About
How I work with Individuals:
I’m here to help you discover why certain emotional and relational struggles keep recurring in your life, and to walk with you toward resolution. Sometimes we aren’t sure why certain things happen in our lives. Learning how to heal emotional wounds, improve communication, and understand continual challenges will lead you to new and better experiences and healthier relationships. I challenge my clients to work hard in sessions, but give them space to work at their own pace. I remain attentive to my clients’ individual needs – some are looking for clear direction, while others need help reflecting on and sorting through past experiences. I cater my approach to each individual’s unique situation and goals, in order to best serve my clients in their point of need.
My areas of expertise include:
Broken relationships, loneliness, anxiety, depression, anger issues, sexual brokenness, and many types of loss.
Stepping into individual counseling for the first time can be intimidating or frightening. I respect your courage and would be honored to be a part of your growing and healing process. I specialize in helping adults understand themselves at a deeper level and make sense of what is happening in their relationships. Because my approach is relational, our interactions during sessions will be an integral part of this process. My counseling process has helped many of my clients move beyond painful and disappointing experiences. Many work through difficult and confusing feelings about themselves and others – sometimes in areas where they may have felt “stuck” for a long time.
Individual Counseling is about:
- Making sense of who you are and why you do the things you do.
- Sorting out feelings and learning how to manage them
- Learning how to communicate more effectively and freely Letting go of heavy burdens within a safe environment.
- Identifying your strengths and committing to employ them more passionately
- Discovering God’s purpose for your life and moving forward with renewed passion.
- Entering into a supportive process that invites God to mature you.
How I work with Couples:
Couples therapy offers an opportunity to stop and reflect on your life story. This better prepares you for choosing how you want to live with your significant other. Part of my role is to help you see how you interact in relationships so you can be more intentional as you approach relationships in the future. When counseling couples I borrow heavily from the works of Dr. Dan Allender, Dr. David Schnarch (research-oriented sex therapy), Dr. Susan Johnson (Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy) and Dr. John Gottman (Love Lab Research). In addition to exploring the issues that bring you to counseling, we will look at relationships with other significant people in your life. Our work will focus on the ways that you thrive in relationships, as well as areas where you are hindered from reciprocity and enjoyment. I will collaborate with you to call out the truest and strongest areas of your heart and character in the hope of bringing about the most growth.
Marriage and Couples counseling can provide help for problems including:
Fighting, Infidelity, Lying, Issues of Aggression, Boredom, Loss of Desire, Sex Therapy, Past Sexual Abuse, Parenting, Finances, and Intimacy Issues
Relationships are tough. Ask any couple that has been together for longer than 48 hours, and they’ll tell you that all relationships require hard work. We all hit speed bumps and potholes along the road as we navigate the winding terrain of male-female interaction. I take my role as a counselor seriously and want to be actively engaged in helping you create the relationship you desire. Together we’ll devise an action plan so you can be prepared and know what to do when the next rocky patch appears on the horizon.
Couples Counseling is about:
- Receiving clear and objective feedback about your relationship from a trained professional
- Clarifying why you have breakdowns in your relationship and how to mend them.
- Learning how to increase intimacy.
- Developing more effective communication skills.
- Having a safe place to talk about issues.
- Navigating different levels of sexual desire in a monogamous relationship.
- Increasing your capacity for intimacy and passion.
- Working through relational failures such as betrayal and infidelity
- Learning tools to negotiate and compromise.
- Discovering your spiritual calling and purpose as a couple.
My clients and colleagues describe me as:
- supportive and caring
- challenging
- clear in my feedback
- attentive and easy going
- humorous
- Biblically literate but not “preachy”
- a lifetime learner
I warmly invite you into a counseling relationship. I offer a risk-free initial session as well as a flexible range of scheduling options, including day and evening appointments. To learn more about areas of specialty and how my services might specifically benefit you, contact me @ (425) 533-0137 or benjamin@seattlechristiancounseling.com. If you are ready to setup an initial appointment contact my assistant Stacie @ (206) 232-8212 or care@seattlechristiancounseling.com
