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EDUCATION, TRAINING & PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
SWEDEN, 1972 ~ 2001
When I was I my early twenties, inspired and encouraged by one of my mentors, I decided to go back to school to achieve a degree in Social Work, and graduated from Orebro University in 1974. I was a social worker in training at the Social Welfare Office, Orebro in 1972, a medical social worker with a full case load at the social-medicine clinic, the Regional Hospital in Orebro, from 1973 to 1976, followed by a social work position at Sankta Maria Psychiatric Hospital in Helsingborg for one year. My work within a governmental recruiting project, opened the doors to a counseling position within the Human Resources division for the Swedish Agricultural Department and the City of Jonkoping, where I remained for seven years. When I was offered a position at the Swedish Council for Alcoholism and Addictions, Stockholm, my professional life turned more deeply into working with addictions, trauma, and mood disorders, and, beginning in the mid-1980’s, I went to the U.S. a couple times per year, for continuing education.
As a social worker at Huddinge Hospital, and Ersta Deaconess Society in Stockholm, I designed and facilitated treatment programs for families and adult children of alcoholic parents. I continued to deepen my knowledge about sexual trauma through studies in Sweden, and Spain, and the focus of my passion and clinical attention turned more toward working with trauma and its impact on emotion regulation, relationship with self and others, self-talk, and behavioral skills. My continuing education became more focused on increasing my skills about Family-of-Origin work, and family systems.
In 1989, I opened my first private practice downtown Stockholm, which I managed until 1999 when I moved to USA. As a State Approved Treatment Provider, Social Worker and therapist, I provided individual therapy and group counseling to men and women with depression, anxiety, complex trauma, substance abuse, and other addictions. I designed and facilitated intensive group therapy for adult survivors of childhood trauma, and provided group counseling for families affected by a loved ones substance abuse or addiction. For a couple years I was on the board of ISIS, a Swedish Foundation dedicated to working against sexual abuse. Occasionally, I was a contracted speaker at professional workshops.
UNITED STATES, 2000 ~
When marriage brought me to the U.S. in 1999, I knew that I was anchored in the profession that was right for me, and in 2000, I began my journey toward becoming licensed to practice as a psychotherapist in USA. In 2006, I was proud and happy to, for the second time in my life, open my private practice as a licensed therapist, this time in Federal Way, Washington State. I have since had the privilege to assist adult men and women of all ages, different cultures, and ethnicities to clear complex or single incident trauma, to heal grief and attachment wounds, to increase self-esteem, to resolve relationship issues, and to recover from a wide variety of difficult life transitions.
In the U.S., my professional experience began in 2000 at a non-profit treatment agency in Seattle, where I provided individual and group counseling for men and women in treatment for addictions, and co-occurring disorders, primarily trauma, anxiety, and depression. In 2002 I was certified as a Chemical Dependency Counselor in WA State. In 2003, I was accepted into the graduate program in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University in Seattle. During my graduate studies, I was employed as a psychotherapist and chemical dependency counselor at a non-profit mental health treatment agency in Seattle, where I also simultaneously completed my internship. For three years, I worked as an EAP (Employee Assistance) Counselor for a local, full-service EAP provider in Bellevue, providing clients with short-term counseling. In October 2006. I was happy to open my private practice in Federal Way, WA. Click What I Offer to learn more about the focus of my practice.
COMPREHENSIVE TRAINING 2008 -
When There are No Words: EMDR for Early Trauma and Neglect Held in Implicit Memory, Sandra Paulsen, Ph.D., December 1 - 2, 2012, UW Botanical Gardens, Seattle, WA
Clinical Hypnosis-Basic Training, ASCH (American Society of Clinical Hypnosis), May 17 - 20, 2012, Scottsdale, AZ
Healing the Heart of Trauma with EMDR and Ego State Therapy, Carol Forgash, LCSW, May 4 - 5, 2012, St.Louis, MO
EMDR for Treating Adults with Complex PTSD, Jim Knipe, PhD, February 25 - 26, 2012, Seattle, WA
Coping with Trauma-Related Dissociation, Kathy Steele, MN, CS, February 17. 2012, Seattle, WA
Toward an Embodied Self: Attachment, Dissociation & EMDR. Ulrich Lanius, Ph.D., October 14 – 15, 2011, Kirkland, WA
Emotion Focused Therapy Level I, Antioch University, Leslie Greenberg, PhD, September 12 – 15, 2011, Seattle, WA
EMDR International Association (EMDRIA) Conference, August 25 – August 28, 2011, Orange County, CA
Beyond Trauma Resolution: EMDR and the Growth of the Relational Self, Barry Litt, June 10 & 11, 2011, Seattle, WA
Using EMDR with Severely Dissociative Clients, Southwest Washington EMDR Regional Meeting, May 7, 2011
Clinical Aspects of Trauma Based Disorders & Their Manifestations, Colin Ross MD et al, April 7 – 8, 2011, Seattle, WA
Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Relational Trauma, Laurel Parnell, PhD, March 11, 2011, Seattle, WA
EMDR Trauma Treatment in Addictions: Chemical and Behavioral, Susan Brown LCSW, BCD and Alicia Outcalt, LCSW, Southwest Washington EMDR Regional Meeting, November 6, 2010
The Embodied Self: Somatic Methods for EMDR Practitioners, Sandra Paulsen, Ph.D., October 23 – 24, 2010, Toronto, CA
Transformation Through The Power of EMDR: Advanced Clinical Applications, Laurel Parnell, PhD, October 7 – 8, 2010 Scottsdale, AZ
Sexuality, Intimacy, and Aging, Barry McCarthy, PhD, March 19, 2010, Bellevue, WA
Attachment and Emotional Regulation Brain-Based Interventions Across the Lifespan, February 13, 2010, Seattle, WA
Reconsidering Trauma: Treatment Advances, Relational Issues and Mindfulness in Integrated Trauma Therapy, John Briere, PhD, January 21 – 22, 2010, Seattle, WA
EMDR Part 1 and 2 Training, EMDR Institute, January 2009 – March 2009
New Frontiers in Trauma Treatment, Bessel van der Kolk, MD, 2009, Seattle, WA
Trauma, Compulsivity and Addiction, Peter Levine, PhD, 2009, Seattle, WA
Imago Therapy, Harville Hendrix, PhD, 2+day training 2008, Seattle, WA
Treating Complex Psychological Trauma, John Briere, PhD, 2 day training, May 2008
March 17, 2012
