Guides
Guides
Short, practical pieces on the questions people bring to therapy: what we can notice, what we can question and what we can practice.
The Guides
Why Do I Keep Replaying the Past?When old moments keep returning, I look at what your mind is trying to solve and what you have come to believe about yourself.
When Anxiety Lives in the FutureI help people notice when worry has taken them ahead of the moment and practice returning to what they can do today.
Turning Fights Into ConversationsWhen a familiar argument starts again, I help partners slow the exchange and say what they need in a way the other person can hear.
Grief Later in LifeI make room for the losses that gather in later life, and for the connections and meaning you still want in the present.
Starting Therapy
- Choosing a Therapy Format
Consider the different purposes of individual, couples and adult family therapy before deciding where to begin with David Johnson.
- Preparing for Telehealth
Plan for a private telehealth conversation, reliable technology and Washington State residency eligibility before meeting with David Johnson by video.
- Using a Superbill
Learn what to ask about out-of-network benefits and how a superbill fits David Johnson’s private-pay practice. Reimbursement is not guaranteed.
- Setting Therapy Goals
Explore how to turn broad hopes into useful therapy priorities with David Johnson and revisit those goals as your understanding changes.
Self-Worth and Hope
- When the Inner Critic Becomes Shame
Explore the difference between noticing a mistake and turning it into a judgment about your whole self, with David Johnson in Seattle.
- Building Self-Compassion
Consider a more fair-minded response to mistakes and difficulty, without dismissing responsibility or forcing positive thinking.
- Old Wounds and Present Reactions
Explore a recent relationship reaction in context, distinguishing what happened now from the meaning earlier experiences may add.
- Hope After Adversity
Explore realistic hopes and personal strengths after difficult experiences, without pressure to minimize what happened.
Worry and Low Mood
- Rumination or Reflection?
Explore whether revisiting an experience is opening a new understanding or leaving you stuck in the same judgment.
- Living With Uncertainty
Explore how to approach decisions and hopes when certainty is unavailable, without dismissing the concerns that matter to you.
- When Anxiety Enters a Relationship
Explore worry, reassurance and assumptions in relationships, with room for both your feelings and the other person’s perspective.
- Withdrawal and Low Mood
Explore what pulling away means in your life and how to discuss connection, demands and discouragement with David Johnson.
Grief and Loss
- Grieving a Relationship
Make room for the loss of a relationship, its routines and its imagined future without requiring yourself to feel only one way.
- Grief Around Anniversaries
Consider the meaning of anniversaries and reminders of loss, and how to make room for your own preferences around those dates.
- Supporting Someone in Grief
Explore listening, practical offers and your own limits when someone you care about is grieving.
Later Life and Caregiving
- Retirement and Identity
Explore changing routines, purpose and relationships after retirement with room for both relief and uncertainty.
- Caregiving and Boundaries
Explore the responsibilities, expectations and personal limits that arise when you care for another adult.
- Loneliness in Later Life
Explore changes in connection, belonging and daily companionship in later life with David Johnson in Seattle.
Adult Families and Relationships
- Boundaries in Adult Families
Consider how to express limits and expectations within adult family relationships while making room for different perspectives.
- Adult Parent and Child Relationships
Explore how expectations and roles can change between parents and their adult children, with space for both generations.
- Repair After Conflict
Explore how to return to a difficult conversation, acknowledge your part and discuss what needs to happen next.
- When You Feel Unheard
Explore what happens when your message does not seem to reach someone and how to clarify what you need from the conversation.
- Relationships Through Life Changes
Explore how partners can discuss shifting roles, routines and hopes during a significant life change.
- Self-Worth After Separation
Explore the judgments a separation can bring about your worth and how to distinguish a relationship’s ending from your whole identity.
Life Changes and Values
- Midlife and Changing Values
Explore shifting priorities and the difference between familiar expectations and what matters to you now.
- Career Change and Identity
Explore what a career change means for your sense of self, relationships and hopes without reducing the decision to a job title.
Reading is a start.
You do not need to agree with every suggestion or use every exercise. Consider what fits your experience. A guide cannot know your history; in therapy, I listen to your experience and we work out together what to focus on.
Related Concerns
- AnxietyWorry that lives in the future and will not let you rest in the present.
- Trauma and PTSDOld wounds that still shape your reactions, your sleep and your sense of safety.
- Grief and LossThe death of someone you love, or the end of a relationship, a role or a hope.
- Relationship ConflictArguments that escalate instead of resolving, and closeness that has worn thin.