An Interview with Psychotherapist Rachel Kuras
Rachel Kuras, Psy.D., LMHCA is psychotherapist at Seattle Anxiety Specialists. She provides therapy for individuals and families, and helps clients of all ages - including children. Her clinical work focuses on: trauma, attachment, gender & sexual diversity, family conflict, grief, anxiety, depression, and ADHD.
Kate Campbell: Hello, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this installment of The Seattle Psychiatrist Interview Series. I'm Kate Campbell, a research intern for Seattle Anxiety Specialists, PLLC. We are Seattle-based psychiatry, psychology and psychotherapy practice specializing in anxiety disorders. I'd like to welcome with us Dr. Rachel Kuras, a licensed mental health counselor associate who recently began working with the Seattle Anxiety Specialists as a psychotherapist.
Since graduating with a doctoral degree in psychology from Pacific University, Rachel has trained in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and attachment therapy and commitment regulation. Prior to joining SAS, Rachel completed an internship through Idaho Psychology Internship Consortium, where she provided in-person, individual psychotherapy for children and adolescents, comprehensive neuropsychological assessments, and comprehensive diagnostic assessments. Welcome to the interview series, Rachel, and thank you so much for joining us.
Rachel Kuras: Thanks for introducing me, Kate.
Kate Campbell: Of course. So before we get started, can you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?
Rachel Kuras: Yeah, so my name is Dr. Rachel Kuras, formerly Rachel Rower. I changed my name this year. I grew up in Tacoma, Washington, and I was a graduate from University of Washington Tacoma campus, where I majored in psychology and obtained a minor in global engagement. Directly out of undergrad, I pursued my doctoral degree from Pacific University in Hillsboro, Oregon. And the fifth year of that program was an internship in Idaho, where I worked at Pearl Health Clinic, as you already described. So a lot of what I'm saying is repeating what you already said.
But yeah, aside from pursuing my degree and being a student for most of the time that I've existed, I really love my pets. I have a cat who is a calico polydactyl cat, meaning that she has extra toe beans, so she has thumbs, which is really fun. Her name is Pickle. And then I have a dog who just turned six last week, and her name is Daisy. And I spend a lot of time with them. I'm a huge animal lover. And I really enjoy backpacking and hiking, which unfortunately I haven't done very much in the past five years. Graduate school takes up a lot of time and energy, but I'm getting back to it.
When I graduated high school, I worked in Yellowstone National Park as a room attendant for a summer. And I really enjoy going back to Yellowstone, spending time in the Tetons. But at heart, I'm a Pacific Northwest person. So yeah, I like national parks. I enjoy playing music recreationally. I sing recreationally. I also like gaming, but I'm kind of a cozy gamer. My favorite games are Animal Crossing, Mario Party and Stardew Valley.
Kate Campbell: Yeah, no “Call of Duty” or anything along those lines.
Rachel Kuras: No, I like games where I can catch fish and garden.
Kate Campbell: That's awesome. And I love that where you went to school for undergrad is where you are now a psychotherapist. So that's really cool that you continue to get to work in the same area. And on that note, I think it's just a cool thing to be able to see different parts of the Pacific Northwest, but I was wondering, what's your favorite part of being in the Seattle area now?
Rachel Kuras: I have been so grateful to be in Seattle. Growing up in Tacoma, Seattle was a north neighbor. So I spent a lot of time here growing up, and I missed Washington very dearly when I was away. Right now, my favorite part of Seattle is my neighborhood. My childhood best friend lives just like a five-minute walk away from me. So I've been moving around and away from home for a while, and now I have a best friend close by. So I've been enjoying going on walks with our dogs and just spending time in a neighborhood near people who I grew up with, which is really nice.
I also love Olympic National Park. The Olympic Peninsula is just magical, and the Puget Sound. I remember growing up, I heard stories from my dad about whales coming through the Puget Sound in the past, and I was like, "Oh, that would be so cool. I want to see a whale so bad," but not like whale watching. I want to just see a whale by chance. That sounds funner. And now they're back. They're coming through the Puget Sound, so I'm hoping to get to see them. But yeah, I love the ocean and I love the mountains, and the Pacific Northwest has it all.
