Christina Malecka

Christina Malecka

Licensed Mental Health Counselor

1200 6th Ave.
Suite 2001
Seattle, WA 98101

Phone: 206-414-8251

Email: Email Christina Malecka

Website: www.christinamalecka.com

Primary Focus: Abuse / Incest / PTSD Counseling, Adult Adjustment / Life Transitioning Counseling, Anxiety / Panic Disorders Counseling, Child / Teen Counseling, Family Counseling, Grief Counseling, LGBTQ Counseling, People of Color Counseling, Stress / Depression Counseling, Women's Counseling

Scope of Practice

I work with children, adolescents, adults and families, and have received extensive training in client-centered therapeutic interventions to help individuals and families find relief from grief, trauma, depression, anxiety, addiction, and other forms of emotional suffering. I am especially sensitive to the ways oppression (racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, heterosexism, classism, anti-Semitism, ableism, etc.) impact mental health and well-being.

 

Although I enjoy working with a wide variety of people, I specialize in counseling adolescents, young adults, artists, musicians, performers, activists, GLBTQ folks, gender variant people, and those who are living outside of the mainstream.

 

In addition, I have specialized training and experience working with families created through adoption and foster care, with a focus on parents who choose to foster or adopt older children and teens.  I help prepare parents to foster or adopt, navigate systems, and cope with the day-to-day challenges of raising older children with traumatic backgrounds and challenging behaviors.  I offer family therapy to adoptive and foster families to address attachment and behavior issues, as well as cultural issues that emerge around transracial adoption and foster care.  I also work with adopted/foster kids, teens and adults to help them resolve trauma and explore identity and cultural issues unique to those who do not grow up with their biological family. 

 

I also have extensive experience working with women and children impacted by domestic violence or emotionally abusive relationships and offer supportive, nonjudgmental counseling to people who are still in abusive situations, trying to leave them, recovering from abuse, or feeling like something isn’t quite right about the power dynamic in their relationship. 

Range of Focus

  • ACoA Issues
  • Adolescents and Parents: Individuation / Separation Issues
  • Agoraphobia
  • Bereavement
  • Children's / Adolescent Therapy
  • Coming Out Issues
  • Cross Cultural Issues
  • Depression & Anxiety
  • Discrimination / Empowerment
  • Emotional Abuse
  • Family Adjustments
  • Family of Origin Issues
  • Foster Care
  • Incest
  • Issues of early adulthood (20's and 30's)
  • Mood Disorders
  • Multi-Racial Marriage and Family Issues
  • Panic Attacks
  • Peer Interaction
  • Physical Abuse
  • Rejection by Family of Origin
  • Self Esteem
  • Self Mutilation/Injury
  • Sexual Abuse
  • Sexuality Issues
  • Social Anxiety
  • Teens / Young Adults Counseling
  • Transracial and transcultural adoption issues
  • Abortion/Pregnancy Issues
  • Adoption Counseling
  • Anxiety
  • Body Image
  • Codependency Issues
  • Conflict
  • Cultural Diversity
  • Depressive Disorders
  • Divorce/Separation
  • Estrangement
  • Family Conflicts
  • Feminist Issues
  • Gender Identity
  • Internal Homophobia
  • Lesbian Issues
  • Multi-Cultural Marriage and Family Issues
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
  • Parenting Skills
  • Personal Motivation / Goal Setting
  • Preparation for foster and adoptive parents
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder
  • Self Identity
  • Sense of Self
  • Sexual Orientation Issues
  • Singles Seeking Relationships
  • Stress & Coping
  • Transgender Issues
  • Verbal Abuse

Values and Philosophy

I practice therapy from a humanistic/existential orientation, focused on client strengths and possibilities rather than deficits or pathology. I will encourage and teach you to develop mindfulness skills that can help you enjoy your life as it is right now, rather than over-focusing on the past, the future, or how things "should" or "could be." Together, we will work to reveal "what is," and how you can make the most of it.

I believe that you, the client, are the biggest expert on your own life. With this in mind, I will work with you to identify your goals for therapy, and create a treatment plan and approach based on your unique personality, preferred relational style, and long- and short-term priorities. My ultimate goal is to provide you with an authentic, supportive, encouraging, and sometimes challenging therapeutic relationship to help you find the power to make desired changes in your life.

Therapeutic Technique and Methodology

My work is grounded in humanistic/existential theory, and I believe it is important to develop a trusting, warm, and authentic therapeutic relationship with each of my clients.  I focus on giving you a place where you can truly be seen and understood, and focus on helping you make meaning of your suffering and finding relief, hope and peace.

At the same time, I think it is important for therapy to have structure.   I use tools from a large palette of therapeutic modalities including Psychodynamic and Object-Relations Theory, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Relational-Cultural Theory, Solution Focused Therapy, Structural Family Therapy, Family Systems Theory, Play Therapy, Buddhist Therapy and philosophy, Positive Psychology, developmental models and attachment models. 

I will tailor your therapy specifically to your needs rather than asking you to fit your reality into a particular theory or school of thought.  In one of your first three sessions, we will create a written treatment plan and use it as a road map to determine if you are getting what you need out of counseling as our work progresses. 

In therapy with me you will receive both a warm witness and a concrete plan to feel better, make desired changes, and reach your goals.

Education, Certification and Professional Associations

Degrees and Certifications

Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology
Antioch University
Seattle, WA

Bachelor of Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Studies with Women's Studies Concentration
Miami University
Oxford, OH

Memberships
  • Seattle Counselor's Association
  • Washington Mental Health Counselor's Association
  • Washington Counselors for Social Justice
  • Washington Counselor's Association

Licenses to Practice and Registrations

Licenses

Mental Health Counselor License
License number: LH 60123241

Payment Information and Hours

I offer a free initial 20 minute consultation to all potential clients, and have flexible hours, including evening time slots. 

Therapy sessions last 50 minutes and cost $110.  I choose not to participate in insurance panels, but can often serve as an out-of-network provider if your insurance company offers mental health coverage.  

I believe therapy should be affordable and reserve a certain number of time slots for clients who cannot afford my full fee.  In these cases, fees are set on a sliding scale determined by household size and income.  Feel free to contact me to see if I have sliding-scale sessions available at this time.

Call or e-mail me for more information on hours, rates, or to schedule your free consultation.

 

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