LICENSED THERAPIST | TACOMA, WA
About Tanya
You think deeply.
You feel intensely.
You process everything.
You’ve spent a long time trying to make sense of it all.
You’re tired.
You’re ready for something different.
Hi, I’m Tanya.
I’ve always been drawn to people who think deeply, who notice what others miss, who often feel like they’re too much for the world around them.
Maybe because I’ve been that person too. I know what it’s like to hold so much inside, to overthink, over-feel, overanalyze—until it starts to feel heavy.
But I’ve learned the work isn’t about becoming less.
It’s about finding ease in who you already are.
It’s about shifting from “too much” to realizing your depth is a skill, a gift, an art.
And when that lands, things start to make more sense.
You stop fighting yourself.
You start moving with yourself.
You feel clearer and steadier, more at home in your own mind.
Therapy With Me Is
✔ Engaged & Interactive
I work best with people who want someone who’s attuned and engaged. They tend to think in stacks and want someone who can move with them.
✔ Depth with Lightness
We don’t pretend things didn’t happen—but we also don’t treat heaviness like it’s the point.
There’s room to laugh here. To breathe.
Therapy doesn’t have to feel like sitting in a dimly lit room, endlessly untangling your entire existence without cracking a smile.
✔ Clarity You Can Feel
Insight isn’t just intellectual.
Sometimes it’s felt in the body.
Sometimes it’s what lifts when an old version of you no longer has to carry the weight.
We make space for all of it.
✔ Structured with Room to Roam
I hold the thread of why you came in, even when we follow unexpected turns.
There’s space for detours, tangents, and emotion.
✔ Playfulness with Purpose
My style is creative and a little unconventional.
I use analogy and imagination to shift perspective—so you can see yourself in a new way and expand what feels possible.
My Approach
✔ We make your mind make sense.
The perfectionist, the people-pleaser, the drill sergeant—every part of you has a reason for being here. We lay them out clearly (sometimes even whiteboard-style) so you can see the strategies your system has been shaped by.
✔ We see what’s underneath.
Some moments were too much to hold at the time. We return with steadier leadership that helps you stay connected to yourself, even now.
✔ We let emotions move.
Not just by feeling, but by understanding what they’re trying to say. We make space for what’s been waiting to be known so it can shift.
✔ We build a way forward.
You don’t have to live in overdrive. We shape a path that fits who you’re becoming, not just who you had to be.
-
Burnout & Depression
For the ones who do too much and feel like they should be able to handle it all.
-
Overthinking & Anxiety
For the ones whose minds never stop, who scan, plan, and predict– but struggle to feel ease.
-
Relationships
For those unraveling people-pleasing, attachment patterns, or the exhaustion of always being the emotional translator.
-
Big Life Changes
For those navigating breakups, faith shifts, moves, betrayals, or the identity-shaking moments when you realize you can’t go back to who you were.
Why Talks Over Tea
I grew up drinking tea.
It wasn’t just a drink, it was a ritual.
Tea meant processing. It meant connection. It was the quiet sorting of hard things.
When I was starting out, I planned a group for Russian teens caught between Soviet-parent guilt, religious pressure, and a new world their parents didn’t understand.
I knew they’d connect with tea too.
But I also knew their parents wouldn’t sign them up for “therapy.”
So I called it something harmless: Talks Over Tea.
I never ran that group. But the name stuck.
My cousin overheard me say it and said, “That should be your business name.”
And they were right. Because that’s still exactly how I work:
Real, deep conversations.
The kind that shift something inside you.
The kind where, yeah–sometimes the tea goes cold.
The Official Stuff
-
I’m a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) in Washington and Florida.
Master’s in Counseling Psychology – Bastyr University, 2014
Bachelor’s in Health Psychology & Human Biology – 2012
Bastyr’s humanistic and integrative model still informs how I work. It emphasizes treating the whole person—mind, body, and story. I honor each client’s complexity, trust their inner wisdom, and create space for healing that isn’t just about symptom relief.
I have additional training in: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), IFS-informed parts work, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
I’m also deeply influenced by depth psychology, narrative therapy, somatic awareness, Nonviolent Communication (NVC), and Relational Frame Theory.
-
We can’t talk about healing without talking about the systems that caused harm and still do.
The work I do includes tracking how systems like culture, race, gender, religion, and queerness shape how we move through the world, and how our internal systems adapted in response.
I welcome LGBTQ+ clients, and anyone whose way of being has had to shift just to stay connected.
Self-leadership doesn’t always look calm.
It can come through boundaries, directness, grief, rage, clarity, or refusing to go quiet.