About the Therapist

Terri L. Gerber is a Washington State Licensed Clinical Social Worker.  She is also certified as an Eating Disorders Specialist and Clinical Hypnotherapist.  Terri is a Level II trained EMDR practitioner.  Terri received her Masters degree in Clinical Social Work at California State University, Fresno in 1982.  She has over 25 years of experience in the mental health field.  This includes working with adults, teenagers, families, and couples.  Terri has specialized in women's issues since 1988.  This specialty includes work with eating disorders, codependency, trauma, anxiety, depression, compulsive disorders and parenting.

Terri has facilitated Adult Children Alcoholics groups, Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders groups, Codependency groups, Women's groups and Teen groups.  She has given workshops and presentations on Self-Esteem, Assertiveness Training, Improving Communication Skills, Parenting, Food For Thought, and others.

Terri received her certification as a Certified Eating Disorders Specialist in 1992, her certification as a Clinical Hypnotherapist in 1993, and her training as an EMDR practitioner in 1997.

Terri has been in private practice since 1990.  Her office is located in the Bellefield Office Park in Bellevue, Washington:  

Services Available

Therapy Issues Addressed

The Therapeutic Relationship

Terri is committed to providing a safe therapeutic relationship.  Therapy is a process in which solutions are discovered, symptoms are decreased, dysfunctional patterns are examined and changed, and in which limiting thought and behaviors can be understood and altered.  Each person's strengths are valued while they work at their own pace to reach their personal growth goals.

Treatment for Eating Disorders

Terri has specialized in working with people with eating disorders since 1988.  She was certified in 1992 by the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals.  She uses cognitive and psychodynamic therapies, behavioral management approaches, experiential therapies, hypnotherapy, EMDR, and Family-Based treatment.  An eating disorder is a serious condition, potentially life-threatening.  She will gladly provide an evaluation and recommendations regarding appropriate treatment and level of care needed.

How Hypnotherapy is used

Hypnotherapy provides clients with relief from various symptoms and addictions.  It is useful for quickly discovering the core issues and for healing wounds from the past.  In hypnosis, your mind is active, your thoughts are under your control.  Suggestibility is increased, however you can reject any suggestion.  It is the subconscious mind in which habit patterns, relationship patterns, addictions, as well as creativity and our spiritual connections reside.  It is because of this that hypnotherapy is effective as a tool for change.

About EMDR

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a proven new therapy "hailed as the most important method to emerge in psychotherapy in decades."  It has been used successfully to help people reprocess traumatic experiences and come to resolution.  It is also used extensively for those who suffer from the after effects of the more common, disturbing past experiences that are responsible for the development of limited beliefs and symptoms that get in the way today.  Terri received the certified Level I and Level II EMDR trainings in 1997.  She completed the Advanced Study in EMDR from the Northwest Trauma Institute in 2004.

Care of the Soul Group

Terri facilitates a Care of the Soul Group for women.  It is a combination of traditional group psychotherapy and an educational, cognitive approach.  The focus is on self-care, clarity exercises and "abundance thinking", communication skills, meditation, mindfulness practice, and self-hypnosis.  If a group is not currently open, these skills can also be learned in individual therapy sessions.

Bringing Baby Home Certification

Research shows that the time when parents bring home a new baby can hold potential for great joy in a parent's life.  Research also shows that approximately two-thirds of couples will experience a significant drop in relationship quality within 3 years after the birth of a child.  This decrease in satisfaction is known to result in a dramatic increase in postpartum depression, relationship conflict, and hostility.  These changes in the relationship result in compromised parenting and a decrease in the quality of parent-child interactions.  Using material from Dr. John Gottman's training program, Bringing Baby Home, Terri teaches couples how to strengthen their friendship, increase intimacy, regulate conflict and how to build a strong "relationship house."

More Information