About Kayla Bassen

You Deserve to Feel Great. I’m Here to Help.

Kayla is a licensed mental health counselor who works with adult individuals in the Vancouver, WA area.

She enjoys working with those who have attachment-based wounds, difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and those who experience challenges with finding meaning and purpose in life. She has experience providing counseling, psycho-education, and support for mental health difficulties such as anxiety, depression, interpersonal trauma, grief, and loss.

My Background

I received a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from George Fox University in 2018. I have several years of experience providing individual counseling to adults in a community mental health setting, where I worked with people presenting with concerns such as depression, attachment trauma, anxiety, grief, and characterological wounding.

I have specialized training in Mentalization- Based Treatment. I have found this approach to be useful when working with those who experience challenges with maintaining a stable sense of identity, difficulties managing complex emotions, and patterns of interpersonal difficulties or conflict.

In my free time I enjoy reading, spending time outdoors, and engaging in creative pursuits. I also greatly enjoy spending time with my husband, friends, and my cat, Griffin.

My Approach & Philosophy

I view therapy as a collaborative experience in which the client and the therapist tailor their work together to meet the client’s specific needs. I approach the work we will do in therapy with curiosity, humor, compassion, and occasional irreverence; my goal as a therapist is to provide you with a secure and supportive relationship while you courageously address the pain and challenges life may have thrown your way.

I believe that people desire to find meaning and wholeness in the face of the obstacles and struggles life can present. It is my belief that when we are curious about and lean into our problems in living, we are then able to expand our abilities to approach life’s challenges. I use existential therapy to help my clients process here-and-now experiences; broaden their sense of self, meaning, and purpose; decrease feelings of powerlessness; and confront and cope with the anxieties and challenges of daily living. In addition to existential therapy, I use other psychodynamic and humanistic approaches such as client-centered therapy, interpersonal therapy, and mentalization-based treatment (MBT).