About Leif
After relocating to the beautiful pacific northwest in the early 2000’s I continued using movement as therapy in a long term care setting with elders and people with dementia, while simultaneously beginning my private practice. I continued post graduate training in Internal Family Systems therapy as well as several post graduate seminars in psychoanalytic theory and practice which eventually led to embarking on a full four-year psychoanalytic training through the National Training Program at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies in New York City. I have been a graduate psychoanalyst since 2021 when I completed that program.
In addition to my private practice in downtown Seattle, I also teach psychoanalytic theory and practice locally at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute and internationally at the Sichuan Heguang Clinical Psychology Institute in China. I also offer clinical consultation to other therapists.
Credentials:
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Post Graduate Training:
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Contemporary Psychoanalysis, four-year certificate program, National Institute for the Psychotherapies, National Training Program, 2017-2021
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Internal Family System (IFS):
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Level 1, 2005-2006
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Level 1-2 (program assistant), 2008-2009
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Level 1-2, (program assistant), 2010-2011
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Couple’s Therapy 2011
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Master’s degree in counseling and dance/movement therapy from Columbia College Chicago, 1998
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Bachelor’s of Arts in Geography from Vassar College, 1992
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Licensed Mental Health Counselor in WA state: #LH00008142

I have been in the field of psychotherapy since the late 1990’s when I completed my masters degree in counseling and dance/movement therapy from Columbia College Chicago. My initial entry into the field was as part of a creative arts therapies team in inpatient psychiatry, providing psychotherapy using the creative arts as part of the process. My work in that setting exposed me to a wide range of the human experience and human suffering, and opened my eyes to the ways our environments, from our families of origin to larger social and economic structures, impact an individual’s experience.