- Stress and anxiety
- Eating and addictions
- Life purpose focus
About Gretchen
Gretchen Van Blair is a Washington state LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor) with six years of clinical experience. She focuses on stress, anxiety, addictions, eating concerns, and self-esteem while also addressing life purpose and related issues.
Gretchen works with people who feel stuck after changes in work, relationships, or health. She helps clients talk through isolation, attachment wounds, and body image struggles. She also supports those dealing with guilt, shame, or the effects of trauma.
Her style emphasizes clear communication and practical steps. Sessions often include looking at patterns in relationships, learning new ways to set limits, and practicing more positive self-talk. She brings an affirming stance toward LGBT clients and attends to the particular pressures they may face.
Gretchen also helps with caregiver stress, chronic illness or pain, and concerns that arise around pregnancy and childbirth. For people facing control issues, narcissistic dynamics, or abandonment fears, she works to identify how those patterns show up in daily life and relationships.
For adults questioning life purpose, she offers focused conversations about values, priorities, and small changes that can open up options. Clients are asked to reflect on short-term goals and to try concrete steps between sessions that test new ways of being.
How evidence-based methods translate to online sessions
Gretchen uses evidence-based therapeutic techniques focused on practical change. Cognitive behavioral approaches help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, useful for anxiety, eating concerns, and stress. Skills-based work teaches specific tools for emotion regulation and communication to reduce conflict and improve day-to-day coping.She also draws on trauma-informed practices that focus on stabilizing symptoms and building safety in relationships and everyday routines. Those methods aim to reduce the intensity of trauma-related reactions and improve functioning in work and home life. Choosing a therapeutic approach is collaborative; she helps clients compare options and decide what fits their needs and goals as work proceeds.
Confirm current session formats before booking, as the biography does not list specific options. Online work can make therapy easier to fit into busy schedules, allow shorter check-ins during a work break, or let someone join a session without commuting. Licensed professionals can adapt exercises, homework, and communication skills to remote meetings so progress continues even when in-person sessions are not possible.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Additional focus areas
Experience
6+ years
Listed in
Washington
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What concerns does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, addictions, eating concerns, and self-esteem, and also addresses life purpose and related issues such as body image and isolation.
How does she approach feeling stuck?
Her approach emphasizes clear communication and practical steps, including identifying relationship patterns, practicing new ways to set limits, and assigning short experiments between sessions.
How much clinical experience does she have?
Gretchen has six years of experience as a practicing clinician in Washington.
What are her credentials and where is she based?
She is an LMHC, Licensed Mental Health Counselor, practicing in Washington state.
Which languages are supported?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can international clients work with her?
International clients are not currently accepted.
How are sessions paid for?
Cost varies with location and services use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Start by selecting the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger, use the crisis numbers.