DeHeavalyn Pullium, M.S., LMFT
There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.--Maya Angelou
About Me
I am constantly humbled and honored by the opportunity to be invited into the stories of my clients. I truly believe that the stories we tell about ourselves, and the stories that society tells about us, have the power to uplift, demean, liberate, and confine. I am passionate about getting to the heart of your story, your healing, and your liberation from the labels, stereotypes, and misnomers that so readily attach and degrade our relationships, families, and personal sense of worth.
I received my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Seattle Pacific University in 2011, and my Master of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts Boston in Family Therapy in 2016. My training emphasized a systemic, multicultural, and justice-oriented approach to working with individuals, couples, children, and families. I especially enjoy working with Adolescents (ages15 - 17), College Students, Women of Color, and Interracial Couples. I have supported clients in addressing issues of anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, and life transitions. I am fully-licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) in Washington State.
Outside of the therapy room I am the proud aunt of 3 nephews and 3 nieces, I love to sing, write, draw, and play Uno. I LOVE to laugh, and I find that taking occasional pauses for humor and sarcasm helps the darkest of days feel lighter.
My Approach
My approach to counseling is collaborative and strengths-based. I seek to understand each client’s experience, and to empower clients to identify and implement their own strengths and expertise in the therapeutic process. In our work together, I will seek to understand your story in the context of the familial, cultural, societal, and spiritual communities that you are a part of. I will also make it a priority to identify ways to address problems that fit within your personal value system (whether those values are rooted-in a faith tradition, a moral code, cultural understandings, etc.).
Goal-setting is primarily client-driven. However, I always keep a goal of understanding and deepening client narratives to encompass not only areas of struggle, but areas of triumph, and not only areas of victimization, but areas of survival. My ultimate hope is that clients feel empowered to live-out their preferred narratives – free from societal standards of the ways one “should be” and free from problem-saturated narratives that keep one bound and discouraged.
The theoretical models I primarily utilize are Narrative Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Inner-relationship Focusing (a somatic approach). I am also trained in using an approach called “Lifespan Integration” therapy for trauma re-processing.
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