Catalyst Counseling Training Program
We are very excited about our training program. We create an active collaborative culture by offering weekly opportunities for us to continue to grow as therapists and humans. We are a community of learners, and we believe in engaging through humility and curiosity.
Our All-Staff Training Rotation (Tuesdays at 1pm):
Week 1 - All staff consult
Week 2 - Clinical training - we bring in a subject matter expert to teach us about clinical issues
Week 3 - We offer the choice of attending one of two specialty case consult groups - neurodiversity or trauma
Week 4 - The entire team, including admins, participates in a facilitated discussion on anti-racism and anti-oppression
Also - For clinicians who see couples and families, we offer a monthly specialty consult on relationship counseling
Clinical Supervision
We provide clinical supervision to all associates, and to all licensed clinicians who request it. We are developing a program to specifically train new graduates to become confident leaders in the field. Although this is designed for new graduates, our cohort training program is also open to any associate with at least a year left before they get full licensure.
First Year:
For the first year of associate supervision, we have created a robust training program. Two experienced clinical supervisors, Jennifer Kennett and Katherine Walter, share the role of supervising first year associates. On Tuesday mornings, first year associates gather at the office and we do a combination of one-on-one and dyadic supervision.
Each cohort of associates has three clinicians. We usually try to have a mix of disciplines (LSWAIC, LMFTA, LMHCA).
The February Cohort: Start date is the first week of February, with seeing clients starting the third week of February. This cohort is based out of Woodinville.
The August Cohort: Start date is the third week of August, with seeing clients starting the first week of September. This cohort is currently based out of Woodinville but will be moving to our new location (Renton-ish) in the summer of 2025.
Because of our cohort model, these start dates are not flexible.*
*the only exception being associates on OPT with EAD cards that necessitate an earlier start.
The first year follows the following pattern:
Two weeks of onboarding
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How to use SimplePractice
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Intro to the office
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Etc!
Then as we start to fill your caseload, we provide a more intensive training experience for the first 8 weeks. We discuss things like:
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Neurobiology of Safety and Survival Planning
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The Interpersonal Theory of Suicidality - how to address thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, and acquired capacity.
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Intersections of identity and trauma geneology
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Assessing for SUD, OCD, and ED
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Pathological vs. Healthy Distress
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Etc!
After the initial "ramp up" clinical training experience, we settle into the cohorts with a mixture of consult supervision and didactic conversations around clinical issues.
Katherine Walter
Katherine Walter, MSW, LICSW, CSW-G, is the owner and clinical director for Catalyst Counseling. For the first eight years of my career, I worked in medical social work, primarily oncology, home health, and hospice. I transitioned to private practice in 2013 and opened Catalyst Counseling as a group practice in 2017. It is an extraordinary privilege to mentor and cultivate clinicians to help you reach your fullest professional potential.
My focus is on the self of the therapist. It’s my job to help you own your strengths and notice when you are feeling activated in session. I can help you articulate your boundaries and scope of practice. I can help you start to build your professional identity.
Because I am trained as a social worker, my lens is systemic - I will help you look at a case from micro, mezzo, and macro lenses. I will help you identify areas of systemic oppression that are impacting both the client’s experience in the world, and the experience for both of you inside the session.
Jennifer Kennett
Jennifer S. Kennett, MA, MBA, LMHC, is the owner of a successful private practice (Eastside Couples Therapy) serving couples since 2013. I have over 20 years of experience as a therapist. I view the therapeutic relationship as central to effective change and I draw on strengths-based approaches, narrative theory, attachment-oriented perspectives, existential theory, mindfulness, and emotional intelligence in my clinical work.
I am currently a Ph.D. candidate in the Counselor Education and Supervision program at Antioch University Seattle. I have forged a reputation as a compassionate, caring, and collaborative counselor and supervisor, helping clients and emerging counselors achieve the growth and change they crave.
As an educator, I view learning as an intellectual playground; I believe that learning starts from a place of curiosity. I want learners to feel encouraged to explore ideas by engaging their prior knowledge and their lived intellectual and emotional experiences.
Advanced Year:
We are acutely aware that two middle-aged white ladies are not capable of providing all of the clinical education an associate needs. Our job is to help you grow to your full potential, and to do that we cultivate the expertise of our entire professional community. We ask our advanced year associates to identify an area of growth to deepen their practice, and we help them find an external supervisor who is a leader in their subject area.
This is a good opportunity to be mentored by a supervisor with similar intersections of identities or to be mentored by a supervisor with expertise in a clinical topic or modality. Supervisor and supervisee meet one-on-one twice a month, usually on video. Catalyst (not the associate) pays the external supervisor. The advanced year associates continue to participate in the rest of the Catalyst training program.