Welcome to my website
I am a professional counselor who helps those in recovery from addiction and
compulsive behaviors. In addition, I specialize in working with sexual
addiction, compulsive gambling and compulsive overeating. Anxiety and
depression are common to those with addiction. I see individuals, marriages
and families gain freedom every day by giving them the tools and resources
needed to get unstuck from unhealthy patterns.
The struggle
Ever since the beginning of time we struggle. In fact, struggling is a part of
life. We struggle with problems and with others. We struggle with ourselves.
Some of us have learned how to struggle in a resourceful way to make progress in
this journey. Some of us, maybe even most of us, resist the struggle, the pain,
and the suffering. If we have the correct perspective and the necessary skills,
we can learn to let go of the struggle.
When should we go to counseling?
People go to counseling when they seem to be making little progress on their
own. They also go to speed up their recovery in getting to their goals.
When relationships are beginning to be more destructive than nurturing. Looking
for patterns is the key. All of us have problems and most of the time, we can
solve them. When we are sad, anxious, and stressed it may be part of living.
But sometimes issues of
depression,
anxiety, stress
and anger can become habitual and we get stuck doing the same thing.
Addiction can
range from alcoholism to
sexual addiction
to gambling to codependency and drug addiction. Marital patterns of lacking of
communication and distancing can even result in the dysfunction of verbal and
physical abuse. Professional addiction counseling can help people break those patterns and
enter a process of recovery towards greater health.
A safe place
How many of us find it safe to talk about our true selves? We hide in many
ways. Without honesty there is little or no growth. Counseling can
be that place to share honestly what is bothering us. An atmosphere of
trust and confidentiality is essential for open sharing to occur. Setting
judgment aside and discovering why we are doing what we are doing can be
helpful. There are reasons why we do what we do.
Feel free to look around the website and check out the articles section and links. Check out
Erik's Blog. If you are ready to give us
a call, you can call me at 425-334-8916 or
emailme or send a secure confidential contact
form. I have offices in Lake Stevens and Lynnwood. I have
been helping individuals, marriages, families and children since 1989 serving
both Snohomish, King and Skagit Counties. I am both state and nationally
certified as a counselor. For more about me click here.
