Rachel Wright, MSW, LICSW, VSW-CP

Welcome, I am so happy you are here! As a psychotherapist and veterinary social worker I focus on the intersection of mental health and the human-animal bond. I whole-heartedly understand the importance of the interconnectedness between humans, animals, nature, and the therapeutic value of these relationships. I will honor, support, and integrate your unique connection with the human-animal bond, and how it impacts and enriches your mental health, therapeutic process, and healing at every level. PRACTICE DAYS: Monday - Thursday PRACTICE OFFICES: Bellevue, WA AVAILABILITY: As of April 2025 - I have a limited number of new client slots available at the full fee rate. My MSW intern therapist, Jennifer, is no longer seeing clients, as she is getting ready to complete her internship. FREE INITIAL (REQUIRED) VIRTUAL CONSULTATION: The free initial 20-minute virtual consultation is the first required step for getting started with therapy or veterinary social work services in my practice. It is an opportunity for us to get to know each other, discuss needs, answer questions, and confirm details for working with my practice. If we decide together that it's a good fit, then we will move forward to schedule the first full therapy session. Please schedule the free initial 20-minute virtual consultation by clicking the "request appointment" button to select a date/time on my my calendar. The practice will confirm and send details. *Currently, all slots are booked out until June. If you are interested in joining the May waitlist, please complete the submission form to make this request. THERAPEUTIC FOCUS: As a clinician for nearly 30 years, I bring a wealth of experience both professionally and personally to compassionately witness, hold space, and support every client's unique journey. My therapeutic approach is person-centered, strengths-based, compassion-focused, collaborative, and empowering. Your strengths and challenges are unique to you; therefore, your therapy should be tailored and specialized to meet your specific needs and concerns. I believe in the importance of integrating different yet complimentary approaches. I draw deeply from psychodynamic and attachment-based theories, systems lens, trauma-informed and narrative therapies, experiential and mindfulness-based, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), meaning-making reconstruction work, and post-traumatic growth. I am extensively experienced, trained, and certified in a variety of therapeutic modalities and evidence-based treatments. I always embrace an integrative therapeutic mindset to best honor each client and their unique stories, lived experiences, and specific needs and concerns. I understand that there are many twists, turns, and complexities on the road to healing. While it is very challenging and painful work, it can also be incredibly transformative, life-changing, and beautiful. I am here to companion and walk alongside you, to witness and support you on your unique journey along the path to find your way to hope, healing, recovery. SERVICES: MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY (offered in-person, via teletherapy, or as walk-and-talk sessions at nearby Bellevue Botanical Gardens • Individual grief therapy sessions for human or animal loss/bereavement • Individual mental health therapy sessions for women's issues, across the lifespan • Individual mental health therapy sessions for veterinary, animal care and human health care professionals • Individual therapy sessions for caregivers navigating medical care and/or anticipatory grief for a beloved person or animal with a chronic or terminal illness • Couples/partners therapy sessions, specific to grief or caregiving of a loved one VETERINARY SOCIAL WORK • Contractual social work services with veterinary practices and organizations: provided as individual mental health therapy sessions or group mental health therapy sessions • Self-referrals: veterinary and animal care professionals seeking individual mental health therapy APPROVED CLINICAL SUPERVISION FOR PRE-LICENSURE THERAPISTS, SOCIAL WORKERS + VETERINARY SOCIAL WORKERS • I provide supervision and consultation for veterinary social workers. • I am an approved supervisor for social workers and therapists working towards their full LICSW licensure in Washington State. If you are interested in obtaining approved supervision hours for your licensure, please contact me! PROFESSIONAL CONSULTATIONS • Provided to licensed social work, mental health, health care colleagues, as well as to veterinary leaders, and all types of veterinary or animal care practices and organizations. • Provided to students seeking to learn more about veterinary social work or the intersection of mental health and the human-animal bond. • Consultations are always scheduled as the free initial 20-minute virtual consultation appointment (see above for details and to schedule online). Further consultations are fee-based, which I am happy