About Patricia
Patricia Sumlin is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of experience. She focuses on helping people who feel overwhelmed by stress, anxiety, trauma, grief, addiction, and related life challenges. Her style is direct and practical, aimed at building skills you can use between sessions.
Patricia blends several well-known approaches to tailor care to each person. She draws from cognitive behavioral techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and uses acceptance-based ideas to help people live by their values.
Background and approach
Attachment-focused work helps with relationship patterns and closeness issues. Many clients come for help with anxiety that follows trauma, difficult breakups, or long-term caregiving strain. She also supports people managing mood struggles, addiction recovery, eating and sleep problems, and challenges tied to identity and belonging.
The work can include emotion regulation skills, problem solving, and building a stronger sense of self worth. Patricia has worked in diverse settings including outpatient clinics, residential programs, hospice, and community services across Washington and Alaska. That background informs a practical approach to real-life problems, from chronic illness to employment and housing stress.
Sessions focus on clear goals and skill building. Patricia aims to form an honest, respectful partnership so people can gain more confidence, steadiness, and the tools to cope with change and difficult feelings.
How therapeutic approaches translate to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people clarify what matters most to them and take steps toward those values even when painful feelings are present. It is useful for anxiety, stress, and coping with life transitions. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns and practicing new skills to shift them. This approach is commonly used for anxiety, depression, and sleep or eating concerns. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at patterns of relating and trust in close relationships and supports people who want to change how they connect with others.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will listen to your goals and try methods that fit your situation, adjusting as needed. Decisions about which techniques to use are collaborative and based on what helps you make steady progress.
Online therapy offers flexible ways to keep therapy consistent. Video calls allow face-to-face conversations and skill practice. Phone sessions use less bandwidth and can fit into a work break or commute. Live chat and text messaging support quick check-ins, ongoing coaching, or shorter follow-ups between longer sessions. These options make it easier to maintain momentum and use skills in daily life.
Questions people ask
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What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Gender dysphoria
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Trichotillomania
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
- Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
- Gottman Method
- Jungian Therapy
- Mindfulness Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Narrative Therapy
- Psychodynamic Therapy
- Solution-Focused Therapy
- Trauma-Focused Therapy
- Internal Family Systems
- Experience
- 25 years
- Licensed
- California, Washington
- Languages
- English
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