Shataia Brown Whitney, LMFT

Welcome. My name is Shataia Brown Whitney and I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist practicing in the Seattle area. If you've come to my website frustrated and despondent looking for hope and a new beginning then you've come to the right place. It's time for a change, and if you are ready to do what it takes to have the life you want, then don't put it off any longer. Every day that you spend chained to your past and stuck in discontentment is wasted time. This is not a dress rehearsal. You have one life to live --make it count. You cannot make a more worthy investment than the one you make in your own mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational health. Do it today. Your life and the lives of your children depend upon it.

Counseling is something many of us contemplate but few of us engage in. What makes it so difficult to take that first step? I believe there are several barriers to initiating a counseling relationship:

♦ We believe that we should not need it. We should be able to figure this all out on our own. Thus we believe that admitting we need help means accepting that we are defective in some way.

♦ We aren’t sure what to expect? What do you do in a counseling session?

♦ We don’t know how long it will take. Is it helpful right away or will it be months, even years, before we see any real benefits?

♦ We don’t know who to go to. How do I know I can trust you? Will you understand me?

I’ve designed this website to introduce myself to you and to explain my approach to therapy. If after exploring this website you think I may be a good fit, don’t wait until tomorrow to give me a call or it may be another year before you pluck up the courage to investigate counseling again. Leave me a voicemail, or send me an email. The first step is the hardest one because you have to do it on your own. But once you do, you’ll have my help and support the rest of the way.

        "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading,"
                                   (Lao Tzu, Chinese taoist philosopher)

So stop condemning yourself for needing help. We all do.  Instead applaud yourself for having the courage to admit it and to seek it out. Without help, the majority of marriages will fail and the damage wrought by divorce is incalculable. I do not believe in incompatibility. Together we can uncover the secret to making your differences work to your advantage. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." (Confucius) Take that first step today.