forward, toward change.
Developing Insight and Self Reflection
Many of us move through our days unaware of our automatic thoughts, feelings, and responses to our environment and interactions. You and I will work together on developing your awareness in the moment. You’ll learn to tune in to your true opinions, thoughts, and feelings, rather than falling back on your default settings. This ability to stop and reflect gives you a sense of agency and confidence that you can handle the moment.
Learning New Strategies Now
You want to feel better now! I believe that insight and understanding move you toward healing, but I also believe in practical strategies that you can take away and implement on day one.
Quieting anxious thought patterns
Developing healthy boundaries
Improving communication skills
Emotional regulation
Mindfulness skills
Experiencing Change
Sometimes change happens incrementally, slowly, like the turning of the planet. Sometimes change takes you by surprise, realizing suddenly, that you held an important boundary, or your heart didn’t race when you had to initiate a fraught conversation. Most of the time it’s a mix. You’ll find yourself with increasing awareness after a few sessions. As you continue to engage in therapy, my aim is that you experience more ease, confidence, and connection with yourself and the people in your life.
About me:
As a fellow human:
I know how much anxiety sucks! I have played out catastrophic scenarios in my mind, which run on repeat, making it hard to sleep, engage, or enjoy myself. It’s tough to chill when you’re waiting for disaster to strike! I have also apologized to inanimate objects and read texts over and over, desperately trying to work out the meaning behind each word and emoji. I know that pit in your stomach, tension in your neck, steel trap of anxiety very well. I also know what it means to feel at ease, connect deeply with others, and be kind to myself. These later experiences are hard won. Through my own therapy and internal work I have grown into a much more healthy (but still evolving) version of myself. A braver, more peaceful, and authentic me has emerged and it feels great!
As a therapist, I have some pretty firm beliefs about my role:
The trusting connection we build together is the foundation of therapy. To trust me you need to feel safe and know that I see your goodness. You also need to know that I’m all-in and working hard to make sure you feel understood.
My job isn’t to fix you. Our work together is about discovering who you are and the freedom to engage in life as your true self. Our goal is not changing you into some idealized, unrealistic version of yourself.
As stated above…I am 100% human. That means I won’t always get it right and if that happens lets talk about it. Being human also means that I’ll be real with you.
It’s a given that life is hard, but at times it’s totally hilarious, which means we’ll laugh together when it’s funny. The counseling process can be tough, but it shouldn’t be boring and humorless.
I’m committed to growing and learning. Reading, taking courses, and collaborating with other therapists means that I’m always adding to my knowledge and skills.
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I’m trained in a variety of therapy methods, allowing me to tailor my approach to your unique goals and needs. These include:
Interpersonal Psychodynamic Therapy
Mindfulness and Grounding
Attachment Focused Therapy
Gottman Method for Couples Therapy
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
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Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology - The Seattle School
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology - Western Washington University
LMHC, licensed in the state of Washington
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I respect and celebrate the diversity of our community. This includes but is not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, socioeconomic status, religion, abilities, and cultural backgrounds. Your unique story adds to the strength and richness of our work together.
Creating a welcoming and safe environment is essential to me. I want everyone who comes to my practice to feel comfortable and heard, knowing they can be their true selves without fear of judgment.
I believe in continuous learning and self-reflection to better serve you. I am committed to ongoing education and actively seeking feedback to improve my practice and support your unique needs.