Marriage and Family Therapy Student Interns
Practicing at Calm Counseling until June 2025
Baine Craft & Michelle Spruch
Marriage and Family Therapy Student Interns (SPU)
Sharing about their approach to therapy when working with clients:
Baine Craft
It is common to feel stuck, like the life we are living is inconsistent with what we want, incongruent with our values, misaligned with our sense of purpose, or in conflict with our desires for intimacy and relationships. Life can also deliver challenges such as loss, trauma, or changes in relationships. Any of these experiences can cause significant pain and suffering.
If you are seeking change or need help managing life’s challenges, I work with individuals, couples, and families to find ways to grow and heal. I specialize in working with individuals (adolescents and adults) living with symptoms of depression, anxiety, addiction as well as individuals adjusting to difficult experiences such as trauma or loss. I also work with couples and families wrestling with difficulties or transitions at any stage of their relationship. How each individual, couple, or family manages difficulties is unique. As such, I will work with you collaboratively to find the best therapeutic model to help meet your needs and goals for therapy. Given my background in Marriage and Family Therapy, I value a Family Systems perspective. That is, I value the importance and complexity of how our past and current relationships might impact our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Furthermore, I recognize how social systems have created ways in which individuals have suffered significant harm (e.g., racial discrimination and inequity). One way that I work with clients is to address how these systems impact their understanding of themselves and their relationships with others. Some other models I appreciate are Narrative Therapy, Structural Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Emotion Focused Therapy. Regardless of the specific type of therapy that we use, I hope to bring openness, curiosity, and sensitivity to diversity as I work collaboratively with you. Currently, I am an intern in my second year working toward a Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy, a student member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, as well as the Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. In addition to my training as a marriage and family therapist, I have a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a focus on choice and decision-making. Much of my work in this regard has been to study risky and impulsive decision-making. I also hold a joint appointment in Psychology and Biology at Seattle Pacific University where I have been a professor for almost 20 years. When I’m not working with clients, teaching, or doing research, I enjoy spending time with my wife and three children, listening to and playing music, enjoying the beauty of the Pacific Northwest while hiking and skiing, and trying to keep fit. |
Michelle Spruch
Therapeutic Approach
I am an MFT intern that is dedicated to serving my clients on their journey toward connection and fulfillment. I seek to empower clients to process and heal from past pain, to feel grounded as they face life's current challenges, and to deeply know and love themselves. I believe that they are the expert of their own lives and I will meet them with hope, warmth, and open-hearted curiosity as they explore their thoughts, feelings, and lived experiences. Our sessions will be collaborative and conversational. I am committed to creating a safe and compassionate environment, encouraging clients to come as they are. My approach to therapy is holistic and systemic. This basically means that in our sessions I will encourage us to not look through an isolated lens, but to also consider the broader landscape of our relationships with others and the world around us. Areas of Interest I am passionate about working with adolescents, young adults, couples, and young families. Other area of interest include:
Experience I am a second-year graduate student in Seattle Pacific University's Marriage and Family Therapy (MS) program. As an MFT Student Intern working at Calm Counseling, I am supervised by Renee Calm, LMFT. Volunteering with Outdoors for All, I’ve worked with individuals with disabilities, empowering them to seek growth and adventure outside. Prior to returning to graduate school, I worked as a CPA for nearly a decade. Working in a non-profit as an International Services Accountant, I supported relationships across language and cultural barriers by being curious, present, and dependable. This systemic service translates to the work of therapy and the MFT training through Seattle Pacific University is building my skill set working with couples and families. I am passionate about my career transition and am eager to bring my collaborative and client-forward approach to our therapeutic environment. Interns provide therapeutic services at a reduced rate to make therapy more accessible.To set up a screening call, please email renee@calmcounseling or admin@calmcounseling.com |
Forms, including those listed above, need to be filled out through the electronic health record portal prior to attending therapy with the individual intern. There are different forms for each clinician and the practitioner-specific forms will be needed.
Amisha Gandhi MS, LMFTA
was an MFT Student Intern with Calm Counseling from 2022-23 and is now a graduate from the Capella University MFT Program. She is now practicing as an MFT Associate in the Kirkland Area. Amisha is experienced in her relational and systemic work with adolescents, families and couples.
In a time when finding a therapist can be a difficult and exhaustive task, particularly when seeking adolescent care, we continue to refer people in need to Amisha at her new site. Our knowledge that she provides a caring and supportive therapeutic approach creates an ease in having her listed as someone we refer out to, while continuing to work with her through a supervisory and collaborative clinical relationship.
was an MFT Student Intern with Calm Counseling from 2022-23 and is now a graduate from the Capella University MFT Program. She is now practicing as an MFT Associate in the Kirkland Area. Amisha is experienced in her relational and systemic work with adolescents, families and couples.
In a time when finding a therapist can be a difficult and exhaustive task, particularly when seeking adolescent care, we continue to refer people in need to Amisha at her new site. Our knowledge that she provides a caring and supportive therapeutic approach creates an ease in having her listed as someone we refer out to, while continuing to work with her through a supervisory and collaborative clinical relationship.
Please reach out to admin@calmcounseling.com or 206-999-3889 with further questions.
Interns and Associates providing therapy with Calm Counseling, LLC practice under the supervision of Renee Calm, MS LMFT. Please ring (206) 999-3889 with any further questions related to licensing and supervision.
Washington License #LF 60602121
Massachusetts License #1902
Mass License Serial #331778
Date Night Seminar may be available at a later date, please email or call with any questions.
Admin@calmcounseling.com or (206)999-3889
SEMINARS
'DATE NIGHT' SEMINAR
The purpose of this seminar is to learn about and further understand the history, motivations and interests of your partner. It is a two hour opportunity to explore one another's experiences, personalities, and expectations of the relationship. It is meant to be a light and insightful getting-to-know-you seminar that might also engage deeper emotional layers in the relationship. 'Date Night' is appropriate for newer or dating couples. It is also a good fit for premarital and longer term couples who are hoping to explore their relationship from a new perspective. The seminar is also an opportunity to learn more about relational, couples and marriage therapy for current or future interest.
If you are interested in attending a Date Night Seminar and would like to be placed on a list, please email Renee Calm at Renee@calmcounseling.com or call 206-999-3889.
Please check back at a later date to see a tentative seminar agenda and outline, as well as when the next event will be scheduled.
Thank you,
Calm Counseling, LLC