About Us

I feel honored and fortunate to sit with each and every person that chooses me as their therapist. I take my commitment to people very seriously, and I am invested in building a strong therapeutic relationship. It is the relationship that is known to ultimately offer the most benefit to those engaging in the therapeutic process.

I am committed to thinking with people about their concerns from an anti-racist, anti-oppression, feminist, intersectional, and social justice lens. To me, this means that people suffer sometimes because forces larger than us have imposed conditions that take away our agency and our voice. This also means that, once we have understood what we can about the roots of distress, that we will need to define what “better” and “different” might look like. I believe that change and healing are possible when all of a person’s identities are welcome. I believe in the courage that is recruited when we remind people of what it feels like to be in community, what they remember of those who have loved and respected them, and when people commit to doing better in order to secure a legacy of resiliency for future generations.

I began my career by working in educational settings offering support to children and youth. After graduating with a B.A. in Psychology from University of California, San Diego, I was fortunate to be hired as a Social Work Counselor assisting families with children under the age of 3. This work allowed me to become immersed in the world of early childhood and developmental disability. When the opportunity presented itself, I was able to put myself through graduate school and obtain a Masters in Counseling Psychology from National University. I began my work as a therapist by offering support to the family members of people with different abilities and by working with people who struggled individually with the emotional impact of Autism Spectrum Disorder or Intellectual Disability. When I wasn’t working or completing my Masters degree, I was taking courses to become a play therapist at the University of California, San Diego.

I decided to move to Seattle in 2011 and was honored to be offered an opportunity to work at a local agency called Wellspring Family Services. There, I was mentored in Psychodynamic and Psychoanalytically informed practices while also being introduced to the rich world of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. My work involved supporting young children who had experienced trauma and being a resource to their teachers and early childhood education staff who worked tirelessly to advocate for the wellbeing of children and families who experienced homelessness. I earned a Graduate Certificate in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health from the University of Washington during this time. This part of my professional life also began my trajectory in becoming a trauma-informed and trauma-healing therapist by offering me ample opportunities to learn about best practices to support children and adults who have been overwhelmed by discrete and/or complex trauma.

In 2015, I was offered the opportunity to join a clinic called Cooper House, a place where I had the opportunity to be among the brightest and most innovative minds in the world of infant and early childhood mental health. My work continued to expand as I was able to offer services to children under the age of 5 as well as their parents and caregivers. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work alongside pediatric occupational therapists who expand my knowledge every day about the constitutional and somatic components of emotional and psychological health. I am proud to continue my work at Cooper House to this day. It is also important to note, that while at Cooper House I was able to complete a Graduate Certificate in Gender Affirmative Therapy which has allowed me to elevate the quality of care that I can offer to the Trans, non-binary, communities as well as anyone who identifies anywhere on the gender spectrum. As a cisgendered woman, it was important to me to be trans-competent and affirming.

As an immigrant from México, I have always felt passionate about issues of race, culture, migration and language. I have been offered many opportunities through my work and personal experiences to expand my knowledge about the impact of systemic forces on those who are vulnerable to oppression. Mente Counseling & Consultation was born from a deep desire to offer high-quality, deeply thoughtful services to those whose emotional wellbeing is often overlooked. Mente Counseling & Consultation is an anti-racist practice seeking to provide a space where equity, diversity, and inclusion are always at the forefront of the conversation. We courageously opened our doors in November, 2020 and have been deeply moved by the strong support of our loving family, friends, and community.

Being multi-ethnic and growing up in San Diego, CA, I had the opportunity to interact with many diverse cultures. I am passionate about race, cultural, socioeconomic, and equity issues due to my personal experiences and empathizing with others’ experiences. The intersectionality of what makes us unique can also compound our lived experiences. I am committed to continuously learning about the impacts of marginalized communities and supporting those that are systemically oppressed.

