Gabrielle N. Clayton, MA
Licensed Mental Health Counselor ~ Washington #LH00005056
I believe that the work of therapy is about developing a healthy relationship with oneself and with other people in the community in order to live a good and meaningful life. It is about finding ways to live in balance and with integrity in what can be a complicated and difficult world that does not always make that easy.
Existential, humanistic, eclectic talk and expressive process-based counseling on a variety of issues including post-traumatic hate crime and other situation related stress and depression, healing from trauma for crime victims, grief and loss, relationship/communication issues, life transitions, family of origin issues, self-esteem, personal growth.

As a licensed professional mental health counselor 
I am committed to promoting and increasing your mental health through our collaborative efforts. 

courage ~ integrity ~ tenacity ~ inspiration ~ awareness 
These are some of the qualities of good mental health.

 

Here is the initial paperwork for when I see a new client: For Your Information, Counseling Agreement, Client and Counselor Responsibilities and Rights, and my Intake Form (105kb, 12 page pdf file) If you are a client, please use my therapy review form (50kb, 2 page pdf file) to give me feedback about our work together. Thank you!

My office hours are by appointment. Cell phone: (360) 888-5291 To open an email to me, click on "email Gabi" in the menu above. Or type into your email:   This is a home e-mail account, not just for my counseling practice.   Please be aware that as a mental health counselor,   there are some things such as abuse that I might be required to report. My mailing address is: PO Box 6396 Olympia, WA 98507

I'm a GoodTherapy registered member. See more information below in my links section. I'm proud to be listed in The Activist Trauma Database See more information below in my links section.     I'm a member of The American Mental Health Counselors Association and  The Washington Mental Health Counselors Association

EDUCATION

M.A., Counseling Psychology; Saint Martin's College, Lacey, WA - May 1993  (now Saint Martin's University)

Coursework: Marriage and Family Therapy, Child and Adolescent Counseling, Abusive Relationships, Treatment of Gender and Ethnicity Issues, Individual Counseling, Group Counseling, Crisis Intervention, Assessment and Treatment Planning, Psychopathology, Mental Health Consultation, Community Psychology

Internship/Practicum: A 600 hour internship at the Center for Individual and Family Counseling. Provided individual and family therapy with a variety of clients for sexual abuse, parenting, family of origin, anger management, children's divorce issues.  Co-facilitated group therapy for sexually abused children and adolescents, adult survivors of sexual abuse, and parents of sexually abused children. Did administrative work and special projects, including the planning and promotion of a series of professional workshops held in several regional communities.

 B.A., Liberal Arts; The Evergreen State College, Olympia, WA - June 1989 - with an emphasis in Art and Film/Video Production and Animation

Galileo Vocational Nursing Program; San Francisco, CA - 1970-1971

  Mission High School, San Francisco, CA - graduated 1970

SPECIALIZED TRAINING ~ CONTINUING EDUCATION WORKSHOPS

• War and the Soul: Healing Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

• Burnout, Stress & Fatigue

• Internal Family Systems Psychotherapy (IFS)

• Compassionate Listening: Healing Our World from the Inside Out

• The Psychology of Cancer

• Living with Grief: Before and After the Death ~ The Dying Process: Understanding Anticipatory Grief and Anticipatory Mourning ~ Grief: New Insights and Developments ~ Implications for Practice ~ The Importance of Self-Care

• Psychotherapy with People in the Arts

• Conflict Management

• Disaster Mental Health Intervention: Web-FLASH On-Line Training from Project P-FLASH (Practical Front-line Assistance and Support for Healing)

• Law, Ethics and Confidentiality in Behavioral Health

• Saying It Out Loud ~ Rights and Recovery: Promoting GLBTQ Wellness in a Changing Environment ~ Chemical Dependency/Mental Health Counseling Needs of GLBTQ Community ~ Working with Transgendered Clients

• Pathways to Possibility with Difficult Cases: Working with "Resistant, Unmotivated, or Mandated Clients"

• Self-Injurious Behavior: Assessment, Treatment, and the Recovery Process

• Schopenhauer's Porcupines: Intimacy and Its Dilemmas 

• Healing Plots: The Narrative Basis of Psychotherapy

• Forgiveness is a Choice

• Dealing with Dilemmas: Ethical Issues and the Older Adult

• Northwest Institute for Community Health Educators (NICHE) - for professionals who work as sexuality, family life, HIV/AIDS, and family planning educators - sessions on life-long sexuality, effective sexuality education and teaching methods, learning theory, learner diversity, sexuality education ethics, and more - Advanced Track.

