https://www.briangarrisoncounseling.com/home daily 1.0 2024-02-06 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/611d69976683587e449b3529/a6dd661d-2876-4fed-81ad-8daaf43eb2be/E1C67016-00D9-46A3-8969-9F75CCD35BBA.jpeg Home - The choice to pursue therapy is one of incredible vulnerability and courage. It may feel like giving up, but I assure you, it is quite the opposite. It may even be the choice to start living for the very first time. My hope is to provide you with enough information to get a sense of whether you want to set out on this journey with me. As a student of philosophy, I was captivated by the personalist thought centered in the face-to-face encounter. This fascination bloomed into a vocation rooted in the incredible capacity that deep relationships have to facilitate liberation and flourishing. I followed this thread from wilderness guiding, to social work with young adults experiencing homelessness in the greater Seattle area, to serving as a chaplain with this very population, where I built theologically formative programs devoted to the upbuilding of human dignity and space to find meaning in the aftermath of trauma and severe economic oppression. I am now a licensed mental health counselor trained in relational psychodynamic therapy. I have significant experience and expertise working with individuals struggling to live through depression, anxiety disorders, and with survivors of trauma and spiritual abuse. My work is to facilitate an interpersonal space wherein you are able to face, feel, and move through your pain, discover and become your self, live the freedom of a deep and hard won honesty, and grow your capacity to truly love. https://www.briangarrisoncounseling.com/theory daily 0.75 2021-10-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/611d69976683587e449b3529/04140aa1-3069-4cf7-a4ce-f2267c00e94d/IMG_1196.JPG Therapeutic Approach - Therapeutic Approach My practice is rooted in a relational psychodynamic approach to therapy. Psychodynamic, sometimes referred to as “depth psychology”, focuses less on changing behaviors and more on what lies behind our behaviors, specifically our unconscious motivations. Behind so much of how we think, what we long for, and how we relate to ourselves and others lies unacknowledged shame, trauma, and the strategies we developed, sometimes very early on, to cope with and hide these realities from ourselves. These make up our implicit memory -- the muscle memory of our emotional worlds -- which cannot easily be recalled or brought into conscious awareness, but determines our lives nonetheless. Psychodynamic therapy aims to cultivate awareness of what lies underneath in disconnected, dissociated ways and provides a space to move through the pain, accept, and integrate the past so that it no longer repeats itself in our lives. The relational piece refers to the understanding that the realm in which this process takes place is the realm of relationship, specifically the relationship between therapist and client. The relational approach holds insight into dreams and memories as important, but understands that what happened then happens now, meaning that we bring our past into the present, and we bring our past relationships with us into present ones. As such, the best access to our depths is the therapeutic relationship itself. This means that much of therapy is paying attention to the dynamics of the relationship between you and I, what comes up and what is brought forth. It means that we do our best to be as honest as possible with each other in a radically non-judgmental, confidential, open-minded, curious, trust-filled space without agenda. Our depths are forged by relationships, and only relationship can reach them. I also pay deep attention to how you tell your story, the patterns of attachment in the primary relationships of your life, the relationship between your mind and your body, and, particularly, to the places where fear and shame have lodged themselves in your heart. I hope that in our work we can face and hold the pain that you carry together and allow it to transform into opportunities for deep growth, renewed meaning, and unexpected joy. https://www.briangarrisoncounseling.com/contact daily 0.75 2024-12-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/611d69976683587e449b3529/2046a6ee-e8d1-4421-b6a6-ae12d60638a1/Brian+Therapy+Pic.png Contact https://www.briangarrisoncounseling.com/services daily 0.75 2025-01-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/611d69976683587e449b3529/1635125317552-61MHKIKA8AHK0YYVHFOP/IMG_1837.JPG Services Provided https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/611d69976683587e449b3529/1635126121596-UVDOUUTIL3Q051JHVQPD/IMG_1168.JPG Services Provided https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/611d69976683587e449b3529/69af27cb-1208-4fd2-934a-c3ea715cf278/IMG_2575.jpeg Services Provided https://www.briangarrisoncounseling.com/focus daily 0.75 2025-01-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/611d69976683587e449b3529/47a81525-66fb-41dc-9da2-4edf60a875cc/IMG_1839.JPG Focus - Focus Some people use my practice for making immediate changes, while others address more disruptive and perpetual problems that require deeper attention. I work with adolescents, adults, and couples. I enjoy working with folks who identify as queer and trans and of various religious backgrounds and faiths. I have unique experience working with those who identify with Christianity, and those who have experienced religious trauma and spiritual abuse. I have professional experience in the areas of: Depression Anxiety Disorders Post Traumatic Stress Early Emotional Trauma Sexual Abuse Grief and Loss Gender & Sexuality Related Issues Addiction Mood Disorders Anger Management Neurodivergence Psychosis Self-destructive Emotional and/or Behavioral Patterns Codependency Relationship Issues Couples Therapy Spirituality & Meaning Credentials Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Washington State (License # LH 61538078) Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from George Fox University Membership in the Center for Object Relations and the Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study