to discuss when we initially meet. PRESENTATIONS/CE EVENTS • For National or Regional conferences or organizations only. Presentations/webinars and skills-based trainings are offered on a variety of topics for veterinary and animal care professionals. I have presented at many conferences both regionally and nationally. Organizations I have worked with include: AAHA, OVMA, ACVIM, Royal Canin, VMX, PNWVC, IAAHPC, Sage, Ethos, NVA, Pet Partners (Delta Society). In addition, I have provided many presentations and skills-based trainings to different veterinary hospitals, clinics, and groups. Also, I have provided many interviews over the years (published, on social media, or television) regarding my work within the human-animal bond field and as a veterinary social worker. GROUPS • Support, solution-focused, debriefing, or de-stressing groups. Current offerings hosted by my practice are posted on my website and on social media. STUDENT PRACTICUM/INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT & OPPORTUNITIES • I have been a field instructor/supervisor for masters-level student interns in social work, counseling, and mental health for many years. I am an approved internship and practicum site for numerous masters-level academic programs. • I only accept advanced/specialized Master of Social Work (MSW) as student interns into my practice. For 2025 - 2026 school year, the deadline for applications is May 1, 2025. April 2025. Required experience: - Passion and respect for the human-animal bond and the varied ways that it impacts mental health. - Professional experience in clinical and/or healthcare settings - working with diverse populations and/or across the lifespan. (Please note: this practice only works with adults across the lifespan - we do not work with children, adolescents). - Personal experience with caregiving, loss, death or dying (either of humans of animals). To apply for a possible practicum/internship position, please follow these required steps: *Email your cv-resume and cover letter to Rachel Wright at: pawstoconnectcounseling@gmail.com. Please describe in your cover letter why you are interested in this specific practice and our unique focus areas, including your connection or passion to the human-animal bond and the intersection of that bond with mental health and social work. Please tell me why you think you are good fit for this particular specialized practice. This information is very important and required for an initial interview. Any initial interview will be scheduled via Zoom. If selected as a candidate the next steps will include a secondary final interview in-person and a reference check (3 references). This is a compeititive practicum/internship site and I only accept 1-2 students maximum per school year, and may not accept any students if they are not the right fit for the practice. RATES & INSURANCE Rates and fees for 2025 are listed below. The time we schedule is reserved for you. Please know, late cancellations (less than 24 hours) or no-shows for sessions will result in being charged the full fee. I do not work directly with, accept, or bill insurance. However, I am an out-of-network provider. Upon receipt of payment for therapy services, I provide clients with a "Superbill" that can be sent to their insurance carrier for reimbursement. If this is an option you would like to pursue, please contact your insurance carrier to inquire if your plan offers reimbursement for out-of-network providers. I cannot guarantee whether your insurance will reimburse you and I don't have a relationship with any insurance company. Here is more information on the benefits of working with an out-of-network therapist: https://blog.zencare.co/reasons-to-see-out-of-network-therapist/ Payment is due promptly after each counseling session/veterinary social work service, and my practice accepts all major credit cards and checks. Superbills and insurance reimbursement are not options for individuals working with student interns. ABOUT ME: I am a licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW), mental health therapist, veterinary social worker, and approved supervisor in Washington State. I also serve as a consultant and presenter on topics relevant to the intersection of mental health and the human-animal bond. I am a Certified Grief Recovery Specialist through the Grief Recovery Institute, and a long-time practicing Animal-Assisted Therapy professional. I have had extensive training and certification in evidence-based best practices and integrative approaches for treating and providing therapy for the intersection of grief and trauma, and the wide range of women's issues. I received my Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology/Drug & Alcohol Studies from Washington State University; my Master of Social Work degree from University of Washington; and my Post-Masters Graduate Certificate in Veterinary Social Work from University of Tennessee (through the Colleges of Social Work and Veterinary Medicine). I