My approach is to collaboratively work with individuals and meet them where they are on their physical and mental health journey. I provide a person-centered, humanistic, and collaborative approach in working clients. I have found there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and I focus on partnering with each individual to build body trust, respect, and compassion for ourselves. This approach creates a more peaceful and joyous relationship with ourselves and others.

My goal is to support individuals on their healing journey in understanding of their life experiences. I am honored to do this work and look forward to the opportunity to work with you.

Have you ever stopped mid-breath after reading a text? A few years ago, I received a text from my dad stating he had a mild heart attack. The doctors discovered that he had three blocked arteries and needed triple bypass surgery. This news flipped my world upside down. Thankfully, my dad recovered well and is back to paddleboarding. But that event triggered a series of life-changing events for me.

During my father’s recovery, he was handed a paper outlining foods to eat and what not to eat. I remember thinking he is not going to change his eating habits by reading a piece of paper. This experience prompted me to learn more about nutrition, the physiological impacts on our bodies, and how foods affect our mood, behavior, and mental health.

In April 2020, I completed a M.S. Integrative Function and Nutrition degree and an M.A. Clinical Psychology degree in December 2023. I’m currently completing a Humanistic Psychology Ph.D. degree, conducting research addressing trauma experiences influencing eating behaviors and lifestyle choices that can affect mental health in communities of color.

$135 per individual counseling session. Tara is in the process of being able to bill Premera for services, please talk to us if you have any questions. For all other insurances, we can provide you with a superbill to submit to your plan for reimbursement. Please confirm with your insurance provider that you are eligible to request reimbursements. You may need to confirm that they will reimburse for the service code 90837. A portion of all fees paid to Mente Counseling & Consultation helps support people who cannot afford services.

$100 per individual nutritional session. Please note that most insurances do not cover nutritional services. We can provide you with a superbill to submit to your plan for reimbursement. Please confirm with your insurance provider that you are eligible to request nutrition service reimbursements.

• Individual adults and teens 14+

I work with adults and adolescents addressing issues such as mood disorders, anxiety, trauma, oppression, loss and grief, and existential concerns. My approach to therapy is eclectic.  I utilize a variety of psychological theories and techniques with a strong slant towards relational and attachment theories. Our work will focus on helping you to gain insight into your current situation through an understanding of cultural context, personal experiences, and relationships. I do not believe therapy is something I do for you. Rather, I work with you to explore yourself.  It is helpful to think of therapy as a journey that you and I are going on together. I have the honor of accompanying you on your trip. 

Originally from Wisconsin, I graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a BS in Geography and African Studies. In 2000, I moved to Seattle and began a career in Human Resources, followed by a short stint in esthetics. Interpersonal connection has always been one of my core values, so I eagerly decided to pursue my Master’s Degree in Psychology at Antioch – Seattle, completed in 2009. Before graduating, I worked at Sound Mental Health in Auburn, WA first as an intern and later as a full-time employee in Outpatient Counseling Services. In 2011, I started my own private practice where I worked until my twins were born in 2015. I then took time off to mother my three young children. In the midst of this journey, my commitment to attachment work blossomed. I completed Postpartum Doula and End of Life Doula training before jumping at the opportunity to work at Mente. 

I feel grateful to work at Mente and I am deeply humbled that clients choose to share their experiences with me. 

• Individual adults
• LGBTQI+ community
• Parents who would like to participate in SPACE program
• Mental health clinicians seeking clinical supervision

I view my time with each client as a privilege. They have chosen to agree to be vulnerable and given trust that I will provide a confidential, private, safe and non-judgmental space. I take those things seriously as this is what hopefully creates a collaborative therapeutic relationship in where the client further gains and/or further strengthens their coping process.

I believe that the client is the expert in what they are experiencing and together, we explore how to recognize their support systems, level of self-care and community resources. The time together is about them.

Having grown up in various locations, I am able to understand basic Tagalog and minimal Ilocano with English as my main dialect.

I see my professional journey as always evolving and expanding. In being able to work with and teach others, I feel that I am further refined and shaped as a therapist.
 

