I hold an MSW from the University of Washington with a specialty in Health and Mental Health. I have practiced social work since 1994 internationally and in the Seattle area in the fields of health, mental health, geriatrics, youth, pediatrics, parenthood, adjustment to illness, conflict engagement and trauma. While working as a medical social worker, I trained in guided imagery and meditation in 1999 to support clients in pain management and stress reduction techniques, which turned up to be very beneficial for patients going through chemotherapy and recovering from surgeries. When I needed to go through surgery myself, I used Guided Imagery and Meditation for pain management and learned first hand how powerful and beneficial it was. I use Mindfulness and Internal Family System (IFS) as my core practices and have seen remarkable results and positive transformations doing this work.
Growing up in the Middle East I was always fascinated by conflict and was always looking for ways to understand all perspectives, which made it very organic for me to train In Mediation (1999). Ever since then I have been enjoying practicing Mediation in different settings (such as Small Claims Court, neighbors, business, Parent-Teen, etc.) and learning more and more about human nature and our need to be heard by one another. The win-win approach is one that I hold in very high regard both personally and professionally. Conflict Coaching is a natural evolution of years of experiences with both clinical social work and mediation, which I incorporated into my practice in 2011.
In 2013, I was asked to coordinate the Parent-Teen Mediation Program at the City of Bellevue. i have since been enjoying training and supervising parent-teen volunteers, build curriculum, lead community workshops, school interventions, as well as present on parent-teen issues.
My goal is to support you in learning how to communicate better with your-self and others, and deal with your conflicts and life stressors in a productive, life enriching way.
At Compassionate Ways, I work with individuals, couples and groups in therapy as well as support clients with conflict coaching, mediation, and Facilitation.
I am excited that we are in the process of expanding and have access to a multi-cultural, multidisciplinary team.
I have been living in the Seattle area since 2000, and am loving the trees, the mountains, and the water all around (yes, even the rain…).
Among the things I love to do are, spending time with family, hanging out with friends, taking walks with our dogs, read and cook. I also like to craft and find new ways of creating.
I love my work, and the opportunity to assist people on their journey to recognize their truth and find their joy. I feel it is a true privilege and honor to be invited into people’s lives, even for a brief moment, to share the experiences and stories they have gathered as well as their challenges and triumphs. My job, as I see it, is to create the safe space for you to work on your growth, so that you can achieve your goals. My place is not to fix anyone, we are all both whole and a work in progress, doing the best that we can with what we were given. I will walk beside you, guide and cheer you on as you find your way through whatever suffering you are experiencing right now… and now is the best time to start!
I’m looking forward to meeting you!!
Galit Arad-Trutner, MSW, LICSW
