Dr. Bob Smith

dr.bob@avantinw.com

(425) 295-5307

Education and Training:

Doctor of Psychology from Northwest University.

Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Northwest University

Bachelor of Arts in Social Work from the University of Washington

Background and Experience:

Bob, married for 47 years and a father of four, has resided on the Sammamish Plateau since 1995. He served as a social worker and counselor with drug rehabilitation, foster care, family counseling in the Seattle area for many years and worked as a training manager in Human Resources of a large corporation in Redmond. As a youth pastor of one of the largest youth groups in the northwest for more than 10 years in the eighties and part of the nineties, Bob has experience with youth. And his student to student mentoring program in more than 58 high schools and junior high schools throughout the Puget Sound area impacted the lives of students from 2001 through 2009.

Special Interests and Services:

Bob believes overcoming struggles is only the beginning of mental health. His approach is to look at the optimum life available to an individual or family based on their strengths and desires, then focus on an integrated pathway to health including spiritual, psychological, and physical well-being. He utilizes a solution-focused positive therapy to accomplish these goals.

Bob has worked with victims of trauma utilizing trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy, (TF-CBT) for the healing process. He served internships at Hope Central with victims of domestic violence and at Meier clinic with a partial hospitalization program of severely distressed patients.

He chooses to focus on adolescents, young adults, and their support network because of the plasticity of their development. They are in a state of radical development and growth that can be emotionally overwhelming. However, with support, education and counseling, the radical development can be channeled into health and success 

As a part of his own growth with the issue, Bob has focused extensively on ADHD. ADHD is a much-misunderstood disorder which with education, support and therapy, can be successfully managed. Without the education and support, the results can be exasperating and depressing.

Bob is the author of two books, Raising Teenagers Hassle-free and Effective Youth Ministry. Throughout his career, he has taught throughout the country and in more than 20 nations and served as adjunct faculty with Shoreline Community College and Bellevue College.