Couples Therapist in Seattle, WA
Hi, I’m Dr. April — and it’s really nice to meet you! Every human is welcome here.
I’m not your average psychologist.
I don’t do cold or clinical.
I’m real, approachable, and deeply invested in helping you heal especially if you’re seeking an individual and couples therapist in Seattle.
You’re here because relationships matter deeply to you, and they may also be where you’ve been hurt the most.
I believe that everything is relational. Not just romantic relationships, but your relationship with yourself, your body, food, substances, work, family, and the world around you. These relationships shape how safe you feel, how much you trust, how you fight, how you shut down, and how you reach for connection.
In my work as an individuals and couples therapist in Seattle, we look closely at attachment injuries, where you were met, where you weren’t, and how those early experiences still show up in your nervous system today. Not to blame the past, but to understand why closeness can feel threatening, why conflict escalates so fast, or why you disappear when you want to stay.
As your individual & couples therapist in Seattle…
The work we do together is rooted in openness, honesty, and deep emotional attunement. I offer a nonjudgmental space where every part of you is welcome, including the parts that feel messy, conflicted, ashamed, angry, disconnected, or difficult to voice. Through careful listening and relational insight, I help you recognize the deeper patterns shaping your relationships, emotional world, sexuality, and sense of self so you can begin relating from a place that feels more authentic, empowered, and emotionally secure.
My approach is deeply relational, experiential, and grounded in both clinical training and lived human experience. I’m willing to go into the places many people have learned to hide, attachment wounds, fear, desire, addiction, grief, conflict, intimacy struggles, protective patterns, and the parts of yourself you may have learned to suppress to stay connected or safe. Therapy here is a space where your voice can expand, where vulnerability no longer has to mean shame, and where healing happens through being deeply seen, understood, and emotionally met.
I would be honored to do this work alongside of you. ~ Dr. April
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Outside of being an individual and couples therapist in Seattle, I enjoy learning about different cultures, traveling to Latin American countries to practice my Spanish, creating videos, and exploring nature as much as possible. I tend to wander down intellectual rabbit holes, often exploring mythology, ancient healing systems, herbal traditions, and consciousness studies. I spend a lot of time writing and journaling about life, too!
I have a passion for yoga and am also a student at an Ayurveda school, both of which continually deepen my understanding of holistic health and the ways nature supports universal well-being and digestion.
And of course, I can’t forget my black cat, Rosie, who I love dearly, and who fully believes she runs my life (and she’s not wrong!). Also, ice cream and popsicles are a couple of my favorite treats, too!
Integrated Therapy Approaches
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Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)
The walls we build to protect ourselves often become the walls that keep love out. KAP gently softens the defenses that keep you stuck in painful loops, opening space for the vulnerability and repair that lasting change requires.
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Attachment Science
The way we first learned to be close, or to protect ourselves from closeness, becomes the blueprint we carry into every relationship. Attachment work helps you and your partner understand the deeper "why" beneath the patterns that keep repeating, so you can finally step out of them together.
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Internal Family Systems
Every conflict between partners is also a conflict between parts inside of each of you, the protector, the pleaser, the one who shuts down, the one who longs to be held. IFS helps you meet these parts with curiosity instead of shame, creating more compassion for yourself and far more compassion between you.
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Somatic Therapy
So much of what happens between partners doesn't happen in words. It happens in the nervous system, in the braced shoulders and the sudden flood of overwhelm. Somatic therapy helps your body learn that closeness can be safe again, so you can stay present in hard conversations instead of fighting, fleeing, or shutting down.
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Mindfulness
Most relational ruptures happen in the half-second between a trigger and a reaction, and mindfulness widens that space. It's the practice of noticing what's stirring inside you before it spills onto your partner, so you can respond from clarity and love instead of old patterns.
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Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) in Counseling Psychology from Northwest University, Kirkland, WA [APA-Accredited]
Dissertation: The Role of Sexual Desire on Differentiation of Self and Relationship Satisfaction
Postdoctoral Fellowship: Personal Injury Evaluation Corp (P.I.E. Corps)., Tacoma, WA
Clinical focus on completing personal injury evaluations for individuals with sexual abuse or traumatic event histories
APA- Accredited Internship: Northeast Florida State Hospital, Macclenny, FL
Forensic Evaluation Rotation: Clinical focus on completing Incompetent to Proceed (ITP) and Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity (NGRI) evaluations
Serious Mental Illness Rotation - Clinical focus on individuals with civil/forensic statuses, psychological assessment, diagnosis, and treatment
Master of Arts (MA) in Counseling Psychology from Northwest University, Kirkland, WA
Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology from the University of Washington, Tacoma, WA
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Gottman Method for Couples: Level 1
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy
Certified Psychedelic Assisted Therapist - 400+ hours of combined training in Ketamine, Psilocybin, MDMA, and various other compounds from the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, and Fluence. Ketamine is a compound legally available for "off label" use for psychiatric conditions. Other psychedelic compounds are currently being investigated and are not available for use outside of clinical trials at this time.
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Washington State Licensed Psychologist Credential # PY61482477
Oregon Licensed Psychologist Credential #4017
Ready to invest in yourself or your relationship?
Here’s how to begin couples therapy in Seattle:
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We’ll explore your goal for therapy and determine if my style is the right fit for you.
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Once we decide to move forward, we select a day and time to meet consistently. Most clients start off with weekly therapy sessions and then over time graduate to biweekly, monthly, and so forth. Through my client portal, I’ll send over all questionnaires and consent documents that you complete before our first intake session — so we don’t waste time.
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Trust the process means trusting your pace. Healing is rarely a straight line—it’s a layering of insight, safety, practice, and self-trust. As our work unfolds, we’ll co-create an approach that supports your nervous system, your goals, and your real life. Progress can be subtle at first, then it starts to stack, one grounded step at a time.
