Patricia Sumlin, LMFT
Therapist in Washington
Patricia Sumlin is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of experience who helps people facing anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship strain, and caregiving stress.
- Licensed inCalifornia, Washington
- License44844, LF 60059026
- NPI 1891899027
- Experience25+ years
- LanguagesEnglish
Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check any license with the state board and any NPI with the national registry.
About Patricia
Patricia Sumlin is a licensed marriage and family therapist with 25 years of experience who helps people facing anxiety, depression, trauma, relationship strain, and caregiving stress. She speaks plainly and works to create a respectful, direct space where clients feel believed and taken seriously.
Patricia focuses on practical skills as well as insight so people can manage strong emotions and regain steady footing. She draws on attachment-based ideas to look at how early relationships shape current patterns.
Background and approach
That lens is paired with methods from cognitive behavioral work and acceptance-based approaches to help people notice unhelpful thoughts and choose actions that match their values. Patricia also uses client-centered and dialectical strategies to make therapy collaborative and action-focused. Her background includes running DBT groups, leading behavioral health programs in medical settings, and providing trauma-informed care across diverse communities.
She has experience working with people who face chronic illness, substance use, incarceration re-entry, and end-of-life challenges. This varied work informs a flexible, common-sense style in sessions. Patricia often helps people recover from traumatic bonding and narcissistic abuse, supports members of the LGBTQIA community, and assists adults on the autism spectrum who want to better understand Asperger’s and its effects.
She also pays attention to neurodiversity, ADHD, and the impacts of ableism in work and relationships. In sessions clients can expect straightforward feedback, boundary-setting, and skill teaching aimed at building emotional regulation and confidence. She favors a collaborative process that matches goals with practical strategies.
If someone wants steady, experienced guidance for navigating life changes, she offers that steady presence.
Credentials
- LMFT (California)
- License 44844 · expires October 2026
- LMFT (Washington)
- License LF 60059026 · expires October 2026
- NPI
- 1891899027 · national provider identifier
Both are public records. A state board register will confirm a license and its standing, and the national registry will confirm an NPI. This directory copies what the therapist lists and checks neither.
Focus areas and approaches
Everything Patricia lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.
- 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 names
- Attachment-Based Therapy
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- 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
Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.
Online support
How attachment and action-focused therapies work online
Attachment-based work looks at how early relationships shape current patterns of trust and closeness, and helps people change those patterns by trying new ways of relating. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) focuses on clarifying values and taking committed steps toward them, while also teaching ways to accept hard emotions without getting stuck. Client-centered therapy centers the client's experience and uses active listening and empathy to help people find their own solutions.Choosing the right approach is part of the process. Patricia will talk with clients about goals, symptoms, and preferences, and then suggest which methods to try. That decision is collaborative and can shift over time as needs change.
Online sessions are offered by video call, phone, live chat, or text-based messaging to fit different needs. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation and nonverbal cues. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief check-ins, skills practice, or when a shorter, flexible communication fits a busy schedule. These options make it easier to receive consistent care despite work, caregiving, or travel demands.
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Frequently asked
What kinds of concerns can be addressed in therapy?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, trauma and abuse, relationship and family issues, grief, addictions, eating and sleeping concerns, parenting stress, ADHD, and many other life changes.
How would you describe her therapeutic style?
The approach is collaborative and straightforward, combining attachment perspectives with CBT, ACT, DBT, and client-centered methods to teach coping skills and build insight.
What is her professional background?
Patricia has 25 years of clinical experience including DBT group work, medical behavioral health leadership, trauma-informed programs, and hospice bereavement counseling.
What credentials and location are listed for this therapist?
She is a licensed marriage and family therapist - LMFT - with credentials listed as CA LMFT and WA LMFT LF, and she practices from Washington.
In which language are sessions offered?
Sessions are offered in English and international clients are not currently accepted.
Which session formats are available?
Therapy is offered through video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to give flexible options for contact.
How is cost handled for sessions?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
What are the first steps to begin therapy?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule sessions according to therapist availability.
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