I feel grateful to work at Mente and I am deeply humbled that clients choose to share their experiences with me. 

• Individual adults ages 21+
• Filipinx individuals
• LBGTQI+ community

I joined the Cooper House early childhood clinic in 2013, where I had the opportunity to deepen my direct therapy practice with young children and families, as well as further my training in reflective consultation. This led to my certification as a Facilitating Attuned Interactions (FAN) Trainer, which allows me to coach home visitors, nurses, early intervention specialists, and other providers in a mindful, relationship-based framework for working with families— a framework which, in turn, allows them to support the capacity and strength of the families they serve, rather than being in the role of “expert.” I see this as an essential way to promote collaborative, anti-racist practice in the expanding early childhood workforce, thus reaching far more families than I might reach as a single clinician.

I am privileged to be able to extend my professional journey to Mente Counseling alongside my work with families at Cooper House. I have been able to follow my professional passions of working with fathers in particular, as well as children on the autism spectrum, and couples who are struggling in their relationship. I have also enriched my practice with extensive studies in the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment and Adaptation, a powerful framework that emphasizes our common human needs to avoid danger, increase protection, and seek comfort in our relationships, and the ways these needs can become distorted by trauma, oppression, and interpersonal conflict. I bring the lens of adaptation and resiliency into every therapeutic interaction I have.

• Children ages 5-9
• LGBTQI+ community
• Parents and caregivers
• Perinatal and postpartum support
• Fathers
• Relationships and couples
• Individual adults
• Mental health clinicians seeking clinical supervision

At the core of my therapeutic approach is my belief that we heal and transform through authentic and empathic connection. I view and experience therapy as a collaborative process wherein we create a container within which we can engage what has been wounded and find medicine to heal and grow.

My therapeutic practice is shaped by my responsibility to be anti-racist, my understanding that psychology and therapy are not apolitical, and my belief that our identities – complex, unique, and intersecting – are relevant in the therapeutic space. I understand suffering and distress not as a function of individual pathology, but as something that is always in some way connected to the world and environment it emerges from.

Seeking healing and restoration is a brave and courageous journey that goes against all the systems of oppression that seek to wound and separate us. I considered it a profound honor to walk with someone in this journey through challenges, suffering, wonder, curiosity and pain, to find a healing, growth, embodiment and joy that follows us beyond the therapy room.

I am skilled at using a wide variety of therapeutic approaches including attachment work and depth-oriented psychotherapy, focusing, play therapy, various trauma and body-based therapies, inner child and parts work, and meaning and insight-based therapies. However, I tailor my approach to each person based on their unique strengths and intentions for therapy.

My work alongside these communities also shaped the lenses through which I see the world, better attuning me to how systems of oppression, generational trauma, loss of home, White supremacy, and American exceptionalism powerfully control and distort lives and communities. In working as a therapist, I continue my commitment to supporting marginalized communities and de-centering white, Western understandings of suffering, healing, and being. I continuously ground my work in social justice and liberation practices that seek to understand and dismantle oppressive systems that contribute to individual, communal, and environmental suffering. This is what draws me to the community of Mente.

I hold a masters degree in Psychology from Seattle University with an emphasis on the existential phenomenological tradition – a tradition that grounds me in a continuous curiosity about the lived experience of the individual sitting across from me and how they create meaning in their life. Prior to joining Mente, I worked in community mental health at Valley Cities, providing individual and group therapy to adults and children seeking support for a wide variety of challenges and concerns.

Each client I have ever worked with has been my teacher in life, and I consider it a deep honor to have our paths cross. I consider this work the greatest and most worthy way I could spend my time. To those with whom I will cross paths: I am honored, and so eager to know you.