Kate Campbell: Oh yeah, that's awesome. That's what I miss about the Pacific Northwest since moving back to the East Coast, so I totally know what you mean. So I was wondering what else got you interested in being a therapist? So you talked a little bit about loving where you grew up and being happy to be back in the area, but what else in terms of your experience growing up made you interested in therapy?
Rachel Kuras: Yeah, that's a big question that I could probably talk about for hours. I think to narrow it down a little bit, I had a lot of experiences growing up that really highlighted the importance of mental health literacy and access to mental health services. My experiences of being human and my experiences of suffering have fostered an interest in what it means to be human. And I really value every person that I work with sharing their individual experiences with me.
So ultimately, I have struggled with mental health myself, and mental health struggles significantly impacted my family growing up. And I saw multiple therapists as a teenager, and there was one in particular who really inspired me, and I was like, "Oh, that's who I want to be when I grow up." And I did it. So I think having access to quality mental health services is something that I'm really grateful for and I was very inspired by. And mental health is something that impacts literally every human. I think that, that did inform my interest in child and family work and in trauma work, with my own experiences growing up.
Kate Campbell: Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing. I was wondering, so what areas or disorders do you specialize in?
Rachel Kuras: So, I have the most experience working with people who have experienced childhood trauma, so post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other specified trauma-related disorders, and also anxiety disorders, like generalized anxiety, social anxiety. I've worked with lots of kids experiencing separation anxiety, and I've worked with a few people experiencing selective mutism, so kind of the whole anxiety disorders chapter of the DSM. And right now, I'm currently working on increasing my competence in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). So trauma and anxiety have been my main focus, and I am expanding my competence working with people who have been diagnosed with OCD.
Kate Campbell: And it's interesting, because I feel like a lot of the times therapy is hardest for people that have anxiety and your OCDs, because opening up about those kinds of disorders make people feel extremely vulnerable. And then getting to know a new person, especially a new therapist, there sometimes can be a wall up. So I was wondering, what's your treatment approach when you're going into those kinds of situations when you first meet a new patient?
Rachel Kuras: I use a person-centered, integrated approach to treatment. I have training in multiple treatment modalities. I was really lucky to work with a lot of people with a lot of different perspectives and experiences. It's a long sentence that I've strung together to try to summarize my approach. I am an attachment-oriented, trauma-informed, cognitive behavioral, acceptance and commitment, and existential therapist. So that's a lot of different treatment modalities. My approach is to meet someone and go from there. Everybody has commonalities between our experiences, but we also have things that are unique to our own lives.
So I like to start with a conversation. The therapeutic alliance is at the core of my approach, because we know through research that the therapeutic relationship is one of the most important determinants in terms of the outcomes of therapy. So if we want positive treatment outcomes, the relationship is what's most important. And as you were saying, Kate, relationships are vulnerable, especially living with chronic anxiety. So my approach is to start by building comfort, to start by getting to know each other. I'm a feedback-informed therapist, meaning I solicit feedback often, and I try to integrate client feedback actively into my approach. So my approach is pretty flexible. I like to tailor it to client needs, but I also really enjoy acceptance and commitment therapy and existential therapy.
So that was a long-winded way of explaining what it means to be an integrated therapist. But yeah, I draw from a lot of different treatment modalities. I view suffering as a central part of being human. Everyone suffers. And it's a challenge to figure out how to build a relationship with suffering and with being human that feels authentic and genuine. So I like to provide support to people in increasing the amount of internal empowerment that they have over their lived experiences. So I like to help people build a relationship with life, build a relationship with their experiences of anxiety, and find ways to connect with the present moment and exist in a way that feels less laborsome. So I like to acknowledge the role that suffering plays in our lives, and inevitably suffering is there. It's just a matter of how do we think about suffering, how do we interact with our suffering?
