You are suffering. I see right where you are, and I’m here with you.
“Nobody understands me.”
“I’m so sad. Why can’t I just feel good?”
“What is wrong with me? I need to pull it together.”
“I’m not worthy. It’s all my fault. I’m a failure and and I don’t belong.”
“No one cares or loves me. Not even my family or friends. Would they even notice if I was gone?”
There’s nothing wrong with you for feeling this way. These are learned patterns gifted to you. Together, we can learn new ways to be in this world.
Mental health symptoms and behaviors, however adaptive, are actually basic survival skills and noble efforts from our nervous systems to connect with ourselves and others. These began forming the moment we came into existence.
We need emotionally present and supportive adults and systems in our lives as children to help shape our nervous system, as well as people and systems in our lives currently to reinforce this feeling of safety and connection. When we have not been deeply heard or seen and we experienced shame or blame as a child from adults, we can resort to blaming ourselves, utilizing coping skills that aren’t in line with our value systems, or feel that we are truly alone and unworthy. These are protective patterns that have been handed down generationally from our original caregivers who experienced disorganized nervous systems themselves and these patterns have only been reinforced by communities, relationships, and situations that are currently around us. That can change today with you and me. We may lose belief in the goodness of ourselves and the goodness of others.
Systems, constructs, people, and many other experiences in our everyday lives may be reinforcing or supporting our patterns of survival. We can heal from these and choose a different way to feel about ourselves and exist in the world. I care and I’m here to help and support you in this courageous, but difficult time. You don’t have to do it alone.
I come to this work having done it myself, and I continue to do it to this day. I’d be honored to support you on your own journey. I’d like you to know more about me and I’d love the chance to get to know you, hear your story, and help you make sense of your experiences in this world.
Get To Know Me
Sara Kisko, MA, LMHCA
I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) and I received my Master of Arts (MA) in Counseling Psychology from Bastyr University. I am a woman, a mom, a wife, a dog-owner, a friend, a lover of nature and earth, and a continued participant of therapy and healing myself. I come to this work having done my own healing with an incredible therapist who changed my life and supportive communities that encouraged my growth.
Previously to opening my private practice, I worked at a community college providing counseling to students and community members. I currently work with a wide variety of needs and concerns in my private practice. I value nonviolent/compassionate communication, inclusivity, visibility, social justice, and believe that all humans should have access to mental healthcare.
Early on in my journey to support community and healing, I was a classroom teacher and a yoga teacher serving the Puget Sound community. Mind and body are connected; breath and movement are essential to my practice and my own healing as a human being, alongside my continued personal therapeutic work.
Therapeutic Approach
Counseling and Psychotherapy
We take our biggest steps to healing when held compassionately in love, care, and nurturing. Relationally focused psychodynamic therapy and relational neuroscience are at the core of my practice. These inform how the brain behaves in relationships and experiences humanness across all narratives of their lived experience. This lens highlights the importance of human connection in therapeutic work to support human connection in your everyday life. I create safety and space to bring up hidden or unaddressed trauma or shame from the past, explore generational trauma and its effects, and heal attachment trauma from childhood or birth. I do this through the act of deeply listening and holding your experiences and traumas with care during our talk therapy sessions.
I incorporate the polyvagal theory, as it is central to understanding how our physiological nervous system is shaped after our original caregivers and reinforced by experiences as we grow. We can reorganize our nervous system today in safety and connection through the act of co-regulation. I bring in mindfulness and hold you in your suffering during these moments to create new pathways for the brain, body, and heart to spark safety in healing and change. This may also include inner child work, polyvagal exercises, somatic experiencing, self-compassion, or other practices that help you metabolize your experiences and emotions. Self-compassion is one of the most important components of our time together. Embracing and being gentle towards the self in all stages and forms is essential in feeling whole and well.
I value emotion focused therapy as a way to incorporate our life decisions and experiences guided by the emotions we have. Emotions are important and can inform the narratives we have experienced in our past, present, and future.
I continue to draw from liberation and social justice psychology to bring awareness to oppressive constructs, which can liberate you from harmful and oppressive ideals upheld by larger societal structures. I support work and healing within the systems around you, which can include setting boundaries or using nonviolent communication to express values and needs, as support and relationships in our lives and spaces are an integral part in feeling more connected to ourselves and the world around us. At our core, we want to feel like we are valued and we belong. It’s essential that we seek out, find, and eventually belong to spaces that make us feel this way as we do the work to change, heal, and grow.
You are brave for wanting to change and seek support. I am here to hold you and empower you through your healing journey with compassion, empathy, and connection, allowing you to feel more agency over your own life. It may feel harder before it gets better and this work takes time. Please reach out- I look forward to hearing from you soon and getting started with our work together.
Who I Work With
However you identify I will work with you. All are welcome!
What I Work With
I have most of my experience with adjustment disorders, parenting, depression, anxiety, and ADHD. Diagnosis or not, I would love to work with your specific sufferings and concerns. Change and healing does take time though, so please be patient with our process.
Where I Work
I currently only see folks via telehealth, but am hoping to expand to an office space someday soon! Please note I can only see people who reside in the state of Washington.
Book a FREE Consultation
I accept most insurances and private pay folks for individual therapy online. I offer an initial free 15 minute phone consultation- please book below!
Book a Private Pay or Insurance Session
I offer a private pay rate of $150/53 minute individual session. This is for non-insurance holders looking to pay out of pocket. I also accept folks who have insurance. I am credentialed with United, Premera, Regence, Aetna, Cigna, and Kaiser. 48 hours notice for all cancellations applies. All late cancellations are subject to $150 fee.
Contact
Booking a session or a free 15 minute consultation? Need to know more? Have questions about whether I can work with your concerns and needs? Not sure where to book or which option to choose? Reach out to me and I’d be happy to help or set up our initial meeting!
