Experience




Fortitude Therapy and Wellness, PLLC

Mental Health Counseling and Consultation

Call Us:  +206-354-7971

"Change means growth and growth can be painful...When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent we are still afraid. So it is better to speak." by Audre Lorde

Providing therapy and helping clients to cultivate meaning and connect to their strengths is not just something I love, it is a significant life commitment. To be included and trusted to engage and look through the lens of another person's life experience and provide a safe environment for their sharing and exploration toward healing is what I cherish most about this work. I have experience working with diverse populations that include older adults living with early and advanced stages of Alzheimer's and their families, veteran's, homeless youth ages 7-18 years old, chronically mentally ill adults and adults in LGBTQIA community ages 18-70 years old in individual, couples and group therapy. It is an integral part of my work to provide a safe, confidential therapeutic space to support client centered, emotion focused, relational and affirming counseling.


​Some of my more formalized training includes: two (2) months and 100 hours Older Adult/Geriatric specialization training at Western State Hospital in 2012, Narrative Therapy/Trauma 2013 series, one (1) year Clinical Mental Health internship at Seattle Counseling service in 2010/LGBTQIA adults in 2010 Gottman Couples Level 1, Life Span Integration, Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy, Narrative Therapy 2017 and EMDR in 2018. I also have a background in expressive arts therapy that includes some psychodrama practices and skills for family/relational and trauma work. All the previous identified training has since been revisited in on going Continued Education hours. 


​Therapy and Wellness Philosophy


​Clients engage in therapy for many reasons. In my clinical work, I have experience working with a wide range of ages, cultures, diagnoses and spiritual beliefs. To that end, I believe there to be a thread of interconnectedness present regardless of whether the issue is anxiety, chronic mental illness, depression, identity, loss or trauma. When engaging in therapy with me, we will identify the underlying issues that are affecting your present state of being and holistically approach healing that helps you, the client, connect to the purpose and meaning of your life in your healing.


A fundamental aspect of Fortitude Therapy and Wellness, PLLC is to support continued progress toward racial and gender equity as well as social equality for marginalized populations, including those living with mental health challenges, with a goal of helping clients realize and connect to the meaning in their lives in the face of challenge and distress.  I believe that acknowledging, hearing and seeing the historically unseen, unheard, stigmatized and sometimes voiceless and confirming the significance of their voice and experience is important in all aspects of life, including therapy. To that end, social justice including the reduction and elimination of oppression are the foundation of my therapeutic mission and that of Fortitude Therapy and Wellness, PLLC.



 


Lavonne Bryan, MA, LMHC

​she/her pronouns


​​​​​​BA in Sociology from Tuskegee University


​MA in Psychology from Seattle University


​​14 years of Clinical Experience​


​12 years in Clinical Practice


​​Trauma/Older Adult/LGBTQIA

​specialization