About Thayer OPS
Thayer Organizational & Psychological Services (Thayer OPS) is a Seattle-based psychology practice that exists for people living in high-pressure worlds—kids and teens in complicated schools and families, young adults juggling identity and survival, and adults whose professional success and inner experience don’t match.
We focus on the kinds of problems that don’t stay in one box. Trauma, suicidality, ADHD, burnout, and relationship patterns tend to show up across home, school, work, and community. Our work is about understanding those patterns in context, not judging you for them.
What We Believe About People & Problems
At the core of this practice is a simple belief: your reactions make sense in light of what you’ve lived through.
We all develop stories about ourselves, our families, our identities, our work, and what is or isn’t “allowed” to hurt. Those stories are shaped by trauma, culture, systems, mental health labels, and the roles we’ve had to play. Sometimes they protect us. Sometimes they keep us stuck, numb, or on edge.
Our job isn’t to decide whether your story is “right.” It’s to understand how your mind, body, and environment have been working together, and to help you experiment with other ways of relating to yourself and the world.
We assume:
- People are doing the best they can with the tools they’ve had.
- Systems (families, workplaces, communities, policies) matter as much as individual effort.
Big feelings, suicidality, and burnout deserve direct, honest conversations without panic, shaming, or minimizing.
Who We Are a Good Fit For
People who find this practice helpful often fall into one or more of these groups:
Teens & Families
Teens dealing with anxiety, trauma, school pressure, self-harm, or suicidal thoughts—and the parents and caregivers who are trying to keep them afloat. With younger kids, we often work primarily with parents to shift patterns at home and at school.
Young Adults & Queer / Gender-Diverse Folks
Emerging adults sorting out identity, relationships, school/work paths, and what kind of life they actually want. Many of our clients are queer, trans, or non-binary, and are tired of either being pathologized or having to educate their therapist from scratch.
Men & High-Pressure Professionals
Men and individuals working in tech, leadership, medicine, education, and other high-responsibility roles often have similar experiences–they may or may not look “fine” on paper but are quietly burning out, snapping, or going numb. This includes folks who suspect ADHD or are tired of white-knuckling their way through work and relationships.
Couples & Relationships
Couples who care about each other but are stuck in painful cycles—conflict, distance, repeated ruptures, or a sense of being teammates in logistics but strangers emotionally. Often there’s trauma, ADHD, cultural differences, or high-stress jobs in the mix.
If you read this and think, “That’s kind of me, but not exactly,” you’re probably in the right place. Most of our clients don’t fit neatly into a single category.
Our Guiding Principles
Community-Supported Access
High-quality care shouldn’t be reserved for the most resourced. Our practice is funded through a mix of full-fee work, sponsorships, and donations so that a significant portion of our time can go to reduced-fee or pro-bono care for youth, families, and communities who are often left out.
Whole-Person, Whole-System Care
Mental health doesn’t live in a vacuum. We work to understand each person within their relationships, schools, work, culture, and history. When it’s helpful, we collaborate with those systems so that change is supported in real life, not just in session.
Stewardship of Trust
Letting a therapist into your life, your family, or your system is a big deal, and we don’t take that trust for granted. We see our role as careful stewards of that access: honest about limits, transparent about decisions, and consistently oriented toward your safety, dignity, and goals.