New to Grow
You don't have to carry it all alone. What often feels like chronic stress, anxiety, or overwhelm is your nervous system signaling that you've been carrying too much for too long. I help women heal from trauma, calm their nervous systems, and feel more like themselves again. Hi! I’m Leah Swanson, a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) with over 10 years of experience in mental health across women's health clinics, schools, and private practice. As a woman, I deeply understand many of the challenges women face, including emotional overwhelm, relationship struggles, perfectionism, self-criticism, divorce and breakups, and career burnout. Many women are hard on themselves, overgive, overthink, and quietly wonder if they are enough. My goal is to help women develop a supportive inner voice, build healthier relationships, and create meaningful careers through nervous system regulation, evidence-based positive psychology, and somatic mind-body therapy.
The first session is really about us getting to know each other.. You do not need to prepare anything or have the right words. Just come as you are.
One of my greatest strengths is the depth of my background, including two years of postgraduate study in Eastern mindfulness and contemplative practices. I am further trained in breathwork, guided visualization, and polyvagal-informed approaches. I am particularly interested in the growing research on neuroscience, including neuroplasticity and the development of emotional resilience, as well as heart-brain coherence and heart rate variability (HRV).
I serve women experiencing anxiety, depression, trauma, emotional overwhelm, low self-esteem and relationship difficulties. One of my specialties is helping clients who struggle with ADHD and anxiety. What often looks like a lack of motivation, direction, or emotional reactivity is actually a dysregulated nervous system. I offer coaching focused on organizational systems, structure, accountability, and emotional regulation. This isn't homework—we do it together in real time: make the call, write the email, take the step.
I identify as
Mind-body approach
As a trauma-informed counselor, when insight alone isn't enough, I use somatic, body-based therapy and nervous system regulation to heal emotional blocks held in the body, freeing clients from the past so they can create the life they want. My goal is to help clients build self-worth, develop a supportive inner voice, and create fulfilling relationships and meaningful careers.
Positive Psychology
As a certified, evidence-based Positive Psychology counselor, I help clients build on their strengths rather than focusing solely on their struggles. Positive Psychology is the scientific study of well-being, resilience, meaning, and human flourishing. In my practice, I use techniques to help clients develop self-worth, cultivate a supportive inner voice, increase optimism, identify their core strengths,. Over time, this process supports the rewriting of neural pathways in the brain, making it possible to move out of survival-based patterns and into more coherent, self-directed ways of being.
Somatic
As a trauma-informed counselor, when insight alone isn't enough, I use somatic, body-based therapy and nervous system regulation to heal emotional blocks held in the body, freeing clients from the past so they can create the life they want. My goal is to help clients build self-worth, develop a supportive inner voice, and create fulfilling relationships and meaningful careers.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
I completed two years of post-graduate study in Transpersonal Psychology, with advanced training in Eastern mindfulness and meditation, as well as somatic, Gestalt, and contemplative practices. In my practice, I use mindfulness-based techniques to help clients develop greater awareness of their thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations without judgment. This approach helps clients reduce anxiety, improve emotional regulation, and cultivate a deeper sense of presence, self-compassion, and well-being.
Trauma Informed Care
I have worked extensively with women navigating sexual trauma, infidelity, relationship wounds, and chronic stress. Trauma can become wired into both our biology and our identity, shaping how we think, feel, and respond long after the original experience has passed. In our work, we focus on developing awareness of these patterns, learning to regulate the nervous system, and healing emotional wounds held in the body.