• Children ages 5-9
• Individual adults
• LGBTQI+ community
• Refugee and asylee community

I use an eclectic approach tailored to each client’s unique needs, combining psychodynamic and humanistic techniques for a holistic approach. I believe that a safe and trusting therapeutic relationship is key to helping clients work through past traumas, negative thought patterns, and behaviors impacting their present life. My aim is to help clients gain deeper self-understanding and achieve lasting change and emotional growth. While psychodynamic therapy provides a powerful tool for exploring self and relationships, ACT therapy emphasizes acceptance and mindfulness, helping individuals break free from negative thoughts and emotions.

I am dedicated to serving the LGBTQ+ community and would be honored to be a part of your journey towards positive change and achieving your goals.

It was in my graduation program that I became truly impassioned for social justice advocacy. Advocating for small changes both at the university I attended, but also for the city I lived in. While in school, I began several projects aimed at improving the quality of life for LGBTQ+ students by having access to safe housing and restroom access. Simultaneously I was on a Board of Directors for a non-profit for transgender and gender non-confirming resources in southern New Mexico.

Directly after graduation, I worked as the Acute Psychosis “Bridge” Unit therapist at Mesilla Valley Hospital where I worked with individuals of all ages (as young as 5 years old to individuals into their 90s) as well as diagnoses, ranging from adjustment disorders, and substance abuse diagnoses, to more acute diagnoses such as bipolar disorder, and personality disorders. Having worked in such a setting has given me a familiarity and comfort working with individuals who require higher levels of care. I was later promoted to a supervisor role where I oversaw a clinical department of 15 other therapists, and worked with training all counseling and social work students across the state. I later left the hospital to work at a local Crisis Center, where I sought to connect individuals with resources, and intervene in highly acute mental health and substance use crises.

In 2023, I left Las Cruces, NM to pursue my passion of working with LGBTQ+ individuals of all ages. As a transwoman myself, I am dedicated to providing a safe and supportive environment for all of my clients to navigate (as well as celebrate) their unique, and exciting journeys. I believe in the importance of connecting with individuals and assisting them in their path to recovery and fulfillment. I am eager to continue my work in this field and to make a positive impact in the lives of those I serve.

As an advocate for my clients, I seek to hold an anti-racist and culturally attuned lens. I aim to center equity and disrupt oppression that may be impacting my clients’ growth. Becoming our authentic selves may include moments of tension and discomfort. Over time, we can explore these challenges together.

I am humbled by my clients offering me the opportunity to support them wherever they are in their growth journey. I am passionate about supporting adults and children navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, neurodivergence, relationships and life transitions. As a queer-identified counselor, I also am passionate about supporting LGBTQIA+ individuals. Overall, I am grateful to support my clients in exploring their identity development, belonging, and finding connection in their lives.

My background started as an educator teaching hands-on science and arts programming with school-age children, where I found my passion for connecting with youth. The past five years I have been in the nonprofit sector supporting the growth and development of adults who work with children and adolescents.

Within the counseling profession, my approach is to support my clients in fostering growth and connection, in whatever form that may look like for them. Sitting with the discomfort of change and uncertainty is challenging. However, being able to support meaningful connections with our inner selves and with others is essential.

In August 2024, I will complete my Masters degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Seattle University. I aim to bring my empathy, creative visioning, and nurturing lens to deeply support the communities I work with. I am grateful to work at Mente and center mental health supports for school-age youth, families, and adults.

• LGBTQIA+ community
• Children and adolescents
• Individual adults
• Spanish-speaking individuals

Here is a little more about myself: I was born and raised in Brazil (fluent in Portuguese) and moved to the U.S. as a young adult. I have lived in Florida and California before coming to Seattle in 2017. I have worked supporting children and youth in many different settings, as well as families/ parents from diverse backgrounds. I hold a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Seattle University and am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate (LMHC-A MC#61474184). I am trained in several evidence-based modalities such as trauma-focused cognitive-behavioral therapy for children (TF-CBT), Motivational Interviewing, EFT Tapping, and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).

• Children ages birth- 9
• Tweens ages 9-12
• Teens 12+
• Individual adults
• LGBTQI+ community
• Refugee and asylee community