Tacoma Therapist for Teens and Adults

Depression, Anxiety, & Grief Therapy for Teens and Adults

AKA, “support for when life feels overwhelmeing, and everything is overwhelming”

If you’re here, chances are something feels off.

Maybe depression has you feeling numb, exhausted, or disconnected from everything you used to care about. Anxiety won’t shut up, no matter how much you try to calm down. Maybe grief hit you sideways months (or years) later, when you least expected it.

You’re tired of being told to “stay positive,” “give it time,” or “just get through it.”

You don’t need another pep talk.
You need a place where you can actually be honest.

Therapy can be that place.

When Depression or Grief Start Running the Show

A lot of the clients I work with don’t always use words like depression or grief at first. It shows up more like:

• Feeling overwhelmed or shut down

• Losing motivation or interest in things you used to enjoy

• Heaviness in your chest, stomach, or head

• Trouble sleeping

• Trouble concentrating, or getting through the day

• Feeling disconnected from people, or feeling like no one really “gets it”

• Grief that comes in waves; sometimes quiet, sometimes crushing

Whether you’re grieving a person, a relationship, your mental health, or a version of your life you expected to have, you don’t have to earn support by being “bad enough.”

Therapy That Doesn’t Rush You or Try to “Fix” You

I don’t believe therapy should feel like someone hovering over you with a clipboard asking why you’re not better yet.

My approach is trauma-informed, person-centered, and grounded in the belief that something makes sense about the way you’re feeling—even if it’s miserable.

What we might work on together:

• Understanding how depression, anxiety, or grief is affecting your nervous system

• Learning ways to cope that don’t feel fake or forced

• Processing painful experiences at a pace that feels manageable

• Building self-compassion instead of constantly beating yourself up

• Helping you feel more grounded, present, and connected over time

Therapy for Teens (Yes, Even the Reluctant Ones)

Being a teen is hard. Full stop. Add depression and anxiety can feel unbearable.

Teens I work with often feel:

• Overwhelmed by school, expectations, or social pressure

• Emotionally flooded

• Misunderstood by adults

• Unsure how to talk about what they’re feeling

Therapy gives teens a space that’s theirs — not another lecture, not another “try harder,” but a place to be real and learn tools that actually help.

I work collaboratively with caregivers when appropriate, while respecting the teen’s need for privacy and trust.

Therapy for Adults who are Tired of Holding it All Together

If you’re an adult who’s been “fine” for a long time, this section is probably for you.

Maybe you’re the dependable one: the person who shows up, keeps things moving, and handles what needs to be handled. On the outside, it looks like you’ve got it all together. You show up to all of the birthday parties, weddings, baby showers, and other events. On the inside, it feels like everything is being held together with duct tape and caffeine. You forget to text your loved ones on their birthdays. You take work calls during happy hour with friends. It feels like life moves nonstop.

A lot of adults come to therapy not because something just happened, but because everything finally caught up.

Many adults were taught to keep going no matter what. To push through. To minimize their feelings. To be grateful instead of honest. Therapy can be the first place where you don’t have to perform competence or emotional stability.

In our work together, you don’t have to justify your pain or prove that things are “bad enough.” We can talk about the losses that don’t get acknowledged, the anxiety that feels constant, and the quiet burnout that comes from always being the one who holds everything together.

Therapy isn’t about falling apart or reliving every painful moment. It’s about learning how to set some of the weight down. We’ll slow things down enough to understand what’s actually going on beneath the surface and figure out what support looks like for you, not what you’ve been told it should look like.

You don’t have to be in crisis to start therapy. You just have to be tired of carrying everything alone.