Kate Campbell: Wow. That's really awesome. It just sounds so individualized. There's cultural competence, it's empowering. There's just so much wrapped up in that. So I think it's awesome, just all the different facets that you incorporate into your style and your approach, so thank you for sharing it really is amazing to hear.
Rachel Kuras: Thank you. Yeah, I think it can be a little overwhelming to summarize at times. I'm also very interested in liberation psychology. Liberation psychology is an area that I've been trying also to increase my competence. And within liberation psychology, there's this idea that what each individual needs to heal is already within them. So the role of the therapist is to help someone find that within themselves. It's not my job to give advice or to provide answers. It's my job to, if your life is a trail and you're walking on it, to walk with you for a moment and to observe with you and explore that with you. Yeah, so I do really value that individual experience. And I think that there's different value in different treatment modalities, but there's also a thread that connects a lot of them. So I like to see that thread, see where they meet, and try to integrate it in a way that works for my clients.
Kate Campbell: That's super cool. I'm excited to look up liberation therapy after this just to learn more about it. That's really interesting. So on that note, how is your approach with working with children, and what's your favorite thing about getting to work with that age group?
Rachel Kuras: My approach is sitting on the floor. I'm on the floor a lot. I'm coloring a lot, playing lots of games, doing lots of art, and exploring through play. I think that kids are so fun and funny. I'm laughing a lot. It brings out a youthfulness and a playfulness in me that I really enjoy cultivating in the therapeutic space. It's hard for me to really articulate how it's different from working with adults, because I think that all adults were kids once. So there's aspects of working with kids that mirror working with adults, but kids have never been adults. So there's a lot of emphasis on cognitive development and behavioral skills.
And I focus a lot on attachment relationships, working with kids. Another thing I enjoy about working with kids is that there's a lot of wiggle room in terms of their cognitive development. There's more neuroplasticity in childhood, meaning that there's more give. As we grow into adulthood, we often become more rigid in our behaviors and our beliefs and in our worldview. And we're digging deep into the roots of what's going on, whereas with kids, it's not as deeply rooted because there hasn't been as much time for-
Kate Campbell: Within their formative years, yeah.
Rachel Kuras: Yes, exactly. So I think that there's a lot of hope and playfulness. And I'm just honored when I work with kids and families to be a part of that development. And I think these things are true working with adults as well. It's just kind of less at the center of therapy. Yeah.
Kate Campbell: Yeah, I could definitely see that. And then also the family aspect, I assume that when you're working with kids, the parents are going to have a heavier involvement than, say, a spouse would be necessarily, if it's an individual.
Rachel Kuras: Yeah, that's a good point. Working with kids is working with systems, is working with family systems, is working with school systems, is working with the foster care system. So I think that I've also really valued the experiences I've had providing services to kids, in that they give me a big picture of what's happening in the world. I didn't mention this previously, but I take a systemic approach to therapy. So I like to view our internal daily struggles within the context of larger systems. And with kids, you can't avoid that at all. With adults, sometimes one-on-one work, systems is just as important. And since you're not doing as much collaboration necessarily, you're not thrown into that systemic involvement in an individual outpatient setting with adults as much as with kids.
Kate Campbell: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. And I know that over time there may be different changes in the way that you would approach both your therapy with children and adults. So I was wondering, what was your favorite part about your initial training, and then how has your perspective changed over time with that, both with different age groups, or how you have to approach your end goal when you're working with each patient?
Rachel Kuras: Yeah, so my favorite part about my training is people. I'm trying to think of the best way to word this. I feel very honored throughout my training to have been trusted by the kids and families that I've worked with, and to see some really pivotal moments of growth, amongst some really pivotal moments of suffering and pain and setbacks and stuckness. I've really enjoyed seeing kids learn about their brains and their bodies and how it works and what's happening when they have an emotion.
And I think a lot of the time when talking to kids, we don't always realize how much they're retaining, but one of my favorite parts of ... I worked with a kiddo for a long time. And I wasn't quite sure if what I was saying was landing. And then at one of our last sessions, it was like they basically described to me what happens in your central nervous system when you're feeling afraid and how they know in their body when their central nervous system is starting to get activated. So I really enjoyed those moments of like, “Yeah, you get it.”
