About Lisa Erickson





Professionally

I provide individual and couples psychotherapy, case consultation, and clinical supervision from my office in Seattle. I am influenced by object relations and like doing in-depth psychotherapy with a developmental perspective. I have been in private practice since 1987, specializing in working with people with addictions, depression, Axis II diagnoses, and/or histories of physical and sexual abuse. My current clinical interests include affect regulation, attachment and giftedness.  Psychotherapy is what I love to do.


Personally

I grew up in a military family and had the privilege of living in many different places learning about other cultures. This helped me learn to "play well with others" and gave me an appreciation of the beautiful world we live in. I moved to Seattle in 1980 from the Kansas City area to be closer to mountains, water and extended family (not necessarily in that order). I enjoy a balanced and healthy life with friends, family and loved ones. In my free time, I enjoy exercising (cycling when I can), gardening, and learning about the natural world. At times I have done a lot of knitting which means my yarn stash is bigger than it should be.

I graduated from the University of Kansas with a double major in psychology and human development and family life. I got my masters of science degree in counseling psychology, also from the University of Kansas. My master's research and thesis was titled "Variables Related to the Severity of Assault on Battered Women."

I was the program coordinator of a shelter and 24 hour hotline for battered women in Topeka, KS. I was very active in program management, social policy, and service delivery at a time when domestic violence was a new topic of considerable interest. In Seattle and Everett, I worked in outpatient drug and alcohol treatment, eventually becoming the first program director at the Center for Human Services' North Drug and Alcohol Program, the first in King County that hired primarily master's level clinicians.


I have trained and educated other clinicians since the late 1970's. In Kansas, I trained around the state and region on topics related to domestic violence. I have taught substance abuse treatment in the graduate psychology program at Antioch University since the late 1980's and professional ethics periodically since 2003. I have also taught many continuing education programs around the state.  I thoroughly enjoy my work as an educator.

 

I am a past president of the Seattle Counselors Association, the Washington Mental Health Counselors Association (during the critical period when licensure was acquired) and a past co-chair of the Department of Health Advisory Committee for Licensed Mental Health Counselors, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Social Workers.