This realization can challenge you when you do not know how to understand, process and handle. When children, teens, adults, couples and family enter into new experience, change or life transitions, we all find out that we need “help” and “support”. I believe that life challenges gives us an opportunity to explore and learn about self, immediate relationships, family, and our community.  Counseling can provide an environment  for you to process these challenges in comfort, security, and safety.

Counseling may seem foreign to you. I believe that every one of us have the capacity to adjust, learn and process our life issues. Even young children question, express, and find solutions with their life challenges and changes. Counseling can be a place for growth, healing, and change. Your current behaviors, thoughts, and feelings are naturally related to your history (past) and it will bring you to the hope (future), and thus counseling can help you understand where you are, who you are, and how to bring change and adjustment in your life.

Warmly,

Minhee J. Cho, M. Ed., MS, LMFTA

Challenges are inherent in every committed relationship.

Whether you are dating, engaged, or married, you are joining your unique personality, communication style, life experience, hopes and dreams with one another. Merging these differences into a cohesive relationship that is healthy and growing is something that any couple finds challenging.

I will help you move toward a new, restored and satisfying relationship. My work with couples looks closely at the following areas:

•    Each person’s experience in their family upbringing and how these experiences influence day-to-day life between you and your partner.
•    Teaching couples how to communicate in such a way that their deepest needs are understood and shared.
•    Working to heal relationships strained by raising children, a loss of intimacy, and a loss of trust.
•    Creating connection and acceptance between couples in such a way that rebuilding secure attachment.
•    Helping you and your partner establish a healthy work-family balance.
•    Using belief as the basis for growing a healthy relationship.

I work with children who are struggling with numerous circumstances including anxiety, depression, adjustment, grief-loss, perfectionism and social skills.

My warm and fun attitude helps to create an easy connection with children. When I work with children, I use various methods including Experiential therapy, Play therapy, Sandplay therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). In Playtherapy, I use games, art, toys, and a sand tray in order for children to choose their favorite tools to express, project and process their feelings, thoughts and actions. I focus on children’s strength as a resource while they are working on emotional and/or behavioral issues.

I am empathic and supportive but firm with safe limits. Because parents or guardians are the main supporters in the lives of children, thus I encourage them to provide the supportive environment for children. As I work with children, I will guide parents and guardians in ways to communicate with their children.

•    Child counseling

My warm and fun attitude helps easy connection with children. When I work with children, I use experiential therapy, play therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In play therapy, I use games, art, toys, sand tray thus children can choose their favorite tools to express and process their feelings, thoughts and actions. I focus on children’s strength as a resource while they are working on emotional or/and behavioral issues. I am empathic and supportive but firm with safe limits. I believe that parents are main supports when children are changing and understanding through counseling. I encourage parents to provide supportive environment for children, thus I will communicate with parents. I work with children who are struggling with anxiety, depression, adjustment, social skills, family relationship and grief and loss.

•    Teen counseling

“Adolescents are not monsters. They are just people trying to learn how to make it among the adults in the world, who are probably not so sure themselves.” ~Virginia Satir

Most of teens are entering into physical/intellectual/emotional/ and spiritual “growth spurt” and change. They try to fit into physical growth, develop a new way of thinking, explore emotions and identity in rapidly changing world. With this big changes and challenges, they look for the place to be accepted and respected. Teen counseling can provide the space for their growth and process their struggles. When I work with teens, I use experiential, play, sandplay, family systems therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In play therapy, I use games, art, toys, sand tray thus teens can choose their favorite tools to express and process their feelings, thoughts and actions. I focus on teens’ strength as a resource while they are working on emotional or/and behavioral issues. I am empathic and supportive but firm with safe limits. I encourage parents to provide supportive environment for teens, thus I will communicate with parents. I work with teens who are struggling with anxiety, depression, adjustment, grief-loss, social skills, family relationship, perfectionism, self-esteem and identity .

“I want to see every single person – child, teen, adult, couple and family - feel valuable, creative, worthy, loved, accepted, respected, healthy, hopeful, encouraged, and empowered.

This is my vision, hope, and philosophy as a Child, Marriage and Family therapist.”

Approach

I value individuals, relationships and families’ uniqueness and well-being. Through  professional marriage and family therapy training, I can help people seek “eyes” or a new perspective for understanding for certain behaviors, communication styles, emotional interactions, and patterns in relationship within one’s multi systems (i.e. family, community, work, society, culture and etc). Thus, people can adjust well with life difficulties, and gain perspective on how one can experience change in their life. I believe that each person has their own belief, value, strength and uniqueness which can help them learn and attain their own life principles.

Specifically, my passion surrounds children (age 3-12), teens and young adults who struggle with grief, loss, anxiety, and adjustment (i.e. separation/divorce, adoption, foster care, refugee and immigrant experience), developmental issue, acculturation issue and their family relationships. I am committed to marriage, parenting, and familial relationship throughout multi-generations. To live in healthy relationships and family, one must makes an effort to learn about self, parenting, relationship and each member of family. I am committed to providing a safe place to explore, express, examine, process and practice whatever you learn for managing or/and cure self, marriage/intimate relationship and family.

Educations & Credentials

I am a Washington State Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate (LMFTA), a clinical member of American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) and a member of Washington State Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (WAMFT). I earned a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington, and a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology at Ewha Woman’s University in Seoul, Korea. To offer the best possible services to my clients, I receive supervision from an AAMFT approved supervisor.

In addition to being trained as a Marriage and Family Therapist, I have provided counseling for children and teens and families from different cultural, social and family background (i.e. immigrants, refugees, foster & adoptive family). I have led parenting classes for expectant mothers, preschoolers and teens’ parents in community. I have also facilitated some workshops for people who were struggling with severe mental illness in the Seattle area while I was receiving the Dickenson fellowship at Seattle Pacific University.

•    Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate (LMFTA) in Washington State
•    Earned, MS, Marriage and Family Therapy at Seattle Pacific University
•    Earned, M. Ed, Educational Counseling, Ewha Woman’s University, Seoul, Korea
•    A member of American Associate Marriage and Family Therapist
•    A member of Washington Marriage and Family Therapist
•    Certified Positive Discipline Parenting Educator
•    Trained as a child, marriage and family therapist
•    Fluent in English and Korean

Use these steps after you have had a chance to cool off (Nelson, 1995).

RECOGNIZE the mistake with feeling of responsibility instead of blame.

RECONCILE by apologizing. Children are so forgiving.

RESOLVE the problem by working together on a respectful solution.

“Life is not what it’s supposed to be.
It’s what it is. The way you cope with it is what makes the difference.”
~Virginia Satir

With adults, I am here to help and encourage you to engage into self-understanding and process. I will do my best to listen to you, reflect what you share, and I will assist you when you need help to clarify your issue. I believe that you have enough resources to approach your issue. I also can explain how your context and systems (e.g. school, community, immediate and extended family, work, society) may influence you and your issue with Family Systems approach.

Additionally, I am interested in helping women in all different stages of their lives. I work with women who struggle with anxiety, depression, career, spirituality, self-esteem, acculturation issue and relationship challenges with family of origin and intimate relationship. In addition to this, I work with mothers who are going through life challenges and transitions.

Click here to contact me via this website.

You can also contact me via phone/email:
(206) 619-0492| minheejcho@gmail.com

*Parking: One hour parking along 45th Street and ample street parking along Sunnyside, 44th Street,and the surrounding neighborhood.