Leah Swaden, MA, LMFT

(She/Her/Hers)

About Leah

Welcome! I am so glad you are here. Finding the right therapist for you is an important first step. I use a laidback, curious, and collaborative approach to assist others in their journey towards healing. I love laughing and make my best attempt at using humor to lighten the load of some of the heavy topics you might be bringing to our work together. I truly value the real, authentic selves we get to show up as in the therapy room (or zoom screen).

As a Marriage and Family Therapist, I believe relationships and connectedness with others is an integral part of our lives. And with the current political and social climate, relationships can feel harder now more than ever. I enjoy working with individuals, couples, and families on relational concerns including significant others as well as strained or complicated family relationships. I use an attachment-based approach to all therapy and am trained in Emotion Focused Couple Therapy.

Other specialty areas include anxiety, depression, OCD, identity struggles, and life transitions. I use Brainspotting and neuropsychology to treat the effects of trauma and stress. I have both professional and personal experience with grief and loss and enjoy this work deeply. I typically work with people age 16+ but have a background in early childhood mental health and enjoy working with families with young children.

I have a feminist approach to therapy and am affirming to people of all genders, races, ethnicities, sexualities, and abilities.

In my free time, I love spending time with my friends and family, being outdoors (camping, hiking, canoeing, disc golfing), cooking something new, gardening, and seeing live music.

Favorite quote:

“People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

INNER CHILD/YOUNGER ME:

As a child, I experienced so much joy and wonder for the world around me. But as life happens, we develop ways to manage and survive—sometimes at the cost of that joy. As a therapist, I love helping people reconnect with their sense of wonder while also honoring the parts of them that carried them through life’s challenges.