About Me

Andrew Jordan Thayer, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist (LP; PY61194044)

My path toward practicing clinical psychology has been an exercise in patience, tolerance, and curiosity. I did not start out wanting to work in mental health. In truth, I never had a clear idea of who I wanted to be or how I wanted to contribute to the world. My childhood was filled with chaos and instability. Until my mid-twenties, I moved nearly every year of my life (and sometimes multiple times a year). In that environment, you grow up with only one narrative–survive. I did so by escaping into books, video games, and music. Anything that allowed me to create my own story or experience and escape the depression and adversity around me.

I found myself in graduate school where I met some really wonderful people that helped me realize something: the stories we tell ourselves often shackle us to the past, preventing us from fully experiencing the present and embracing the potential of the future. For me, I was spending so much time creating other things, but not myself. I was bought into my personal story of “Survive” and saw no alternative. It was time to be free of that story.

I began my work in trauma therapy and, specifically, working with teens and adults with trauma or suicide ideation (and even past attempts). After completing my internship and postdoctoral residency in school and pediatric academic centers where I worked with children, teens, families, and young adults, I moved to Seattle to continue my personal and professional growth. I also began to partner with organizations across the nation to bring better mental health practices to as many communities as possible.

If you are feeling trapped by your own self-narrative, or a parent of a teen struggling with various mental health needs, or just needing to change things up, contact me and let us see if we connect and what work we might do together.

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My Philosophy

It is my belief that the root of nearly all difficulties in life is rigid adherence to personal beliefs and narratives (and research backs this up!). Why we hold so tightly to these beliefs and narratives is complex; there are societal, cultural, psychological, and biological elements involved. But the mechanism remains the same–rigidity prevents adaptation and growth.

This includes rigid narratives born from trauma and experiences in life.

My practice is heavily influenced by psychotherapeutic and cultural practices that emphasize present moment living, acceptance of life’s ups and downs, mindfulness, fullness of emotional experiences, and value-based actions.

I encourage you to let go of narratives that hold you back–the limiting beliefs and self-imposed constraints. How we do this depends on your age (or that of your teen, if a parent), personal experiences, preferences, and even religious beliefs if you have them. Together, we will gently unravel the stories that no longer serve you, and you will learn the art of letting go and stepping into a very uncomfortable but important space–creating your own experience. Hopefully, this gives you the freedom and flexibility to navigate life’s challenges with grace and equanimity.

"But if you have nothing to create, then perhaps you create yourself."

– Carl Jung (and Hank Green, click here for his modern version)

My Therapy Practices

The state of psychological practice in Western societies is in an odd place. There is incredible variety in the number of mental health professions and credentials, and an even greater variety in therapies. Trained as a Licensed Psychologist, I do believe in my ethical duty to use ONLY evidence-based therapies (that is, they have substantial evidence supporting their use in real-world settings including randomly-controlled trials). Many, but not all, therapies meet this requirement and those that do often target the same underlying psychological experiences. In other words, they “look” different and have different names but do the same thing. I only receiving training in and use therapies that fall into this category–have significant evidence supporting their use, and target similar psychological experiences. This allows me to tailor therapy to the client, such as adjusting for trauma or ADHD, while also maintaining a high standard of practice.

These therapies include:

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT; my primary method)
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (and Radically-open DBT)
Existential Therapy
Family Systems Therapy
Internal Family Systems
Motivational Interviewing
Solution-focused
Trauma-focused CBT

Alternative Therapy Modalities

Music Therapy

Music Therapy itself is not a heavily researched method, mostly because it does not have a strict method that enables us to research it with any clarity. But, there is plenty of evidence that music can, for most people, elevate memories and emotions that are otherwise repressed or avoided. And there is an element of creativity and expression with music that is often missing in most therapy practices. As such, I believe music can be a useful method for connecting with clients and understanding their experience, while also bringing attention to their experiences in ways that allow us to use evidence-based practices to process and work through.

"We ain't picture perfect but we worth the picture still"

– J. Cole, "Crooked Smile"

Adventure- and Nature-based Therapy

Adventure- and Nature-based Therapy can be the same thing or different. Both are not necessarily therapies but setting modalities. Nature-based therapy involves engaging in clinically-effective practices while in nature, and using the well-documented psychological and biological benefits of nature to support our work. Simply being in nature may not help, but being in nature and engaging in effective therapy can help. Nature-based sessions can either be brief, similar to a 1-hour in-office session, or multi-day. In addition, they can be as simple as meeting in a city park. Because the practice involves public spaces, there are a few additional considerations for keeping your privacy.

Similarly, Adventure-based therapy involves the use of clinically-effective practices while engaged in a physical activity. It can be a short-session where we meet up at a location and engage in that hobby (as long as I am trained in that hobby) or also be a multi-day session.

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