Who Are You
If you’ve experienced a recent life change…
SUCH as:
move
job change
break-up
becoming a parent
new health diagnosis
losing a loved one
financial stress
that’s been difficult to manage…
WHICH FEELS LIKE:
overwhelm
anxiety
worry
fear
uncertainty
sadness
irritability
loneliness
and you’re ready to feel empowered, let’s talk.
IDENTIFIED AS:
intention
clarity
steadiness
awareness
peace
contentment
engagement
alignment
ease
WHO ARE WE
View Ellen’s Full Profile
Ellen Hokit, MA, LMHCA
Specialities: relationship dynamics, navigating difficult change, LGBTQ+
View Emily’s Full Profile
Emily Fitch, MA, LMHCA
Specialities: self-doubt, uncertainty about the future, grief and loss
View Jennifer’s Full Profile
Jennifer Petty, MA, LMHC
Specialities: anxiety in high achievers, relationship patterns, meaning-making
Therapy for the moments when life feels heavier than it should
Many people come to therapy knowing something feels difficult, but not always knowing exactly what needs to change.
Maybe you feel anxious even when things are going well. Maybe you’re exhausted from being the person who holds everything together. Maybe your relationships feel harder than they used to, or you’re trying to navigate a transition that has left you questioning what comes next.
Therapy can be a place to slow down, understand what’s happening beneath the surface, and begin creating meaningful change.
At Seattle Counseling Center, we work with adults navigating:
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When your mind feels like it never fully turns off.
You may find yourself replaying conversations, second-guessing decisions, anticipating problems, or feeling pressure to get everything right. Therapy can help you understand the patterns behind anxiety, develop a different relationship with your thoughts, and feel more grounded in your everyday life.
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When you’ve been carrying too much for too long.
Many people who experience burnout are not people who have stopped trying—they are often the people who have been trying the hardest. Therapy can help you understand the patterns that keep you overwhelmed, reconnect with your needs, and create a more sustainable way of moving through life.
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When something important has changed.
Grief is not limited to losing a person. People grieve relationships, identities, expectations, seasons of life, and versions of themselves they have had to leave behind. Therapy can offer support as you make sense of loss and adjust to what comes next.
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When relationships leave you feeling responsible, overwhelmed, or disconnected.
You may find yourself giving more than you receive, struggling to express your needs, or repeating patterns that leave you feeling frustrated and unseen. Therapy can help you understand your role in relationships, develop healthier boundaries, and create more balanced connections.
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When you feel alone, even when you’re not alone.
Loneliness is not always about the number of people in your life. Sometimes it is about feeling unseen, misunderstood, or disconnected from yourself and others. Therapy can help you explore what gets in the way of meaningful connection and build a deeper sense of belonging.
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When you love each other but keep finding yourselves stuck in the same patterns.
Many couples come to therapy not because they don’t care about each other, but because they feel disconnected, misunderstood, or unsure how to find their way back to one another.
You may feel like you’re carrying more than your share of the emotional responsibility, struggling to express your needs, or longing to feel more seen and supported by your partner.
Couples therapy can help you slow down these patterns, understand what is happening beneath the conflict, and rebuild connection through greater empathy, responsiveness, and trust.
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When the way you’ve been living no longer feels quite right.
Transitions can bring uncertainty, grief, and questions about identity, purpose, and what comes next. Therapy can provide space to understand what is changing, what matters to you now, and how you want to move forward.
Many people begin with a simple feeling: something isn’t working the way it used to.
Together, we can explore what’s happening, understand the patterns underneath, and create a path forward that feels more connected, balanced, and aligned with who you are.
WHAT IS PSYCHOTHERAPY?
counseling, psychotherapy, talk therapy?
All names for the same thing: a conversation with a trained listener designed to identify, challenge, and adjust the way we move through the world. We rely on Cognitive Behavioral, Mindfulness, Existential, Humanistic, and Psychodynamic therapies to help clients identify goals and move closer toward them.
Psychotherapy can be as rich or deep as we want it to be. Some of our clients’ needs are resolved within a handful of sessions with coping skills, problem-solving, and new ways of thinking. Others have invested in therapy as a platform for exploring beliefs about themselves, the world, and relationships. Part of our initial contact will be identifying goals, including measurable outcomes, and determining the length of treatment.
what to expect
Weekly 53 minute sessions in our Queen Anne or virtual office.
Questions like, “How does that make you feel?”: Cliche? Yes! Relevant? Yes! Part of our job is pushing you to identify how to feel without asking you to change it. Yes, there will be an emotion wheel.
Mindfulness exercises like deep breathing, grounding, and body scans.
Problem-solving. Maybe the solution is right in front of us, it just took a fresh set of eyes to see it?
Accountability. Did you do what you said you were going to do? Are you skirting away from a difficult topic? Are you showing up? Putting in the effort?
Confidentiality. Your private thoughts are safe with us.
Flexibility. Sometimes what we think is the problem isn’t actually the problem.
Feeling heard, supported, and cared for. We’ve got your back. We’re in this together.
what psychotherapy isn’t
Magic
We don’t have a magic wands and are still trying to figure out how to get ourselves and others to do what we want all the time. We can’t get the other people in your life to do, or not do, particular things. But we can explore how it makes you feel and how you can start getting what you want, or grieving what you can’t.
Comfortable
If we’re cruising, we aren’t doing good work. We’ve got to push ourselves to stretch and grow. We can move through this process together at your speed, pushing you only into a level of discomfort that you can tolerate.
Easy
If it was easy, everyone would do it. Many of our clients report feeling exhausted after sessions. It isn’t easy to “hear” your thoughts, stories, wounds, and fears. Good news is that you won’t have to face it alone.
What happens next?
step one - request a consultation
Fill out our contact form to request a consultation, or visit our online calendar to request a consultation time that works with your schedule. You don’t need to know exactly what to say or which therapist to choose, we’ll guide you through the process.
step two - attend your consultation
You’ll spend 20 minutes with a therapist either in our Queen Anne office or via telehealth to get a feel for therapy. Most clients usually share a little bit about what’s bringing them to therapy at this time and ask their therapist questions about how therapy works, what to expect from the process and commitment.
The goal of the consultation isn’t to dive deeply into everything all at once. It’s simply to help you decide whether to move forward together.
step three - schedule your first session
If you decide to move forward, your therapist will invite you to schedule an intake session. Early sessions are often focused on understanding your history, current struggles, relationships, and what you hope might change through therapy.
step four - begin therapy
Therapy doesn’t follow a script, and no two people experience it exactly the same way. Over time, therapy may involve exploring emotions, relationships, long-standing patterns, losses, fears, or ways of relating to yourself and others.
Some sessions feel clarifying. Some feel difficult. Some feel relieving. Often, meaningful therapy includes all of those experiences.
Therapy ends when it feels complete enough for you, whether that’s after a few months of focused support or years of deeper work.
Curious about how therapy works, how long it takes, or how to know whether it’s helping? Visit our FAQ page to learn more.
LET’S GET STARTED
Fees
Licensed Mental Health Counselors are $165 per hour, and Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associates are $145 per hour.
We are paneled with Premera, Regence, and First Choice health insurance companies and are considered an Out of Network provider for all other insurance companies.
All therapists offer a free, 20 minute consultation to determine fit.
Location
200 W Mercer St, E307
Seattle, WA 98119
Telehealth appointments available to clients within the state of Washington
Scheduling
HOURS: Monday - Friday, by appointment
Appointments can be requested in the following ways, from most responsive to least:
Online Calendar
office@seattlecounselingcenter.org
206-395-8004