About Tara
Tara Bates is a licensed mental health counselor in Washington with 12 years of experience. She focuses on helping people manage stress, anxiety, self-esteem, intimacy concerns, and life transitions. Tara offers a calm, respectful presence and aims to make starting therapy feel manageable for a worried parent reading on their phone.
Her style begins with listening. Tara treats each person as the expert on their own life and looks for strengths to build on.
How Tara works
She values a steady therapeutic relationship and spends time building trust and a clear plan that fits each person’s goals. Tara uses practical tools during sessions. She draws on client-centered methods to keep conversations focused on the client’s priorities.
She may add techniques from dialectical behavior therapy and motivational interviewing to help with emotional regulation, communication, and motivation for change. She has worked with a wide range of concerns including LGBT-related issues, intimacy and sexuality questions, gender dysphoria, postpartum depression, and workplace stress. Additional focuses include polyamory and non-monogamous relationships, BDSM and kink culture, first responder stress, HIV/AIDS, and social anxiety.
Tara offers sessions in English and conducts appointments by video call, phone, live chat, or text messaging. Costs vary with location and therapist availability and use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time. To begin, a person selects the Start Therapy button, completes a short matching questionnaire, and schedules according to availability.
Tara lists 3 ways of working on the entry:
What Tara works with
The areas below are the ones Tara selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
Also listed
- BDSM, kink, and alternative sex culture
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- First responder issues
- Gender dysphoria
- HIV / AIDS
- Polyamory / non-monogamous relationships
- Postpartum depression
- Self esteem
- Sexuality
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LMHC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 12 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Washington |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
How Tara’s Approaches Work Online
Tara uses client-centered work to focus sessions on what matters most to the person. This approach centers the conversation on the client’s experience and priorities and supports clearer goals and next steps.She also draws on dialectical behavior therapy, which teaches practical skills for managing intense emotions and improving interpersonal effectiveness. DBT skills can help with anxiety, relationship stress, and mood swings by giving tools to regulate feelings and communicate more clearly.
Motivational interviewing is another tool she may use to help people explore ambivalence and find internal reasons to change. It is useful for making progress on goals like improving communication, adjusting behaviors, or addressing health concerns.
Finding the right mix of approaches is collaborative. Tara will work with each person to test what helps most and adjust methods over time based on goals and preferences. This shared process makes it easier to try different strategies and keep what works.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when more connection is helpful. Phone sessions can be easier when lower bandwidth or no camera is preferred. Live chat and text messaging fit shorter check-ins or people who prefer written interaction. These options offer flexibility so therapy can fit into work, childcare, or other busy schedules.
Start online instead of waiting
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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