Queer Existential Therapy
In Seattle & online via telehealth
Welcome
Therapy as I practice it is a place where gentle curiosity, sensitivity, and courage to face what is difficult can allow a powerful healing process to unfold. It’s a place where you’re invited to bring yourself precisely as you are, especially if that’s messy, in-motion, or contradictory. I will hold space for you to find and feel your feelings, connect with the experiential wisdom of your body, and experiment with language that expresses your truth.
We all need connection to thrive. So much of our wounding and trauma have their origin in relationship and are therefore best healed in relationship. Therapy is a wonderful opportunity to do just that, and to explore your relationship to intimacy and (dis)connection. Beyond this, showing up as your authentic self and being seen, understood, and accepted is a powerful healing experience.
About therapy with me
My approach as a therapist is greatly informed by the needs of the particular person in front of me. While categorizations like “depression” can be very helpful in pointing towards a particular type of experience and treatment strategy, the most effective therapy is targeted towards your particular form of depression, or whatever you’re suffering from.
Likewise, my approach to therapy is informed by my personal identity and professional background and training. My approach is:
Person-centered and relational, meaning that I deeply believe in your natural tendency towards growth and wholeness. While it may be buried under layers of trauma, maladaptive patterns, and other “noise,” it’s there, waiting for us to uncover it. Early childhood experience with our primary caregivers informs our basic assumptions of ourselves and others, and it is in an authentic relationship like therapy that these patterns can be un or re-learned.
Somatic, meaning that healing must be embodied, not abstractly intellectual. I integrate somatic techniques like focusing when appropriate to access and heal deep layers of trauma. My somatic approach is deeply informed by my personal experience and practice of meditation. Through a two hour daily practice and over 150 days on retreat, I have experienced profound healing that supports my ability to show up attuned, empathetic, and profoundly present in each moment with you.
Queer, meaning that it is deeply informed by own personal experience of queerness, which I bring to how I integrate existentialism and everything else into my practice.
Existential
Psychodynamic
Existential
Cognitive
Integrative
I believe that the most effective therapy is firmly in touch with the uniqueness of the person in front of me. While categories, including diagnoses, are incredibly helpful in pointing towards
It is existential. Existentialism is to grapple with the b
to fill the void left by disenchantment with traditional religion
Therapy is a place where gentle curiosity, sensitivity, and courage to face what is difficult can allow a powerful healing process to unfold. It’s a place where you’re invited to bring yourself precisely as you are, especially if that’s messy, in-motion, or contradictory. I will hold space for you to find and feel your feelings, connect with the experiential wisdom of your body, and experiment with language that expresses your truth.
We all need connection to thrive. So many of our wounds have their origin in relationship and are best healed in relationship. Therapy is a wonderful opportunity to do just that, and to explore your relationship to intimacy and (dis)connection. Beyond this, showing up as your authentic self and being seen, understood, and accepted is a powerful healing experience.
Being a human is hard. We all face a world that is at times painful, confusing, and cruel, and it’s up to us to figure out how to live. How do we respond to the situation we find ourselves in? How do we live in integrity with our truth and values when there are so many obstacles? How do we accomplish our most cherished goals, and what even are those, exactly? As an existential therapist, I will join you in these murky waters. I will help you seek clarity and calm to live these challenging questions.
Phillip Coulson, MA, LMHC
I graduated with a Masters of Arts in Psychology from Seattle University where I studied Existential-Phenomenological Psychology, which focuses on understanding people in their full embodied uniqueness, rather than as reductive abstrations like categories or brain chemicals. Prior to starting my own therapy practice I worked as a therapist at the LGBTQ-focused Seattle Counseling Service until it tragically shut down in Spring 2022. Before making a career change to become a therapist, I have pursued a rich and varied career including working as an ESL teacher in South Korea, as a professional poker player, and as a product manager.
I am nonbinary, pan/bi, and white. My work is informed by internal family systems, somatic, humanistic, and relational psychoanalytic techniques. I strongly believe in the importance of practicing in a trauma-informed way and will help you learn to monitor your body to know when our work is too much - or too little. My work is influenced by my interest in philosophy and its exploration of the human condition for millennia. Similarly, my work is influenced by Buddhism and my practice of Vipassana meditation. I strive to maintain a two hour daily meditation practice and have participated in or volunteered on more than 100 days of meditation retreats.