Greetings! I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Clinical Supervisor based in California. I received my Masters from the University of Washington and have been practicing since 2006. In my personal experiences, I am a mother to a biological child and a step child. My early years were impacted by toxic relationships, substance abuse, divorce, parental suicide, blending of families. Setting and enforcing boundaries did not come naturally to me and is something I am continuously working on. In my experience as a therapy client, I have disliked working therapists who are blank slates. Therapy is a relational experience and I bring my wisdom and personal experiences into the therapeutic process when appropriate. I help individuals struggling with anxiety, depression, trauma and avoidant and self-destructive behaviors become the best versions of themselves.
What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?
Our first session will be about getting to know each other and building a sense of therapeutic trust. This will include a discussion around confidentiality and it's limitations. We will also briefly discuss the steps you can take if it feels like we are not a good fit. After taking care of informed consent process, we will start exploring what brought you to therapy and what are your hopes for growth and improvement.
Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.
I have spent the last 18 years working with children, youth and families of all races, ethnic, cultural, economic and gender identity backgrounds. My greatest strength as a therapist is to sit with and validate an individual experiencing extreme feelings of guilt, shame, desperation and despair, such as self-harm and suicidal ideation, without immediately jumping into safety planning. Allowing the individual to open up and express such taboo thoughts and feelings without having to fix their feelings is a skill that has taken me many years to strengthen.
About Katie McManus
Specializes in
Licensed in
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Appointments
VirtualMy treatment methods
Supportive
First and foremost, my default treatment methods are supportive and strengths based. I am here to assist you through your therapeutic journey by providing emotional support, encouragement, and validation. I will encourage you to talk about your feelings, concerns, and problems in a safe, nonjudgmental environment. Therapeutic humor is also a cornerstone of my practice and is used as an intervention that promotes health and wellness by stimulating playful discovery, expression, or appreciation of the absurdity or incongruity of life’s situations with the intent to facilitate healing and coping. Just because it's therapy, doesn't mean it can't be enjoyable!
Compassion Focused
I utilize Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) is a therapeutic approach that aims to help those who struggle with shame and self-criticism, often resulting from early experiences of abuse or neglect. Through the use of CFT, I teach clients to cultivate the skills of self-compassion and other-oriented compassion, which are thought to help regulate mood and lead to feelings of safety, self-acceptance, and comfort. This technique is similar to mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in that it also instructs clients about the science behind the mind-body connection and how to practice mind and body awareness.
Culturally Sensitive Therapy
I pride myself on my ability to related and learn from my clients of all backgrounds. I come into the therapeutic relationship as a white woman and I fully acknowledge white privilege and oppression and how this impact the therapeutic relationship. It is my role to learn about who you are and your culture to that I support you in making positive changes. I recognize, value and respect the beliefs, perspectives, and values of all individuals. from race, ethnicity, or region. My full time employment is working with children and families, majority of whom are minorities in many aspects of their lives. I enjoy learning more about individuals culture and incorporating this knowledge to support strengths based growth.
Grief Therapy
Grief therapy is what lead me into my career as a therapist and I am humbled and honored to work with clients in processing their grief and loss. I personally have experienced numerous losses, both death and complex losses throughout my life time. I draw from my personal experience the importance of sitting with the sorrow, despair, and hopelessness without fixing, changing or minimizing these feelings. Without acknowledging and experiencing these feelings, we get stuck in this phase, which impacts our ability to fully experience and enjoy life. Grief therapy can help address behavioral and physical problems that you may face in the aftermath of a loss. It can also help you if you cannot separate yourself emotionally from the person who passed away. In complicated grief, deep grief takes hold of you and doesn’t let go. It can result in troubling thoughts, dysfunctional behaviors, and difficulty regulating emotions, making it harder for you to adapt to life without your loved one.
Psychodynamic
Psychodynamic therapy focuses on the internal working of the unconscious mind and how this influences thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Psychodynamic therapy is more focused on problem-solving and outcomes, as opposed to delving into issues that may arise from early life experience.