Imagination. Spaciousness. Growth.
Step into your life more fully.
Each of us has had difficult experiences: loneliness, anxiety and sadness, grief and loss. These sorrows can seem so overwhelming that our only recourse seems to be to turn away. Yet, if we avoid what is, we avoid life itself.
What if there is a way to meet your own experience, with kindness and spaciousness, in the service of being truly alive?
Using the body, values, dreams and imagination as guides, we can work together to cultivate psychological flexibility: the ability to accept what is, with an eye toward building a different future, a life full of meaning and purpose.
About Brandy
(she/her)
I help people looking for support in building community, understanding their dreams and imaginal experiences, pursuing balance in work/life, developing self-compassion, body trust, and clarifying values.
I work with those who have non-dominant religious and spiritual beliefs, and value helping clients connect more deeply to their rituals and praxis.
I have a passion for working with folks living with loneliness, anxiety and stress, health anxiety and health behaviors, and shame and self-criticism. These experiences show up in waking life as well as in dreams, daydreams and psychedelic experiences.
I have specialized training in Dream Tending and Imagination, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy and grief rituals/grief tending. My approach is grounded in weight-inclusive care.
THERAPY SERVICES
I offer three main styles of therapy. All styles are from a weight-inclusive perspective, are trauma-informed and from an anti-oppression lens. All therapy focuses on developing the resources to turn toward, rather than away from difficulties. Therapy sessions are virtual (telehealth). To engage in therapy with me, you must reside in Washington State.
I am in the process of transitioning to Private Practice and will be using Headway for insurance billing, collecting payment and providing secure communication.
My general practice is currently full. If you have immediate needs, I suggest visiting Psychology Today or your insurance carrier's website for providers.
To get on my waitlist for therapy, please contact me and I will be in touch.
I have current openings for Dream Focused Therapy only. If you are interested, please contact me to set up an appointment.
"With so much suffering and destructiveness all around us, optimism is an insult to those who suffer. But pessimism is an insult to life. Life always has its own forward direction, whatever else may also be occurring."
-Eugene Gendlin
Embodied ACT
Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (or 'ACT,' pronounced like the word act) is an evidence-based, “third wave” CBT therapy, with humanistic elements woven in. It involves increasing your ability to move toward a life full of meaning, while staying focused on what you care about even in the face of painful thoughts and feelings. It is focused on behavior change, identifying values, and discerning acceptance vs. change processes. "Embodied ACT" brings together ACT and Focusing, a humanistic therapy developed by Eugene Gendlin. Focusing is a method of inner inquiry that facilitates a new way of being with your body's signals and experience, which over time can assist in developing a positive relationship with your body.
Dream-Focused Therapy
These sessions have a direct focus on dreams and imaginal experiences. While this therapy does target the ACT psychological flexibility processes, the content discussed in sessions will primarily be dreams, nightmares, 'waking dreams' (AKA daydreams) and other imaginal encounters. Disturbing or recurring dreams or intrusive images are addressed. In addition, we take embodied approach, which explicitly includes your experience of your body in relationship to the dream images and figures.
Currently accepting new clients.
Integrative Therapy
These sessions include elements of ACT, dreams, depth psychology (archetypal, psychodynamic), Focusing, strengths-based, and other complementary approaches, all while explicitly tuning into your body's ongoing experience, and developing a relationship with your body. This is a thoughtful integration, rather than an eclectic 'throwing about' of therapies, based on your unique needs and goals for therapy.
SPECIALITIES
Brandy specializes in the following areas:
Anxiety (Health Anxiety, Social Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety)
Internalized Antifat Bias & Weight Stigma
Disruptions In Embodiment
"Body Image" Concerns
Self-Compassion
Personal Growth & Values Exploration
Vivid Or Disturbing Dreams
Stress/Life Transitions
Marginalized Religion/Spirituality (Including Animism, Paganism, New Thought, Etc.)
Integration Of Creativity & Ritual
Disordered Eating Patterns
Depression And Grief, Pet Loss
LGBTQIA+ Affirming
Note: I also work with individuals struggling with disordered eating patterns. I have specific history and training working in higher levels of care for people struggling with eating disorders. In this setting, my services are best matched to people who need regular, weekly therapy, rather than more intensive services.
ABOUT BRANDY
My Training
I earned my undergraduate degree from The Evergreen State College in 2006, with specific focus on liberal arts and depth psychology. I received my Master's degree from Bastyr University in 2015, which focused on Health Psychology and mind/body connections. I have specialized clinical training in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Health at Every Size-informed therapy, and am currently undergoing training in Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy for trauma.
I have specific training in grief rituals (also called "grief tending") from the teachings of Francis Weller, a psychotherapist who comes from the depth and archetypal traditions. In 2024 I completed the Dream Tending & Deep Imagination certificate series, a three-year program taught by Dr. Stephen Aizenstat, the founding president of Pacifica Graduate Institute.
My Frame
I believe in possibility and the emergence of new ways of being. This means I take a humanistic approach to healing: inside of each person lies the capacity for growth, change and wholeness. I believe that the body, dreams and imagination provide us with valuable information--clues to what is waiting to unfold. I believe that we can use whatever our present moment experience is-whether it's centered on the here and now, or memories of the past-for doing the deep work of healing. And I believe that the deep inner work must be demonstrated and solidified with tangible action in the world; this is the part of my work that is more aligned with some of the behavioral traditions like ACT.
I believe in an animated world. Some refer to it as animism; meaning that the world itself, along with the humans and nonhumans in it, is alive and breathing, and is dreaming through us.
I believe in you, and your right to the sovereignty of your own beliefs. This means that I won't push my agenda or my own beliefs on yours. I will respect your perspective and work with you to live into your own beliefs and values in an aligned way.
I believe in us. I believe that we are designed for and optimized in community, whether that be inner and outer community. And too, I believe in accountability, reciprocity and reparations. We belong to each other, and we are accountable to each other.
Sessions are 55 minutes in duration and are $180 per session or your contracted insurance rate. Clients must be in Washington State at the time of service. Brandy accepts, or is the in process of credentialing with, the following insurances:
Regence BlueShield of Washington
Premera Blue Cross Washington
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Oscar
United Healthcare
Oxford
Carelon Behavioral Health
Quest Behavioral Health
Aetna
Out of Network (please contact your insurance company for details about your policy with regards to OON providers)
A Good Faith Estimate of expected costs is available to private pay clients upon scheduling or upon request
CONTACT
Let's get in touch
Have questions about therapy services? Fill out the form, I'll be in touch typically within the week (with the exception of holidays...at Embodied ACT, we practice slow living!).
© 2025 Brandy Gillihan, LMHC🍉. All rights reserved.
DISCLAIMER
The information provided on this website is for educational purposes only and is not intended as clinical mental health guidance, nor does engaging in the site content constitute or replace therapy services. Clinical/therapy services are provided through Bloom & Blossom Wellness Center. All non-clinical services are provided through Brandy's independent business, Illuminated Encounters LLC.
