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Vanessa Stewart

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate
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Vanessa Stewart, MA, LMHCA

Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate
(206) 388-3929

As your counselor, I will actively listen to your concerns and take the time to understand what you are experiencing. With unconditional love and support, I will meet you where you are and work with you to develop individualized goals and strategies based on your unique aspirations. My desire is for you to see yourself the way God sees you and experience the hope that comes from His grace and mercy. As a Christian therapist, my counseling approach incorporates better understanding what the Bible says in addition to psychological interventions that will help each individual experience healing in their lives.

Federal Way - Thu & FriPuyallup - Tue, Wed, Fri & Sat

About

I believe that the only way to truly understand ourselves and our purpose in life is if we better understand who God is, and what His will is for those He created and loves. I also believe that the Bible provides insight into how to live a life that pursues and pleases God, and how to navigate the trials and struggles we face. As your counselor, I will come alongside you to listen to your story, understand where you’re coming from, and work with you to incorporate a combination of biblical principles with proven therapeutic techniques to address your concerns.

My Goal as a Christian Counselor

My goal as your counselor is to provide a safe space for you to discuss what is on your heart and mind, and work with you to establish tools that will help you experience relief from your struggles and reach your life goals. Through this process, my hope is that you will be able to look at your life and your goals through the lens of what the Bible says, and align your will with God’s will for your life.

What I Offer in Christian Counseling

I offer a welcoming space where you can process the experiences you’ve had and discuss the burdens on your heart. We will set aside time in each session to check in on goals that were set in previous sessions, evaluate your progress, and determine the best next steps for achieving your goals. Depending on your comfort level, I will also create an opportunity for God to be present in our sessions by praying at the beginning and end of our time together and discussing biblical perspectives on what you are currently experiencing in order to align our hearts and minds toward His will.

My Approach to Christian Counseling

Some of the most crucial questions that a person can ask in their lifetime are “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose in life?” I believe the only way a person can understand the true meaning of their life and the hope that they have is through a relationship with Christ, and aligning their will with God’s will for their life.

I believe that God created us with a desire to know Him. The only thing that can fill that God-sized hole in our heart is a relationship with the Lord. Anything else that we attempt to fill this emptiness with is temporary, and can never lead to everlasting joy and hope. This belief informs my practice because I believe that the search for hope and joy can only come from understanding what our purpose is through God’s eyes, and aligning our pursuit of meaning in life with where He is calling us.

Biography

Qualifications & Experience

I hold a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Northwest University and a Bachelor of Arts in Counseling Psychology, also from Northwest University. In addition, I am trained as a Genesis Addiction Process Counselor – Level 1 and hold an HIV/AIDS Prevention and Education Certification.

My Call to Christian Counseling

My desire to become a Christian counselor was to meet people where they are and support them on their journey to grow as individuals. I want to actively listen to people to help them feel heard in whatever they are experiencing, and develop strategies that will help them experience relief from their presenting concerns. I also want to demonstrate love and care in my conversations that can point to and emulate the love that God shows each of us every day.

Services and Specialities

Areas of Expertise/Specialties

  • Abandonment and Neglect
  • Anger Management
  • Anxiety
  • Chemical Dependency
  • Coaching
  • Counseling for Teens
  • Codependency
  • Depression
  • Grief and Loss
  • Individual Counseling
  • Marriage Counseling
  • Men’s Issues
  • Online Counseling
  • Personal Development
  • Professional Development
  • Relationship Issues
  • Sex and Porn Addiction
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Spiritual Development
  • Trauma
  • Women’s Issues

Anger Management

Anger is an emotion that rarely exists on its own; there are typically other emotions that are lying underneath the surface. God created us with an ability to feel emotions, including anger. However, as with all things that God created to be good, our fallen world can often lead to these emotions becoming maladaptive, and can cause resentment in our lives. In our sessions, I will work with you to explore where this anger is stemming from, and uncover what emotions it is there to cover up. If we can better understand where the anger is coming from, we can incorporate strategies that will treat those areas of your life that are causing anger. I also want to work with you on self-awareness regarding what triggers your anger response so we can incorporate grounding techniques and coping skills that can help you to better understand how to manage this anger in your everyday life.

Anxiety

Anxiety can lead to feelings of powerlessness and feeling like you are out of control, which can cause significant distress and difficulty in everyday life. I will work with you to discover the underlying causes of the anxiety you are experiencing. The onset of anxiety symptoms does not exist in a vacuum. Because of this, I will explore with you where these symptoms are stemming from, but also what this defense mechanism of anxiety in your life may be accomplishing currently. Once we better understand why the anxiety is there, we can work to develop coping skills and strategies around managing anxiety in your everyday life.

Chemical Dependency

The first step toward freedom from chemical dependency is surrender. This can feel counterintuitive to many individuals because substance use and addiction feels like something that must be conquered. In reality, sobriety means making the continuous choice to not use your substance of choice, and instead submitting yourself to God’s will for your life. As you are starting the process toward sobriety, I will work with you on what it looks like to surrender to God, but also identify triggers that could trip you up in your pursuit of God’s will for your life. I will also work with you to identify how and why the substance use first started. People tend to use substances for one of two reasons: 1) to block something out, or 2) to experience a certain feeling, and oftentimes it is both. I look forward to walking alongside you to better determine what substance use did in your life, and to identify some healthy coping skills that could be used instead.

Relationship Issues

As we go through life, we will form many different types of relationships: relationships with friends, significant others, the church body, and most importantly, a relationship with God. We live in a broken world, which means relationships can get messy at times. I will work with you to set goals for what you want to see from your relationships with people and determine what factors may be hindering your achievement of those goals. Doing this will allow us to incorporate various therapeutic interventions into our sessions, including communication styles, conflict resolution, making amends, and boundary-setting.

Spiritual Development

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” The question is, what does this look like in your personal walk with God and in your unique circumstances? I will walk alongside you through what you are experiencing in life, and work to better understand what it looks like for you as a follower of Christ to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord.

Payment and Forms

Sessions: I offer 53-minute sessions. Sessions can be held more than once per week, weekly, or every other week. Scheduling options are discussed in greater detail during your Risk-Free Initial Session.

Availability (by office location):

  • Federal Way –  Thursday, & Friday
  • Puyallup – Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

Fees: I offer a Risk-Free Initial Session for individuals looking to pursue counseling with me. Please note that there is a fee for the Risk-Free Initial Session as it is a clinical hour and reimbursable to most insurance companies, but if you choose not to reschedule and continue therapy after the initial session the entire fee for the session will be waived. For ongoing treatment, the full fee per session is required at the time of service.

Insurance: As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate (LMHCA), some insurance companies will reimburse for a portion of my services (as an Out of Network Provider). Please consult with your insurance provider as to whether they specifically cover adolescents, individuals.

Receipts/Statements: In the event you require a printed or digital receipt, I will provide receipts for personal use, insurance reimbursement, Flex Spending Accounts (FSA), and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).

Payment options: Cash, Check, or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, & American Express). A fee of up to 4% per transaction will be added for credit card payments.

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