If you've spent your life being told you're too much, too loud, too sensitive, too anything, I want this room to be different. I'm Candice Ryan, a Marriage and Family Therapy intern at Northwest Relationships in Tacoma, supervised by Brittany Thomas, LMFT, an AAMFT Approved Supervisor.

I work with people navigating religious trauma, including deconstruction from high-control or purity-culture environments, alongside PTSD, anxiety, grief, and identity, especially in the LGBTQIA2S+ community. I draw on Emotionally Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, DBT, and Solution-Focused approaches, and I hold SBIRT certification for substance use screening, which lets me address that piece directly when it's part of the picture instead of referring it out. I'm also trained to work with neurodivergent clients whose experience of anxiety or trauma doesn't always fit a standard presentation. I'm completing my clinical hours toward full licensure alongside this training.

I aim to hold warmth and directness together, enough warmth that you don't feel judged, and enough directness that we actually get somewhere instead of circling the same thing session after session. I work with individuals, and I bring that same directness to naming what's actually going on in a session rather than softening it past the point of usefulness.

I'm a good fit for someone in Tacoma or across Washington state navigating religious trauma or identity, especially in the LGBTQIA2S+ community, who's looking for a therapist who won't soften the truth to make it more comfortable.

Request a session or start an intake form when you're ready. If you're not sure whether your experience counts as religious trauma or you're just tired of a specific environment, that's exactly the kind of question worth bringing in. I also hold SBIRT certification for substance use screening, so if that's part of what's going on for you, it doesn't need to be a separate conversation with a separate provider.