Work with a therapist that best suits your needs.
Who is Isaiah?
I specialize working with clients who have experienced overwhelming childhood, relational, and complex trauma over their lifetime. I help model honest conversations, asking hard questions; I approach therapy with empathy but also honesty, and actively push you to gain a deeper understanding of yourself.
My specialties with trauma center on analyzing family of origin issues:
Child parentification, perfectionism, people pleasing, attachment issues, anxiety, depression, self-esteem, cultural issues, chronic stress, sexual/emotional abuse or neglect, etc.
Whether you're seeking a safe space to find a sense of self, explore past trauma, and find meaning and purpose, or grappling with questions of faith and reconciling these beliefs with personal experiences, I’m here for you!
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Hi, I'm Isaiah! Family dysfunction, feeling isolated, bored, and struggling to live up to expectations (everyone was Dutch) motivated me to move from the Midwest to gain perspective. Some people thought I was nuts!
I quickly learned that despite wanting to pursue my counseling career, many of my prime motivations for even getting into counseling were not the best.
I learned that no one can get by alone. Healing our trauma requires us to do the one thing we don't want to do: be vulnerable.
I've been in the same place my clients have been, having a difficult family past, so I make sure I wouldn't ask a client to do something I myself would not do.
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Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LH61276721) in Washington, and a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, Level 2 (CCTP-II). My "MO" is about balancing empathy with sometimes difficult truths.
You can expect to experience a broad lens using psychological, philosophical, theological, and comedic fantasy/sci-fi references to explain therapeutic points. I’m passionate about the synthesis between psychology and theology, but I also enjoy conversations around meaning and purpose with those who do not like speaking “Christian-ese“ all the time, or those not of the same faith/spiritual walk.
If you recognized the Uncle Iroh wisdom and Marvel's Drax-inspired pun in my prompts, you'll find I enjoy employing pop-culture references to exemplify concepts! In sessions I like being conversational, collaborative, but also directive when necessary.
If you love coffee, dogs, reading, hiking, lifting weights, games, shows, movies, travel or photography, we'll have something to connect over!
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I'm a Christian who's a licensed therapist and likes mixing psychology, spirituality, and emotions into session. I feel called to help people both struggling with traumatic family pasts, and using the gifts I’ve learned from this with others.
It’s been a blessing to meet lots of different people and experience different cultures, “J'aime le français!“ I hope I get to do this work abroad one day. Many things I get excited about are genuine relationships, deep conversation, international missions, and being in community with others.
Regardless of who you are, I believe relationship is the catalyst of healing and love teaching my clients vulnerability, perhaps for the first time. I love hearing people's stories and work best with clients who share, but are not afraid to have their deepest senses of truth questioned. I try to lead therapy by example, and don't ask clients to do things I wouldn't do.
Clients describe me as both practical and direct + honest and empathetic:
Many clients of mine have difficult family pasts, feel alone or anonymous to themselves. I take stewardship of my clients seriously. You want to be empathized with, but also have a counselor who engages and shares honest insights. Not everyone is ready for that.
Together, we will:
Develop an inner map to better understand yourself and what you’ve been through.
Masterfully get to the root of issues for lasting change and fulfilling relationships.
Elevate your emotional, psychological, and spiritual awareness and resilience.
Understand and have an ingrained sense of purpose and meaning in your life.
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Depression
Anxiety
PTSD & Trauma
Faith Issues or Christian Counseling
Family Estrangement
Attachment issues
Miscommunication and lack of perspective taking
Neglect or Abuse
Multicultural Issues/Cultural Differences
Child Parentification or Triangulation
Emotionally Absent or Immature Parents
Loss of Identity or Sense of Self
Low Self-Esteem
Difficulty Identifying Emotions
Perfectionism or Performance mentality
Pessimism or Hopelessness
Nihilism or Meaninglessness
Misunderstood ADHD, etc.
I work well with clients who are …
Curious and open-minded — A critical thinker; actively question yourself and are open to a different perspective. Clients like this often see the most progress from our work together.
Dedicated and Accountable — You feel ready to start making your wellbeing a priority, being consistent with sessions and the process.
Courageous — You actively work to create change and know therapy can sometimes be emotionally uncomfortable.
Reliable — You can be honest, consistent, communicative, and be respectful each week if there are complications.
Integrative — You want to incorporate the your faith, spirituality, or create a sense of meaning in their healing process.
Clinical Expectations
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Therapy requires mutual respect. The clinician retains the prerogative to: see clients on a provisional basis when starting out, refer out for debilitating co-occurring issues, take breaks, or end treatment due to inconsistent session attendance, or if deemed clinically necessary. The clinician will not assume, filter, or label clients' issues through a social-political lens, though the client may, to maintain therapeutic integrity.
Be dedicated and committed to the therapeutic process; take time outside of session to process, doing homework, and ready with things to discuss to developing the therapeutic relationship. Engage with questions and ideas, stay consistent with weekly sessions, attempting to reschedule if able, communicating when necessary (i.e. making cancellations). At the end, be willing to formally terminate sessions face to face, and not quitting cold-turkey. Be ready and stationary during session. Make sure to understand the therapeutic vision of the clinician’s practice.
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The clinician retains the prerogative to: objectively ask questions, and as a mirror for yourself (you’re listening to yourself), is not inherently trying to agree with you. The clinician is trying to understand someone’s viewpoint from a psychological perspective. The clinician does not offer “advice,” but offers clinical suggestions, when appropriate. Respect is key.
Therapy involves increasing awareness of ourselves. Validation is important, but not at the expense of understanding how we perceive and are perceived. Both matter.
You’re in therapy because something isn’t working, so learning new perspectives to grow is necessary. My clients learn to ask insightful questions, not provide answers.
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Real healing is loving (having something’s best interest at heart), confronting, and growing past broken parts of oneself. Healing is not merely doing things to make yourself “feel good or happy.“
My practice prioritizes clients willing to put in the work to heal and improve. I’m not going to work harder than you, but with you. Therapy is not always comfortable, and clients should expect to be challenged and open to confronting things inhibiting treatment.
Sometimes we have to suffer to grow and appreciate joy, and to see if what we do to “feel happy” masquerades as, or avoids, health.