Hi, I’m Derek. Thank you for visiting my website. I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate in Washington State with a background in existential phenomenology and I work primarily with folks that experience anxiety, depression, lack of motivation, loss of meaning, life transitions, difficulty with relationships, trauma, and grief. I approach our work together through a non-directive, client-centered, and compassionate perspective. Through my experience and training as a yoga teacher, I weave in aspects of mindfulness with a movement towards empowering my clients with more choice and responsiveness and less reactivity in their interactions with themselves and others.

My training as an existential phenomenologist therapist provides me with a non-directive, client-centered, and compassionate perspective through which I approach our work together. While a successful therapeutic space involves a non-judgmental stance, I am not a passive participant in our relationship and I can be challenging at times. I believe in cultivating a real relationship with real contact, which does not always translate into total comfort and ease. It is in moments of discomfort that I believe the most powerful moments of growth can occur.

I very much believe in what the research over the past few decades has borne out: The most important and effective indicator of success in a therapeutic relationship is the relationship itself. Along with existentialism (meaning-making), phenomenology (perspective and experiences), and mindfulness, I am trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). As an eclectic therapist, I’ll use various aspects of some or all of these approaches throughout our work together.

When not engaged in work, I spend much of my time outdoors in a variety of pursuits (climbing, hiking, snow-sporting). I am an avid reader of genre fiction (science fiction and fantasy) and have found much overlap between the problems presented in fiction and the world around us. Two of my favorite books that also lend themselves to a sense of my therapeutic style are The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

I am currently practicing under supervision by Mark Goodman, MA, LMHC, LH00010410

My license information: Derek Harris, MA, LMHCA, MC61433827