have worked in the counseling field since 1996, providing services to a wide variety of clients across the lifespan in different settings, including community mental health, inpatient addictions treatment, school-based, hospitals, and hospice agencies. I have integrated the intersection of mental health/the human-animal bond within different capacities for the last 23 years. For 10 years, I owned Compassionate Canines, a practice focused on integrating animal-assisted therapy into different clinical and health care settings, and dedicated to teaching and evaluating animal-assisted intervention teams. I have owned my clinical private practice, Paws To Connect Counseling, LLC for 9 years. I was the Director of Programs/Therapy Animal Program Manager at Pet Partners (formerly Delta Society) for 6 years, leading the program; as well as teaching and evaluating therapy animal teams as a Licensed Pet Partners Instructor and Team Evaluator for 10 years. For 13 years, I integrated my own furry family members - Mia (basset/labrador), Byron (flat-coated retriever), Coach (basset hound), and Clover (rabbit), as Pet Partners trained and nationally registered (certified) therapy animals into counseling with clients in clinical, healthcare and school-based settings. Over the years, my beloved therapy animal partners have all passed away from Lymphoma. Currently, my cats Cairn and Byson join me virtually in sessions on a monthly basis to provide feline-assisted comfort and support. I also integrate animal-assisted therapy into sessions by incorporating clients' unique relationship dynamics with their own beloved companion animals into their therapeutic process. I was a clinical counselor specializing in co-occurring disorders in community mental health and school-based systems for many years. During that time, I co-developed and co-implemented animal-assisted therapy programs with a focus on co-occurring issues with teens, young adults, and families. I've also trained colleagues on the framework and approaches for integrating animal-assisted therapy with different client populations. I began my journey as a veterinary social worker in 2012, when my dog Mia was diagnosed with Lymphoma. For the next 8 years, I navigated a lot of intensive caregiving of cancer and other life-limiting/terminal medical conditions and death and dying with the rest of my furry family. Through my own journey and learnings coupled with seeing many serious gaps and needs for this work to support both clients and professionals, I obtained my post-MSW veterinary social work certificate and began working within this area of practice in 2015. I was the founder and leader of the veterinary social work program for 6 years at a local large specialty and emergency veterinary hospital. I worked there as an embedded veterinary social worker providing supportive services and counseling to employees and clients, and supervised masters-level interns and another full-time social worker. In my last year there, I worked with senior leadership with the intention to create improvements on positive client experience, culture change, and wellness for employees. Over the years, I have also worked collaboratively and extensively with many general practice, specialty, and emergency veterinary practices both regionally and around the country. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my partner and husband of 25 years, and my furry family - Bear the 9 year old sweet-and-spicy basset hound, and two incredibly affectionate and mischievous 4 year old sibling cats - Cairn, the sassy adventurous calico and Byson, the quirky gray tiger tabby. I also have 30+ houseplants who are such lovely therapeutic office mates! I enjoy photography, traveling, reading, and spending a lot of time in nature - whether that be on the trails, at the ocean, exploring a new National Park, or adventuring to a 'bucket list' destination. I am an empath, a vegan, and very passionate about protecting and preserving our natural environment in micro, mezzo and macro ways. CURRENT GROUP OFFERINGS: WEST COAST VETERINARY SOCIAL WORK/MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL CONSULT GROUP (Virtual, runs year-round): I host a quarterly professional consult group for veterinary social workers/mental health professionals in veterinary medicine, who are located on the West Coast. Our group is held virtually on the 3rd Tuesday, quarterly, 9 am - 10 am PST. Please contact me for details and to join us. This year's group meeting dates: 2/18/25 5/20/25 8/19/25 11/18/25 PET LOSS SUPPORT GROUP: Time limited group running from January - May 2025. This is a free, virtual, drop-in group that supports all individuals navigating the loss of a beloved animal (of any species). Group is facilitated by MSW student intern, Jennifer. It runs every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month, For more information, and to briefly register please go to: https://calendly.com/pawstoconnectgroups/drop-in-pet-loss-support-group