• Pain Control: Fibromyalgia, Migraines, Chronic Pain & Sore Feet

• Understanding the Stages of Change in Addiction and Recovery

• Attention Deficit Disorder Through the Lifespan

• Trauma and the Media

• Legal and Ethical Issues in Counseling, SW & Mental Health

• Clinical Dilemmas in Feminist Therapy Practice

• The Many Faces of Grief - How to Help Others Through Loss

• Understanding and Working with Sexual Minority Youth

• Intensive Journal Workshop: Life Context/Depth Contact

• Minding the Body, Mending the Mind: Psychoneuroimmunology and Beyond 

• Interactive Guided Imagery

• Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) Level 1 and 2. I haven't used EMDR in some time, and so I do nor use it in my work now.

• Understanding Depression: Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention

• Understanding Multiple Personality/Dissociative Identity Disorder

• Effective Strategies for Helping Couples and Families 

• Outcomes for Success: Evaluating Services and Programs

• The Expert Witness on Child Sexual Abuse: A Practical "How To" Approach

• Art Therapy and Sexual Abuse 

• Consultation on Sexually Reactive Children 

• The Basics on Child Sexual Abuse

• No Longer Alone: Group Work with Sexually Abused Children

• Working with Parents and Caregivers of Sexually Abused Children

• Brief Solution-Focused Therapy

• Playing as an Adult

RELATED EXPERIENCE

• In private practice since 1996.

• Behavioral Health Resources, Olympia 6/00 to 10/02, then 3/04 to 8/05

• Three years working as a therapist at a group practice in Olympia.

• Three years working as a residential youth counselor at Haven House, a shelter for adolescents in crisis.

• Eight years providing crisis intervention counseling and emergency services to victims of domestic violence and other people in crisis in New York City and then in Mississippi.

• My resume is at http://www.gabiclayton.com/resume.htm

In a graduate school class on individual counseling I was asked to write a paper about my "theory of choice/philosophy of human nature". I consider myself eclectic, as I did then, but I chose a theory and wrote the paper. It still makes a lot of sense to me and tells you something about how I see things.  http://www.youth-guard.org/gabi/counlpos.html 

Links: 

(These are in addition to the many resources I have on my site which can be found starting here.
Resources specific to health & support - physical and mental health, sexuality, addiction, and more are here.)

Activist Trauma Support - I'm very proud to be listed in The Activist Trauma Database. based in Oxford, UK - WOW! An excellent resource for political activists who may be injured during or by their political activities and or struggling with other mental health issues related to activism, created by anti-capitalist activists who have either experienced or been close to people who have been effected by PTSD or other mental health issues. "Trauma work is part of resistance. ... Supporting people who have been traumatized should be a central part of our activism, for without support and solidarity we can be easily picked off. This is not exciting or glamorous, it's hard work. However it can be rewarding, interesting and have very positive results. We may sometimes feel powerless in the face of all their power but we CAN help each other." http://www.activist-trauma.net  

The Activist Trauma Database - aiming to help people overcoming traumatic experiences mostly (but not exclusively) caused by political violence. The Database for Trauma Support aims to facilitate the contact between people who need help and people who offer help. You will find contacts for activists who are specially trained to do trauma support: people with different healing skills (herbalism, reiki, Bach-flowers, ...); sympathetic professionals (therapists, psychologists, counselors); and professional institutions and centers working on trauma. http://www.activist-trauma.net/db/at_db/home/index.php (I'm proud to be listed in the database here.)Handouts from Activist Trauma Support:

• How to cope with being attacked by the police and other assailants - and here  (in PDF format - 2 large format pages)  

• Activist trauma and recovery  (PDF format - 2 large format pages)

• Sustainable Activism & Avoiding Burnout  (PDF format - 2 large format pages)

• Why We Think This Is Important… 

• Those and more excellent handouts - some in other languages (German, Russian, Hebrew & Arabic)
  and many from a 6-day Training with ASSIST (Assistance Support & Selfhelp In Surviving Trauma - UK)
  http://www.activist-trauma.net/downloads.htm

Dart Center for Journalism & Trauma - based at University of Washington in Seattle - a global network of journalists, journalism educators and health professionals dedicated to improving media coverage of trauma, conflict and tragedy. The Center addresses the consequences of such coverage for those working in journalism; advocates ethical and thorough reporting of trauma; sensitive, professional treatment of victims and survivors by journalists, and greater awareness by media organizations of the impact of trauma coverage on both news professionals and news consumers. They educate working journalists about the science and psychology of trauma and the implications for news coverage through this website, academic research, seminars, workshops and training. They serve as a forum for print, broadcast and Internet journalists to analyze issues, exchange ideas and advance strategies related to reporting on violence and catastrophic stress. They also create and sustain partnerships among media professionals, therapists and others concerned with trauma, and nurture peer-support among working journalists. Online self-study; best practices; news and features; personal stories; trauma research/fact sheets and more.

