if you've stumbled upon this, i want to say a few things:

welcome. 

thank you.

and finally,

how brave,

HOW COURAGEOUS

you are

to be thinking about beginning therapy.

i'm quite serious.

one of my favorite analysts says that every time we enter the therapy room to wrestle and face our lives

that we are being so courageous; so bold. he also suggests that every beginning is loaded with complicated feelings.

every time.

every beginning.

so whether with me, or with someone else, i want to invite you to begin - invite you to open the door.

why?

because i'm convinced that

this work is so important; so life-changing; so alive. 

this work is a science and an art. it's inside and outside. expressive and quiet. 

this work is simple and yet so complex. it's mind and body. surface and depths. roots and branches.

this work is an exploration

of internal/external universe of relationships and stories and meanings and

ups and downs, beginnings and ends, of you.

one-and-only you.

this work?

it's only the beginning.

My name is D. Michael Louderback 

and I'm an eclectic &

psychoanalytic therapist

in private practice. 

Born in midwestern Ohio, and then moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 2008, I received my Bachelors from a small University there, with a degree in psychology and communications. I graduated with my Masters in Counseling Psychology from The Seattle School—a small, relational, psychoanalytic training in Belltown—and am always continuing education through Seattle's Contemporary Psychodynamic Institute, Center for Object Relations, The Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study, and Northwestern Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, all where I hold membership and two where I teach. I am fully licensed with an LMHC licensure through Washington State, LH60779138. 

I practice the art of psychotherapy through a mixture of lenses and techniques—through psychodynamic, object relations, attachment, interpersonal, evolutionary, sensorimotor (bodily - somatic attention) and psychoanalytic theories. Ultimately, however, it's the relational, emotional dynamic between you and I that most informs treatment.

I have been privileged to sit with a wide variety of different people

across a decade of practice—

   older and younger

and artistic and professional,

   gay and straight and transgender and nonbinary,

   and BIPOC and immigrant and emigrant—

with experience and interest in ranging relational, theological, ideological, and sexual orientations in the world.

I’m committed and striving always

to forever learn-alongside and learn-from

whomever sits across me.

I am deeply passionate and committed to this work;

which is to say, I believe in it. 

So much so, that I am still engaged in my own psychoanalytic therapy after fourteen years. It is my belief that you should not see a therapist who has not experienced their own personal work on the couch; also, you should not see someone who is opposed to letting you know about it firsthand. After all, this is a process inviting you to the profoundly intimate paradox and freedom of your own life—shouldn't your therapist be experienced in that journey for themselves? 

Equally as important:

I'm a man. 

I'm a brother & son & musician & Partner &

best friend & poet & reader & writer.

I'm obsessed with all things creative. 

I enjoy good food and good drink and the occasional ferry ride. 

I am alive for relationship. 

I am and will always be 

becoming. 

My expertise therapeutically include, but are not limited to:

   men's issues  

   anxiety

   depression

   grief & loss

   codependency

   communication

   sexuality (LGBTQ+/gender issues)

   narcissism

   identity

   relationships

   trauma & abuse   

   transitions

   spirituality

   creativity

   self-esteem/shame

   sensitivity

   youth issues           

   purpose & meaning

   hopelessness

   family of origin

   erectile dysfunction

   occupational vocation

   personality disorders

   video game addiction

My professional experience in the field include:

Credentials:

• Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Washington State (LH60779138)

Positions:

• Clinical Supervisor for Residency Interns, Shelterwood Collective

• Teaching Staff, Shelterwood Collective

• Washington State Approved Supervisor

Education:

• Relational Psychodynamic Therapy Certificate, Contemporary Psychodynamic Institute (2022-2023)

• Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology (2013)

• Bachelor of Arts in Communication and Organizational Psychology, Trevecca Nazarene University (2010)

Academic Offerings:

Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Study

• “The Making of a Psychotherapist”, Teacher (upcoming winter 2025)

• “A Dash of Madness”, Co-Teacher alongside Joe Sawyer, MA, LMHC, Spring 2024

• “The Making of a Psychotherapist”, Teacher (2022)

• “The Art of Loving”, Teacher (2019)

• “Unconscious Process in Professional Writing: A Study of Maggie Nelson”, Student (2018)

• “Narcissism: A New Study”, Teacher (2017)

• “Emotional Storm” Studying Psychoanalyst Michael Eigen, Teacher (2017)

• “A Sensitive Self” Studying Psychoanalyst Michael Eigen, Teacher ( 2016 - 2017)

Northwest Psychoanalytic Society and Institute

• “Mourning and Resilience”, with Psychoanalyst Maxine Anderson, Student (2024)

• “Gender and Identity”, with Psychoanalyst Avgi Saketopoulou, Student (2024)

Center for Object Relations

• “Transforming Psychic Pain into Mental Suffering” with Psychoanalyst Dr. Avedis Panajian, Student (2024-2025)

• “The Making of a Psychotherapist”, Teacher (Spring 2023)

• “A Passionate Relationship”, with Psychoanalyst Dr. Avedis Panajian, Student (2021)

• “Eight Gates for Listening: Exploring a Psychotherapist’s Attention” with Psychoanalyst Jeffrey Eaton, Student (2020)

• “Walking the Tightrope: Working with All That’s Known and Unknown in Psychotherapy” Co-Teacher with Psychoanalyst Sue N. Carlson (2020)

• The Middle School: Studying Independent Psychoanalysts, Student (2018)

• British Object Relations Theory Course II, Student (2015)

• British Object Relations Theory Course I, Student (2014)

Shelterwood Collective

• The Clinic: Psychoanalytic Pragmatism, Teacher (Fall, Winter 2024 and Spring 2025)

• Psychoanalytic Deepening Supervision Group (2023-2024)

• Dread & Generativity, Co-Teacher alongside Nicole Greenwald, MA, LMHC (Spring 2024)

The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology

• “The Art of the Moment” Clinical Presenter for “Practicum III” (2020)

• “Using Dreamwork in Psychotherapy” Clinical Presenter for “Therapy II” (2019)

• “The Therapist’s Mind” Clinical Presenter for “Practicum III” (2019)

• “Life Cycle Group: Planning Your Clinical Future” Leader (2018 - 2019)

• Assistant Instructor for “Psychopathology I and II” (2015 - 2017)

• Assistant Instructor for “Human Sexuality” (2017)

• Assistant Instructor for “Counseling Children & Adolescents” (2016 - 2017)

• Assistant Instructor for “Practicum III” (2016)

New York University

• “Through the Belly of the Unconscious: A History of Psychoanalyst Michael Eigen and Dreamwork”, Presenter (2019)