Winnie Lee,

My Background As A Counselor 

Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than two decades in creative and healing-adjacent spaces. My first graduate degree was a Master of Fine Arts, and much of my work in the arts centered on storytelling as a way of making sense of the human experience. As a writer, editor, educator, and photographer, I came to understand early on how transformative it can be when people feel safe enough to be vulnerable—and to explore experiences that can be hardest to face alone. 

I also spent time in nonprofit spaces supporting families of American hostages and wrongful detainees, as well as volunteering with Postpartum Support of Virginia, walking alongside parents navigating pregnancy and infant loss. These experiences deepened my capacity to sit with grief, trauma, and profound loss—and to bear witness to pain that is often carried in silence. 

By choosing me as your therapist, you can expect warmth, curiosity, and care–and a space where vulnerability can be held and meaningful change can begin. You'll have a collaborative partner who meets you with openness and respect, and who brings both clinical training and a deep respect for your own lived experience and inner knowing. Deep healing happens in empowering relationships, and therapy offers a foundation to deepen your self-understanding and move toward more authentic, connected ways of being.

My Therapeutic Approach To Healing

Whether you’re seeking therapy by yourself or with a partner, I can help you make sense of how protective patterns that have kept you safe in the past may no longer be serving you in the present. Together, we can slow down, listen more closely to the wisdom of your emotions, and create space for deeper self-awareness, stronger communication, and more meaningful connections.

Therapy sessions with me are experiential and individualized. We honor what feels most pressing while also exploring the deeper emotional landscape beneath. The therapeutic space gives us a chance to tend to the roots of your distress and respond with compassion, comfort, and care. 

I bring a trauma-informed, client-centered, and affirmative perspective to my counseling work, drawing primarily from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Internal Family Systems (IFS). Both approaches align deeply with my belief that emotions are central to healing, that relationships are essential, and that you carry within you the capacity for lasting change. I also integrate expressive arts, somatic practices, and mindfulness into therapy whenever useful and appropriate.

With couples, I see the entire relationship as my client. Rather than focusing on who is right or wrong, we work together to understand the deeper emotions and unmet needs that are driving conflict and disconnection. My goal in couples counseling is to help you and your partner reach for each other in new ways — building safety, trust, and a more secure and lasting bond. 

Healing is a deeply personal process, and having the right counselor is important. No matter what brings you to therapy, I aim to help you deepen your self-understanding and create more space for authentic, connected, and fulfilling relationships with others and within yourself.

How My Personal Experiences Influence My Work 

My own life experiences have deeply shaped my approach to this work. I know what it is to navigate loss, grief, isolation, and a felt sense of disconnection from myself and others. 

Through those experiences, I have learned that healing is rarely a straight line, but always possible. Supportive relationships, therapy, yoga, and creative practices helped me find my way back to myself and toward deeper, more meaningful connections with the people I love. These experiences deepened my belief that healing is not about managing pain, but integrating it into the fuller experience of what it means to be human. 

Outside of therapy, I find joy in creativity and embodiment. Whether I am practicing yoga, drawing, painting, knitting or spending time in nature on a hike or in a kayak, finding my flow helps me feel more at home in myself. Time with my family also brings me deep comfort and peace. These are the parts of my life that remind me that healing can be found in meaning, movement, and connection. 

Through my own healing, I have found a resilience that continues to inspire me and deepen my dedication to this work. Helping others find their own way back to themselves and to others is not just what I do—it is what drives me.