Hi, I’m shelly.
i have never liked labels or categories that say who we are. the voices that say who we are supposed to be.
sometimes we just need space to breathe. to discover what is there. what we really want. even if it doesn’t match the version of reality we imagined. where we don’t shut off any channels of how we can be. it allows for the surprise, the unpredictable, the unknown. it creates a path to love.
all we have is what we have been given. what has always been there. we can discover it together. and the beauty will be unmistakeable.
acknowledgement
i live on Suquamish, Stillaguamish, and Coast Salish tribal lands. i accept moral and historical responsibility for the use of slave and forced laborers, racial persecution, injustice and violence toward the queer community, religious hatred, and nationalism in all its forms. i acknowledge all inequities due to race, gender, sexual orientation, age, and body size.
my approach
There may be places in your heart that you are afraid to go. Feelings you don’t want to acknowledge. Struggles you don’t want to face. Brokenness you don’t want to experience. You may be surprised at the strength, beauty, and courage that you find inside. And, you don’t have to do it alone.
You will find that meaning and purpose — a sense of self — are created by being where you are, feeling what you feel, without judgment or evaluation. And in this surrender, in the place of your greatest need, you will find movement toward what you desire most.
My belief is that a heart at rest is where change happens. My main hope is to provide a spacious place for you to discover who you were created to be—to learn to love and be loved.
I am most concerned with who you are and are becoming in your significant relationships. My hope is for movement toward more freedom, vulnerability, authenticity, and love for yourself and others. My priority is that our work together will feel safe, restful, soulful, empowering, and hopeful.
experience
I have always enjoyed helping people see their own goodness and beauty. For eleven years I was a social worker in Kansas working with people with epilepsy and people with severe mental illness. In 2002, I came to the Pacific Northwest and received my Masters in Counseling and Certificate in Spiritual Direction from The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology.
During this time I did an internship at Seattle Pacific University where I worked with college students dealing with depression, anxiety, eating disorders, grief, abuse issues, and relational difficulties. I am currently a licensed social worker in private practice in the state of Washington.
My hope is for you to know the love and freedom for which you are made.
the power of the stars is nothing compared to the energy of a person whose will is freed.
— Thomas Keating