Bob Fischer
Licensed Mental Health Counselor -
Note: During the pandemic, I am working with clients safely using a secure telehealth service. I have had very good success working with clients in this manner. I plan to continue doing work in this way for the present, and am closely watching both the state’s reopening plan and the best statistics I can find regarding COVID-19 cases. I’ll be making the decision about when to reopen in-person counseling with the best interests of my clients and myself in mind.
I have long found great rewards in connecting with and helping others to get through difficulties in their lives. I work with older adolescents and adults to form a genuine connection and safe space in which to work on whatever you wish to work on, at your pace. I can help you develop grounding and mindfulness techniques to help you deal with stressful experiences more easily. We can work together to change behaviors and habitual ways of feeling which you find aren’t serving you. And I can help to maintain a caring, non-judgemental environment for this work.
I especially like to work with clients who have experienced difficult or even traumatic events, recently or in the distant past, which may dominate aspects of your life today. I specialize in work with clients to come to terms with living with chronic health challenges. Or, if you’re struggling with alcoholism, addiction, or addictive behaviors, I can work with you to build up your resources to meet life as it comes, and help you find the strength and internal peace which will allow you to free yourself from these substances and behaviors. Together we can work to resolve whatever painful roots which may be there, keeping you from living a full and happy life.
I use counseling tools which will help you to look at what is troubling you, and do it in a way which is gentle and minimally painful. If you’re experiencing anxiety, depression, relationship troubles, addictions and addictive behaviors, I will work with you to heal the roots of those, in the quest to find freedom.
ABOUT EMDR:
Many people today have heard of EMDR as a tool for addressing trauma, but if you haven’t, it is a technique for healing from traumatic events or a traumatic history. It is a tool which helps to address these difficult experiences to allow the mind to heal itself in a safe and kind way. I will work with you using EMDR if that seems appropriate.
I am convinced that EMDR and the many techniques which support this approach, such as mindfulness, grounding exercises, the development of internal resources – can help to bring you to a place where you have the strength to address your traumatic experiences, with a minimum of pain and without re-traumatization. Anxiety, depression, relationship troubles, addictions and addictive behaviors can point to a traumatic past, and often may have originated in adaptive strategies for coping with trauma in the first place. Possibly you don’t identify your experience as including trauma. You may just find that you run into repeated difficulties in life, and can’t put your finger on why life seems so tough, why you have trouble making sense of your reactions. People may call you overly angry, or you may be full of fear, or maybe you’re depressed. Maybe you just feel broken. All these life experiences can often be helped with EMDR. I would love to help you to get to the bottom of these difficulties.
I am particularly keenly interested in working with:
* Clients who experienced abuse, neglect, conflict, excessive control from a parent or parents.
* Clients who have experienced significant medical issues, and the difficult and painful tests, the unknowns. Some doctors can be very sensitive, but with others you may feel like more an object than a person.
* Clients who struggle with addictions – Maybe you are currently free from whatever addictive behavior, but are having a hard time enjoying that freedom; maybe you find yourself switching from one addiction to another, just getting a handle on one only to find another popping up; maybe you have tried a 12 step program but keep relapsing into your old patterns of addiction.
These are areas which I have a passion about, both out of my own experiences and out of the conviction that I could make a difference in helping you to build a whole, more contented life.
LICENSURE AND TRAINING:
* I am an Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate through the state of Washington.
* I work with a Washington state approved mental health counselor supervisor.
* I am trained in EMDR, taught by Laurel Parnell of the Parnell Institute
* I am in a consultation group led by an EMDRIA-approved consultant.
Whatever your reason for seeking counseling, I’d love to talk with you about how we might work together. Feel free to email me, and we can set up a free phone consultation.
I am with you in your quest for wellbeing,
Skills and Expertise
Addiction
Adjusting to Change / Life Transitions
Adult
Alcohol Use
Anxiety
Attachment Issues
Breakups
Chronic Illness or Disability
codependency
Compulsive Spending and Shopping
Depression
Drug Use
Emotional Intelligence
Emptiness
Family of Origin Issues
Fear
Guilt
Health Illness and Medical Issues
Inadequacy
Meditation
Men
Mindfulness based therapy
Navigating Identity in Relationships
Self Esteem
Self-Harming
Sexual Abuse
Spirituality
Stress
Trauma
Trauma and PTSD
Treatment Orientation
Eclectic
EMDR
Humanistic
Mindfulness
Psychodynamic
Therapy unique to each client
Modality