Services
About My Clients
I am eager to work with motivated clients who feel stable and ready to engage in trauma integration and resolution. I don't refuse to work with people who are "unstable", of course, that would be an odd conceit as a trauma therapist; what I mean is that people who are struggling to manage their lives due to complex trauma wounds and may need something like DBT or NOT DBT but a skillset aimed at stability, may be best served first by another clinician who focuses on stabilization.
My Background and Approach
I was an author, activist and teacher before I was a therapist, but the service of those who suffer from trauma has always been my main focus, from domestic violence advocacy to creative nonfiction classroom. The synthesis of my passions for social justice (by which I mean anti-racism, LGBTQI allyship, sex positivity, kink positivity, gender celebration, etc.), storytelling and the possibilities that lay dormant in our traumas has manifested in this career. I find myself primarily working with women who have suffered sexual assault and abuse, but I also work with first responders, activists on the frontlines of the opposition to fascism, immigrants and refugees, and I feel humbled by all. I went to Antioch University Seattle, interned at a youth services center, worked for a trauma-informed poetry program in juvenile detention, trained in EMDR, trained in IFS, and continue to devour education on trauma especially as it relates to justice.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
I hope that much of the above illustrates my personal beliefs well. Additionally you can read more at my personal website or my therapy website. Currently I volunteer my time doing psychological evaluations for asylum seekers through Refugees Northwest, work with a crew of amazing multi-racial, multi-class, multigenerational people in an anti-gentrification restaurant / venue building project, and am in the midst of a certificate program for Complex Trauma and Healing. www.changingstoriescounseling.com and www.elihastings.com