About Me - Ben Adams LMHC

I’m Ben Adams, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (WA license #LH61137283) with a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. My work centers around trauma, dissociation, and the liminal spaces of identity—particularly for those who have lived between cultures, between selves, or between ways of being.

A Winding Path

My story doesn’t follow a straight line. I grew up as an expatriate in Taiwan, spending twelve formative years navigating life as a third-culture kid. That early experience—of belonging and not-belonging, of translating across cultures while still trying to understand myself—left an imprint. It seeded a lifelong interest in the tension between identity and context, the seen and unseen layers of the self.

Before becoming a therapist, I studied biology and computer science at Case Western Reserve University. I thought I might be a scientist. Or maybe a teacher. Or maybe both. I joined the Peace Corps and taught high school biology and physics in Ghana. I worked as a research scientist at a biotech startup in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Alongside all this, I found myself drawn to people’s deeper stories—the ones that don’t make it onto resumes or academic transcripts. I began volunteering as an associate pastor, sitting with people in the sacred, messy spaces of grief, longing, and transformation.

That’s where I realized: this is the work. Not fixing people. Not leading them. Just being with them—bearing witness to the complexity of their inner worlds, and slowly learning how to hold space with more skill, humility, and care.

Becoming a Therapist

I returned to school to study counseling psychology, seeking language and tools for what I had already begun intuitively. During my training, I interned at the Recovery Café in Seattle, where I worked with individuals moving through addiction, trauma, and profound life change. After graduating, I stayed connected to the Seattle School as a Practicum Facilitator, mentoring emerging therapists in presence, embodiment, and self-awareness.

The Work I Do Now

These days, I specialize in trauma and dissociation, with a particular focus on third-culture identity, expat transitions, and the complex, layered experience of trying to live fully in a world that often demands fragmentation. My approach is integrative—blending neuroscience, relational attunement, and philosophical inquiry. I draw from parts work, somatic awareness, and depth psychology, but I hold all of it loosely. Techniques matter, but presence matters more.

I now live in Lilongwe, Malawi, and offer therapy online to clients across the world—especially to those who feel like they’re navigating more than one inner or outer landscape. If you’re carrying things you don’t quite have words for yet, or if you’re looking for a space where your story can unfold without judgment or pressure to resolve, we might be a good fit.