Patricia Sumlin, LMFT
Direct, experienced therapist for parenting and life stress
Book with Patricia- Years in practice
- 25
- Credentials
- LMFT
- Licensed in
- California, Washington
- Languages
- English
- Focus
- Stress, Anxiety
- Focus
- Relationship issues
- Focus
- Family conflicts
About Patricia
Patricia Sumlin is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of experience helping people navigate stress, anxiety, depression, parenting challenges, and trauma. She writes plainly and listens directly to figure out what matters most to each person. Many clients come when life feels hard to manage and they want practical ways to cope and move forward.
She uses straightforward, common-sense methods that focus on building skills and insight.
Background and approach
Sessions often cover emotion regulation, improving relationships, managing grief, and steps to handle addiction or compulsive behaviors. Patricia adapts what she offers to match each person's goals and pace. Her background includes running outpatient programs and work in medical behavioral health, shelters, residential treatment, hospice, and trauma-informed services in rural Alaska.
That range of settings shaped a practical approach to complex problems and to working across cultures. Patricia draws on therapies such as acceptance and commitment approaches, attachment-based ideas, client-centered listening, cognitive behavioral tools, and dialectical behavior strategies. She emphasizes honest, respectful collaboration and clear boundaries so clients know they are taken seriously and supported in skill building.
People who choose her work with someone who values direct feedback, steady support, and learning real coping techniques. She is based in Washington and offers a style that aims to increase resilience, clarity, and confidence in daily life.
What Patricia works with
Everything Patricia lists, in the therapist's own terms. Parenting is the reason this directory exists; the rest shows what else Patricia helps people with.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Depression
- Addictions
- LGBT
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Sleeping disorders
- Parenting issues
- Anger management
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Coaching
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Gender dysphoria
- Guilt and shame
- Hearing impaired
- HIV / AIDS
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intellectual disability
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Multicultural concerns
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Paranoia
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sex addiction
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sexual dysfunction
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trichotillomania
- Visually impaired
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Approaches Patricia lists
- 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
Listing an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist names and does not check training records.
Therapeutic approaches online and finding the right fit
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice thoughts and feelings without getting stuck in them and then act in ways that match their values. It is useful for anxiety, stress, and making changes that matter. Attachment-Based Therapy focuses on how early relationships shape current bonds and helps people rework patterns in close relationships for greater trust and connection. Client-Centered Therapy centers on listening without judgment and offering empathic support so clients can find their own solutions and increase self-understanding.Choosing the right approach is part of the work together. The therapist will talk with each person about goals, history, and preferences and then suggest approaches to try. That plan can change as needs and insights evolve, and decisions are made collaboratively rather than imposed.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to match different days and needs. Video supports face-to-face conversation and visual cues, phone can be a simpler option with lower bandwidth, live chat is useful for shorter check-ins, and text messaging can help keep progress between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, and travel schedules while keeping continuity of care.
Questions people ask about Patricia
What concerns does Patricia address?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, parenting issues, grief, relationship strain, addictions, ADHD, self-esteem, and a wide range of related concerns.
What is her therapeutic style like?
Her style is direct, practical, and collaborative. She focuses on skill building, emotion regulation, and clear feedback while also exploring personal history and attachment patterns.
How much experience does she have?
Patricia has 25 years of clinical experience across outpatient clinics, medical behavioral health, residential programs, shelters, hospice, and trauma-informed work in Alaska.
What credentials and location information apply?
She is an LMFT licensed in California and Washington. Her practice is based in Washington state.
Which languages and international options are available?
Sessions are offered in English. International clients are not accepted at this time.
What formats are used for sessions?
She offers video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different needs and schedules.
How does pricing work?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What should I do to begin?
Click the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a session according to the therapist's availability.
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