“Recovery is full of ups and downs. There is no such thing as a linear life.”
—Brittany Bergunder
My approach
My approach to working with clients is what is known as the person-centered approach. Essentially it means I “meet people where they are at.” Whether you are new to therapy or comfortably familiar, what that looks like is adjusting my pace as needed to focus on getting to know you and what brings you to therapy and tailoring treatment to target specific goals and proactively working with you to address your needs and goals each session. An example of how a person-centered approach works:
Let’s say you curl your hair every morning before work and have often worried that you left the curling iron on. As a result of the worry, let’s say that you drive back to your house often to double check to see that you have unplugged your curling iron. Now you are late for work and have been written up. If we were working together, I would approach addressing this issue in a way that works for you. One way may be that we work through what the root of the worry is and address that. Another method may be to ask that you take the curling iron with you to work or have you snap a picture of it before leaving the house and when faced with thoughts of worry, you have the visual proof that you did, in fact, unplug it.
In being person-centered, I would work with you to find a solution that is effective for you as opposed to it being effective for a person with the same diagnosis in general.
Background
I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest where I continue to reside with my family. I am Coast Salish and a descendant from both the Lummi Nation and Tulalip Tribes and am proud of my Indigenous heritage. I have always been a natural helper and gravitated towards service work or community work from a young age. I have always enjoyed films and television shows and tend to reference various franchises or specific scenes to help illustrate my point in sessions. I enjoy being in nature and often encourage my clients to connect with nature with mindfulness and intention. Sometimes the best medicine is to simply be outdoors and there are studies that have shown how beneficial it is to one’s mental health (see “Nurtured by Nature” ARTICLE). I enjoy helping people and connecting them to resources and helping them discover their internal strengths.
I have been in practice since I completed my Master of Social Worker program in 2015 where I worked in community mental health. While working in community mental health I provided intake assessments, outpatient therapy for children, adolescents, and adults, school-based therapy, contract based work with a local youth homeless service center, and was part of the Wraparound Intensive Services (WISe) Program for Transitional Aged Youth (TAY). Before the pandemic I shifted gears in 2019 for a couple of years working in a higher education setting as a local technical college where I provided community social worker and supportive services to prospective and new students. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic I chose to go back to school for my Doctorate of Social Work degree and completed it, graduating in 2023.
My top specialties are in anxiety, depression, trauma or PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I also specialize in mood disorders, learning disorders, behavioral disorders, etc. Aside from the person-centered approach I take to providing services, I also utilize other forms of therapy and approaches which include: cognitive behavioral, humanistic, integrative, interpersonal, motivational interviewing, multicultural, narrative, psychoanalytic, relational, solution-focused brief, strengths-based, and trauma-focused.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule a brief consultation, please feel free to contact me!
EDUCATION
Doctorate of Social Work - Tulane University
2023
Master of Social Work - University of Washington
Bachelor of Arts - Western Washington University
2015
2013
Disclaimer -Associate License
I currently licensed as a “Social Worker Associate” (Independent Clinical) which essentially means that as an associate, I am supervised by another mental health professional further along in their career who I regularly meet with and consult with on my clients and cases. It also means that once I obtain the hours and experience necessary to become fully independent, I will no longer need supervision and can operate without consultation with others.
I would like to note that in my career, I have already gained the amount of hours that was needed for the Independent Clinical license however I was unable to use those hours as I had a different license. To verify my current license you can use the Washington State Department of Health Provider Credential Search lookup tool and search by entering my name.
