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Here for you, your child and your family, for all life's stages and phases ...

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"Let difficulty transform you. And it will.
We just need help in learning how
not to run away."
               ~ Pema Chodron

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Welcome!

It takes a special kind of courage to reach out of yourself and ask for help. It is the wise person who recognizes they can’t do it alone. No one can.

 
Perhaps you’re wondering about therapy on behalf of your child, or due to relationship challenges with your partner. Maybe it's for you. You could be facing a major life transition, a personal crisis, painful loss or multiple stressors, that have tested your coping. Often just the realization that patterns established over a lifetime aren’t working for you anymore brings a person to therapy. 
 
As a consumer it is important to note that no one therapist is the "right fit," for every client.  Nor is any one client appropriate for every therapist.  Be informed, ask questions! 
 
I approach therapy as an essential partnership between the client and the therapist. We start where you are. We go where you want to go. The therapeutic dynamic is both dialogue and process-oriented.  Therapy should offer a safe, nonjudgmental space to stay with the question, reflect and transcend the fear, develop compassion for self and the tools you need to make conscious choices that reveal all that is possible within you! 
 
When working with children, the working partnership must include parent involvement.  The degree of involvement depends on the age, stage and the concerns parents and child present.  A child's challenge may also require active school or community involvement as well.
 
"Scope of Practice": When a client needs services beyond my professional expertise, I will refer them out. Examples include requests for psychological testing, which require the services of a testing Psychologist (PhD). If there is a question about medication, that would be the role of a Psychiatrist (MD) or Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (ARNP), who provide medication evaluations and prescribing services.  While I do provide supportive therapy to children of parents going through a divorce, please note that if there is a question about child-custody or co-parenting these are the domain of outside specialists.
 
Thank you for your interest!
 
                                                                ~ Lisa deFaria, LICSW, BCD
 

Who I treat

Individual adults, couples and teens struggling with a variety of mental health challenges that impact their well-being and their relationships, including:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety & Stress
  • Mood Disorders
  • Trauma, loss and grief
  • Life transitions
  • Communication difficulties
  • School/Work-based challenges
  • Parent Coaching
Young children, including infants at risk, and teens, with neurodevelopmental delays, emotional and behavioral  challenges, including:
 
  • Social-Emotional delays and behavioral challenges
  • Autism Spectrum Disorders
  • Difficulties with attention & focusing
  • Poor self-Regulation, impulsivity and/or reactive behaviors
  • Learning Differences
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Depression
  • Difficulties with peer relationships
  • Foster/Adoption and attachment disturbance
  • Loss or trauma
  • Transitions and adjustment to new life circumstances
 

 

Lisa deFaria, MSW, LICSW, BCD

945 Hildebrand Lane, Suite 231

Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

206-488-8142