Gateway to PTSD Information - information and resources on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. 

Go Ask Alice! Emotional Health - from a team of Columbia University health educators and health care providers.

GoodTherapy.org - an association of counselors & therapists who believe people are equipped to transform the obstacles to optimum health and happiness. GoodTherapy.org promotes the movement toward more collaborative, empowering, and non-pathological forms of psychotherapy by helping people find therapists and counselors who believe "people are proficient,"  capable of feeling peaceful and satisfied with life, and can, with a bit of guidance, access their own wisdom and healing potential to overcome the obstacles to health & happiness. GoodTherapy.org provides a directory of therapists & counselors who believe people are equipped to transform the obstacles to optimum health and happiness. You can find a counselor and explore therapy on their website. I am listed in the GoodTherapy database here.

"People are Proficient: All people are born with the capacity to grow, heal, and change. Far too often people are seen as deficient and lacking what it takes to be healthy and happy. Our intention is to counter this destructive trend by promoting the therapists who are on the front lines of individual healing and social transformation. Let us open our hearts to the pain and suffering all humans endure and let us help those of us who're harboring too much of it, to release it, to heal, and to reconnect with their truer Self. Let us help this to happen by remembering that all people are born loveable, loving, and vulnerable beings. When guided by this truth healing happens more easily. For as we see the true nature of those sitting before us, they too may remember their own true nature."

They also run GoodTherapy.Blog: Articles about Counseling, Psychotherapy, and Self-Growth
which includes, among other essays:

• How to Choose a Counselor or Therapist
• Do you believe “Personality Disorder” diagnoses are pathologizing?

International Network on Personal Meaning - the positive psychology of personal meaning, meaning of life and existential therapy, promoting health, spirituality & peace through meaning. 

Internet Mental Health - an encyclopedia of mental health information created by a Canadian psychiatrist, Dr. Phillip Long. 

Mental Health Net - dedicated to educating the public about mental health, wellness, and family and relationship issues and concerns.

Psych Central - Dr. John Grohol's website has mental health, support and psychology information and resources.

shattered innocents - a website by Melicia Greenwood for survivors of child abuse or domestic violence including emotional, verbal, psychological, physical and sexual abuse - with emphasis on those who self-injure. it's also for the friends and families of survivors. this site features information, resources, and more. 

Shrink Rap Radio - The planet's premiere psychology podcast! Are you interested in what makes people tick? Do you want to know what psychology has to say on the social issues of the day? This is the podcast for the amateur psychologist in everyone. As a long time psychologist/professor/therapist/workshop-leader, "Dr. Dave" - aka  David Van Nuys - brings more-or-less weekly interviews with fascinating practitioners who work in and around the broad field of psychology.  David has another interview podcast series on topics in Mental Health, Wellness and Psychotherapy at mentalhelp.net called Wise Counsel

Will I Go Crazy? - a website Dr. Jean M. Bradt about Bipolar Disorder and about beating the stigma of mental illness; with information for friends, family members, caregivers; and mental health/allied professionals. 

OTHER INTERESTING ARTICLES:

A cooler head prevails - Psychologist Robert Firestone rejects the quick fix for bad marriage. A Salon "Mothers Who Think" by Fred Branfman

The Four Faces of Anger - by Mark Gorkin, the "Stress Doc" which begins with: "What's the first thought that comes to mind when you hear the word ANGER? Frustration? Yelling? Loss of Control? Violence? Maybe fear, silence or avoidance? All reasonable responses...Or are they? A bit one-sided, for my taste, that is, the "anger glass" appears "half empty." How about a "half full" perspective: confrontation, energy, power and tenacity? Or honesty and being real?"

Note - the next two links are to excellent articles and ideas we need to think about, but that does not mean I am against using some drugs to treat some mental illnesses.

Why Change the World . . . When You Can Have a Prozac Moment? No need for a revolution from within -- or without. Let them eat Prozac. By Mahin Hassibi - On The Issues; Summer 1995

Drug Up Your Teen Today! This just in: Prozac is a better treatment than talking to your kid. Isn't life fabulous?   by Mark Morford - San Francisco Chronicle; June 4, 2004