Stacie Townsend

I believe our identity and self-actualization are created through our life story. This story impacts how we see the world, ourselves, and others and influences every aspect of our lives. Sharing the ‘chapters’ of our story in counseling takes courage and vulnerability. It is a privilege to hear my clients’ stories, and my hope is that I can partner with each client as they embrace their identity as the hero in their own unique life story and support them as they explore, heal, learn, and write the narrative they desire. The effectiveness of therapy is rooted in the relationship between therapist and client. I honor this by being kind yet honest, and using creativity, humor, and genuineness to create a safe, inclusive space that encourages authenticity and acceptance where all are welcome.
I am currently a graduate student at Touro University Worldwide in their dual degree Marriage and Family Therapy/Clinical Mental Health program, and a student intern supervised by Dr. Melinda Johnson (licensed in Washington state, Clinical Mental Health Counseling license #LH60133759). I also hold a Master of Fine Arts in Writing from Goddard College, and a Bachelor of Arts in English & Communications with a Fine Arts minor from Washington State University. Most recently, I have worked with youth and families in community behavioral health since 2019, as a parent peer, a care coordinator, and as a crisis clinician, but I utilize experience from the many diverse roles and opportunities I have had throughout life.
I work collaboratively with individuals, couples, families, and groups with various issues, including but not limited to grief and bereavement from any type of loss, relationship/marriage/divorce challenges, premarriage counseling, infertility/pregnancy/post-partum/pregnancy loss, religious trauma/deconstruction, older adults and challenges related to aging, adult neurodivergence especially ADHD diagnosed later in life, end of life/hospice, tribal and cultural related issues, life transitions, and trauma. As an intern, I am still developing my unique approach, but I have an integrative and systemic perspective that is holistic, person-centered, trauma-informed, solutions-focused, and strengths-based that is directed by the needs of the client. Some theories or techniques that inform my approach include, but aren’t limited to, Attachment, Narrative, Adlerian, Expressive Arts, Dialectic Behavioral Therapy, body based, mindfulness, and interpersonal neurobiology-based theories, systemic approaches such as Bowenian Family Therapy and Internal Family Systems, and couple’s approaches including Emotionally Focused Therapy and Gottman Method.
Favorite Movie: This is impossible. 
Favorite Book: This is even more impossible. 
 
If I could be any superhero: This is cheesy, but I feel like we are all heroes already and just need to tap into our power. I like who I am and wouldn’t trade my ‘power’ for any other kind, even though I did grow up wanting to be Wonder Woman! My favorite heroes from stories, though, are Snape and Dobby from ‘Harry Potter’, Samwise Gamgee from ‘Lord of the Rings’, and Meg Murray from ‘A Wrinkle in Time’