About Me

My name is Shawndean Hutchison and I am a national certified counselor, board certified TeleMental Health Provider, and an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) trained therapist.

I was born in a small town near the four corners of the Southwest not far from the Navajo Reservation. I am half Diné (Navajo) and half Scottish with both of my families having generations of roots in both Colorado and Arizona. I spent the first half of my childhood being raised on a small ranch before moving with my family to the “big city” of Anchorage, Alaska. I graduated high school in Anchorage and then completed my undergraduate from the University of Alaska, Anchorage before continuing on to complete my Masters of Science in Counseling Psychology at Alaska Pacific University. In the years since graduation I’ve been fortunate enough to live and work in multiple settings in Alaska, from the urban life of Anchorage, to the small town vibe of Big Lake, to the present somewhere in-between of Fairbanks, Alaska.

As a licensed professional counselor I provide telehealth services to Alaska, and New Mexico residents via a HIPPA secure Zoom platform. I specialize in trauma therapy and am grateful for the opportunity to work along side trauma survivors, and couples seeking to find steadiness in their lives. I also enjoy working with adolescents and adults who struggle with anxiety, depression, relationship conflict, or whom want to explore their understanding of their gender identity and sexuality.

I believe that for therapy to be effective people have to feel safe showing up as they are, and not hidden away behind a mask of what society pressures them to be. As such I promote LGBTQ+ affirming care, am kink friendly, support ethical non-monogamy, and am unafraid to explore multicultural experiences in a culturally sensitive and affirming manner. It is my goal for therapy to be a space where you can show up as you, free of judgement, or societal shame.

Aside from my EMDR specialty I am also trained in Brainspotting, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Emotional Focused Therapy (EFT). I apply these techniques in client sessions to help clients learn to navigate conflict with others, work through feelings of disconnection, challenge and change problematic thinking, and regulate intense emotions.

If you’ve made it this far in my ‘About Me’ I want you to hear this:
Making a change is hard. It’s uncomfortable, and at times messy and scary; and so is staying stuck in the same patterns of living that are causing you pain. You’re likely reading this because you, or someone you care about deeply is struggling and you’re not sure what to do.

That’s where I come in. I’m here to provide you with the skills and support you need to build a life that not only feels manageable, but worth living. With the use of individual therapy I can help you move out of a state of survival and toward a sense of fulfillment. With family therapy or couples counseling I can help you and your family unit find their way back to seeing and hearing each other so it feels possible to rebuild a sense of connection again.

The idea of couples or family therapy may feel overwhelming right now, and that’s okay. It’s okay for something to feel overwhelming, and also, for you to know it is needed for change to occur. Since our social environments often shape our mental health I encourage the use of family and couples counseling to expand your network of support even if you initially start your journey to mental wellness on your own. Our connections to others help us deepen our sense of belonging and security, and provide our loved ones an opportunity to better understand our own wants and needs. By building these types of connections into your life you give yourself a larger support system to turn to not only when things get hard, but also, in the moments of celebration and joy.

Right now you may feel like you’re struggling with the mountains, swamps, and unexpected weather of your life, uncertain where to go from here, and that’s okay. It’s okay to stop and reach for a compass to help you find your way back to yourself and your dreams. You hold the map of your life within you filled in with the past of where you’ve come from, and the hopes of where you want to go. Yet when you’re feeling lost that map might not show you the way forward because you’ve lost the reference point of where you are. My job is to be a compass for you as we work our way through the diverse landscape of your life until you know the lay of the land around you, and feel confident moving forward into your future.

So whatever you want your journey to be, I will walk it with you.

The earth beneath your feet, is the earth beneath my feet; you don’t have to walk it alone.

As a side note, I know how busy life can get which is why I’m committed to offering weekend and evening appointments so that you can get the help you need when it works best for you.

Alaska License # 128458
Minnesota License # 2684
New Mexico License # CBT-2022-0806