Erickson Counseling brings ‘talk therapy' to Cheney

By DAVID TELLER

Staff Reporter

Cheney has a new therapy clinic, Erickson Counseling Services, which is now taking clients.

Susan Erickson relocated her business from Mount Vernon, Wash., last November to be with her two sons and brand new granddaughter that live in Cheney. Having grown up in a small town, Erickson said she likes the casual atmosphere compared to the aggressive, fast-paced nature of the Seattle-area.

“I really like it here a lot,” she said.

Erickson began her career over 20 years ago as a counselor after she earned her master's degree from the University of Washington in education psychology and counseling. She earned her bachelor's in biology and English with aspirations of going to pre-med school but grew weary of lab work.

“I think I'll read some good books and get the heck out of here,” the Anacortes, Wash., native said about concluding her education.

What Erickson brings to Cheney is “wide-spectrum, talk therapy.” Her background is diverse. She worked in behavior health clinics counseling people from teens to adults with a myriad of issues from relationship problems, physical and sexual abuse, to eating disorders and couples counseling.

Erickson also worked in different school districts as the school counselor. In addition to academic and college advising, she said she saw a lot of at-risk kids with anger management problems.

During the early 1990s Erickson performed psychiatric evaluations in an emergency room, describing the work as interesting. She said in that time she saw a lot of suicidal people. Others suffered from panic attacks, anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Private work kept her busy too. Erickson began private clinical work as soon as she earned her master's and did that on the side of everything else she was doing.

“Being a good therapist is not doing anything more than helping the person find out the therapist within themselves,” she said. “You guide them back to the point where they knew what they wanted or who they were.”

She said the more common problems people have is depression or anger. Erickson said identifying the problem is only part of the effort. She added that a common theme is “getting at the anger and figuring out how to deal with it appropriately.” She said everyone's problems present themselves in different ways.

In Cheney, she's no longer doing work in schools, she's only doing clinical. Erickson added that talk therapy does not work for psychotic individuals. She added that she does not do drug counseling either. Their needs go beyond negative talk and esteem problems. She said talk therapy is not helpful with a biochemical addiction.

Erickson is taking new clients and her billing is on a sliding scale, based on her clients' ability to pay. Her office is at 406 First St. and she can be reached at 998-3320. She requests that new clients call and schedule an appointment.

She dispels a common myth about therapy saying that people don't have to be “crazy” to benefit from talk therapy. She added the most people need is just some direction to guide them to a healthy inner being.

“It's always in there, but (clients) have dumped so much stuff on top of it they're out of touch with it,” Erickson said. “It's always there.”

David Teller can be reached at [email protected]