Claire Zepponi
Helping children, teens & adults throughout the lifespan.
Offering telehealth and in-person appointments in our University Place & Gig Harbor offices.
Claire Zepponi, LMHCA
As a mental health counselor, I help people untangle the intricacies of their life story, assist in building insight/skills, and provide support in breaking away from dysfunctional patterns and reaching meaningful goals. My clinical perspective is informed by principles of attachment trauma and cognitive behavior therapy (CBT). I believe that many mental health challenges originate in significant past experiences, and that healing is often accomplished through an in-depth exploration of attachment relationships and deconstruction of thoughts and beliefs.
I approach counseling with empathy and flexibility, and tailor my therapeutic intervention to honor the client’s cultural identity and areas of adversity. My background is in child and family therapy, specifically providing trauma-informed and attachment-based therapy for children and teens in treatment foster care (TFC). As a TFC therapist, I worked with children with significant histories of abuse and neglect. I am skilled in helping children with trauma-related mood disturbances and behavioral issues. I enjoy facilitating CBT techniques and psychoeducation, and often incorporate play and expressive arts with children and teenage clients. I also have experience working with families, and I am passionate about helping parents and caregivers learn improved ways to emotionally support each other and communicate with one another.
I look forward to helping you attain your goals for therapy.
Specializations:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Grief and Loss
- Attachment
- Trauma
- Autism
- Substance Abuse
- Behavioral Problems
- Family Conflict
- Sexual Abuse
- Emotional Regulation
- Foster Care and Adoption
- Women’s Issues
- Relationship Issues
- Parenting
Credentials
- Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, University of New Mexico
- Bachelor in Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
- Licensed in Washington state
Counseling for Trauma and PTSD
As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, I am trained to look for the widespread impact of trauma on a client’s life and relationships and to consider underlying reasons for their particular beliefs and behaviors. I’m passionate about working with individuals to help them overcome their past and find meaning in life after trauma.
I am trained in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a psychotherapy treatment used to alleviate the distress associated with past trauma. Clients who engage in EMDR go through an eight-phase treatment that involves attention to the past, present and future. EMDR therapy addresses past emotional disturbances, memories and events, while helping the person develop new skills and attitudes to move toward a positive tomorrow.
I am grateful each day to play a role in the facilitation of healing and transformation. I am truly fulfilled by my work, because I see the positive impact it makes on a person’s life.
What to Expect in Counseling
My job as a therapist is to facilitate the process of healing and change using evidence-based treatments and a humanizing stance. I am fully committed to meeting the individual needs of my clients and I make every effort to personally tailor the process.
I take an existential approach in that I see many of the problems we experience are part of the human condition. Unfortunately, our reality is limited by what we can perceive. I view the process of psychotherapy as an ever-evolving lens to understanding the perceptions we have of ourselves and the relationships we have with our external world. The therapeutic process enables us to change our vantage point so we can see things more clearly, assess the challenges that lay ahead of us, and approach the future with optimism and healthier concept of self.
I make a commitment to you to work hard to help you get better, feel happier and attain goals which previously may have seemed impossible.
My Background & Experience
Manny Occhiogrosso has over 20 years of experience in the mental health field as a therapist, consultant, and healthcare administrator. He is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor certified by the National Board of Counselors, Manny is passionate about working with varied populations, and has done so in a variety of settings—with their families in their homes, in hospitals, residential treatment, and in private practice. He specializes in treating anxiety disorders, codependency, and family conflict, works extensively with EMDR and has developed treatment programs utilizing Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, hypnotherapy, expressive arts, and experiential modalities. As a qualified clinical supervisor since 2006, he mentors mental health professionals in their lifelong goals of helping clients and their families.