Kate Campbell: The light bulb. Yeah.
Rachel Kuras: “You get it and you're benefiting from it and you're applying it.” And I think sometimes we underestimate kids' ability to do that. So yeah, I really valued seeing those moments of growth. And there was another part to your question, right?
Kate Campbell: Yeah. It was just what was your favorite part about your initial training, and then how has it changed a little bit?
Rachel Kuras: It changed over time. I think that I was a graduate student at a very unique time. The COVID-19 pandemic hit during my first year of practicum. So I had been working with people for about six months and then everything went online. So I think the events that have occurred during my training have really emphasized the importance and the need for mental health services, for quality mental health care providers. And it's been exciting to see more people talking openly about mental health, where in a time where when I was a child, even with my own experiences, it wasn't something that was very openly talked about. We didn't have a lot of information in my family and my neighborhood and my community about what was going on.
So it gives me a lot of hope and excitement to see the stigma around mental health decreasing. I don't think that it will disappear, but it's changing. So I think the things that have happened while I've been in grad school have really emphasized the importance of mental health care, and I feel very honored to be a part of that process. Did that answer your question?
Kate Campbell: It definitely did. It actually carries really well into my next question, because you talked about how much the conversation around mental health has changed and just some of the generational differences. It's really nice to see that kids feel more open talking about some of their struggles. But I was just wondering, so what are some of the ways that you think that the psychology community can continue to grow? You did already answer some of the ways that you've seen it transform over time, but if you have details on that too, I'd love to hear too.
Rachel Kuras: Yeah. I think that there's been an effort to expand access to resources, even just with telehealth, being able to go to therapy from home. Yeah, so access to resources, I think there's been a push for that to increase. I think that will continue to happen. And the COVID-19 pandemic and other large-scale events that have happened over the past 10 years and really over the course of human history, but just viewing this snapshot, it's something we all experience together. So I think that it's been beneficial to have a sense of humanness, to connect in our humanness as a society, whether that's between therapists and client or on a larger scale. I've seen a lot of efforts towards connection and towards valuing ourselves and valuing each other. And I hope to see that continue. And I think it will.
Kate Campbell: Yeah, it's kind of ironic that COVID-19 brought us closer together, but in a weird way, it did too.
Rachel Kuras: Yeah. And I think for a lot of people, it really emphasized the importance of social connection, because working with kids, I mean, the effects of the pandemic have been incredibly destructive on people's routines. And for kids, not going to school is a huge thing. These really essential interactions that were once there weren't there anymore. So I think it, for me, has made me value our connections. And not that I didn't before the pandemic, but it just gives a different perspective and urgency around maintaining connective relationships that cultivate growth and love and acceptance of each other.
Kate Campbell: Yeah, absolutely. And as a final question, do you have any words or advice that you would like to say to our listeners?
Rachel Kuras: Yeah. I think that if you are seeking therapy services for yourself or for a family member, I encourage you to try it, right? Even if there's fear about how it might go, dive in, be vulnerable. There's so much value that each individual person has, and I think it's easy to lose sight of that and feel disconnected from that, and it's easy to be hard on ourselves in this society. So, if you are feeling like you would benefit, even just from having a space to come and be witnessed and be heard, I encourage you to seek out therapy services, try it. And yeah, be vulnerable. Talk about mental health. Don't shy away from subjects just because they've been taboo. Yeah. I think that's it. Be open, dive in, be vulnerable.
Kate Campbell: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for those words of encouragement, Rachel, and for joining us in our interview series. Hopefully, everyone can take something from this, and thank you all again for joining us.
Rachel Kuras: Awesome. Thank you, Kate, for having me. I'm really grateful for this opportunity.
Kate Campbell: Of course.
* For those interested in working with Rachel, click on our appointment page to see her current availability.
Please note: The views expressed by the interviewee are for educational and informational purposes only, are not meant to diagnose or treat any condition, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Seattle Anxiety Specialists, PLLC.
Editor: Jennifer (Ghahari) Smith, Ph.D.