Vital Changes

Meet Tracie Carlson

Meet Our Staff of Therapists

David McFarlane, Ph.D., M. Div., M. Ed.
Gina Handley, MA, LMHC
August Piper, MD
Terry McFarlane, MBA
Tracie Carlson, MA, LMHC
Eugenia Vasquez, MA, LMHC
James Cooper-Nurse, MA, LMHC, CMHS
Mon-Lin Kuo, M.S., LMFT
Dawn Flynn, ND, LAc
Jill Klenota, MA, MS, LMFT

Downloadable Forms:

New Client Intake form
Disclosure form (includes fee schedule)
HIPAA Release form

Welcome to my counseling practice.

I am committed to helping you create the kind of life that you want and deserve. There are variety of reasons that someone may seek out the services of a counselor, such as to achieve greater self-awareness, to build stronger personal relationships, to heal past wounds from abuse and family of origin identifications, to create greater intimacy in your existing relationships, or to clarify your purpose and meaning for your life. I believe that many of life's difficulties are relational in nature and I believe that relational problems can be transformed in the context of a counseling relationship, where important boundaries are maintained for these relational shifts to take place. My commitment to you is to provide the safe place for you to examine feelings, thoughts, behaviors, and relational patterns that can improve your personal development, well-being and relationships. I specialize in women's recovery from sexual abuse and I offer an ongoing "Sexual Abuse Survivor Group" using the Wounded Heart resource. The following list includes issues that I have experience and interest in working with:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Life Transitions
  • Relationship problems
  • Grief and loss
  • Adjustment issues
  • Family of Origin issues
  • Trauma and Sexual Abuse
  • Self-esteem and identity
  • Co-dependency
  • Anger

Therapeutic Focus:

My approach to psychotherapy and counseling is rooted in Psychoanalytic theory and Existential-Phenomenological psychology with an emphasis on your Spiritual life and understanding. A brief definition of these theories is:

Psychoanalytic: I am very interested your family of origin and how these relationships and personal experiences has influenced your sense of self. There are patterns of relating to yourself, others and the world that can help you to attach with greater confidence and intimacy and there are ways of relating that can hinder those connections. There are unconscious ways of relating that can be brought to light in the context of a safe and non-judgmental environment and we can have the chance to work on these together to bring about lasting change.

Existential-Phenomenological psychology addresses basic human issues such as joy, despair, love, freedom and choice are understood in terms of how we actually live them out and experience. This therapeutic focus draws on philosophical ideas of understanding human nature.

Spiritual: As C.S.Lewis said, "we are spiritual beings having a human experience." I deeply believe a person's spiritual understanding of God and that relationship has a profound influence on how one understands and identifies themselves and helps to create the moral compass in which you live out your life. I come from a Judaeo-Christian background which is a term used broadly to describe a body of concepts and values thought to be held in common by Judaism and Christianity. I am sensitive to your spiritual beliefs and spirituality is brought into the therapeutic relationship only upon request of the client.

Experience and Education:

I have been in practice in the Seattle area since 2000, working with individuals, couples and facilitating groups. I have been in the human services field for over 20 years in a number of settings which include: a psychotherapist working with adult clientele and facilitating sexual abuse groups, a domestic violence center and shelter for women and children, an inpatient psychiatric treatment center for adolescents, a State School outreach program for adults with mental retardation, and a case manager for a residential treatment program in the State of Colorado-working with troubled youth. I earned a Masters of Arts degree in counseling from Western Seminary in the year 2000 and a Bachelors of Science degree in Sociology from Southwest Texas State with a minor is psychology in 1993. I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LH#00008574) in the State of Washington, which means I fulfilled the requirement for post-graduate hours for client hours, clinical supervision, and passed the National Clinical Exam. I regularly attend a variety of professional conferences throughout the year in order to meet the continuing education units that are required to maintain my WA. State license. I seek consultation with colleagues in weekly supervision groups with Doctoral level practitioners, always upholding client confidentiality. I bring a diverse perspective to my work and I am continuing to deepen my understanding of the human experience thru others and a commitment to my own personal growth.

Appointments:

New clients can call our office number at 425-687-9600 or you can email me at tcarlson@vitalchanges.org to set up an initial appt. My office hours are Mondays beginning 1pm-last session 8-9pm, Wednesday evenings beginning 5:30-last session at 7:30-8:30, and Friday afternoons beginning 1pm-last session 5-6. All new clients will need to complete the following Intake forms prior to your first appointment: New Client Intake Form, Disclosure form, and the HIPAA Release Form.

Insurance Billing:

Your payment for services will depend on your insurance coverage. My fee is $100 for a standard 50 minute psychotherapy session. Vital Changes will bill your insurance company for my services and your copay is due at the time of service. Please make sure you bring your insurance card on our first session. I am pleased to be an in-network provider with Aetna, Premera and Value Options.

You can contact our office staff to help you determine your insurance benefits at contactus@vitalchanges.org.

I look forward to meeting with you and you can contact me via email at tcarlson@vitalchanges.org or leave a confidential voice mail for me at one of two voicemails: 425-687-9600 or 425-345-8120.