Siobhan Chandler
PhD, MACP
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying) — Ontario, Canada
Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate — Washington State (application approval pending)
My Background
Before becoming a therapist, I earned a PhD in the sociology of religion—the academic study of how people make meaning, navigate identity, and orient themselves within culture and belief. Much of my research focused on people who describe themselves as spiritual but not religious, and on what happens when inherited frameworks of meaning no longer fit.
That background continues to shape my clinical work. Not through doctrine, but through careful attention to how identity forms, how people make sense of experience, and what remains when familiar reference points no longer hold.
I also taught for many years in post-secondary settings, working closely with students from a wide range of backgrounds as they grappled with identity, uncertainty, and questions that didn’t have easy answers.
My Clinical Approach
I’m trained in Emotion-Focused Therapy and draw from a range of approaches as needed, including somatic, existential, attachment-informed, cognitive-behavioral, and parts-based work. Rather than applying techniques, I pay attention to how emotion, meaning, and relationship patterns are interacting in the present moment.
My practice is especially well-suited for people who feel things deeply, live with complexity, or find themselves in transitions—cultural, relational, or internal—that don’t fit tidy categories.
How I Work
I’m comfortable working with depth and with experiences that don’t arrive neatly or make immediate sense. I don’t rush the work, and I don’t take clients where they haven’t asked to go.
My role is to offer a steady, thoughtful presence while we look together at what’s happening—especially when clarity has been hard to find.
Practical Details
Location: Online therapy for adults in Washington State and select Canadian provinces.
Areas of focus: Anxiety, emotional intensity, harmful partner or family dynmics, cultural in-betweeners, ADHD and perfectionism dynamics, highly sensitive individuals
Approaches: Emotion-Focused Therapy; somatic, existential, parts-based, and attachment-informed work
Formats: Individual therapy for adults; groups forthcoming
You don’t need the perfect words.
You just need a beginning.
And yes, my name is pronounced “SHI-von.”