Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
How we experience life in and outside of our bodies is profoundly informative. Dr. Ana Ruediger operates from the perspective that individuals have an innate wisdom and collection of strengths that guide their ability to heal and grow. Trauma, or dislocation from the genuine self, whether experienced individually or systemically influences how we live, how we love, and how we interpret the world; painful experience or trauma can also connect us with our humanity and be deeply transformative. It can be the source of our healing, growth, and resilience. Ana believes in the therapeutic relationship as the central health- and transformation-giving modality, so long it is safe and equitably designed by all involved. She works closely with her clients to build safety and understanding around how they identify, how they experience living in their body and encounter health or dis-ease, and what they value.
Ana first came to healing work while training to become a Naturopathic Physician. In medical practice, many patients shared their stories of misrepresentation, disenfranchisement, or even harassment based on gender identity, body size, ethnicity, and ability while seeking healthcare. She became acutely aware of the politicized nature of healing and healthcare, wanting to provide alternate safety and representation for people of all identities. Her deep desire to understand and engage a social justice-minded, whole person approach led her to pursue additional training in counseling psychology and practice intently from a place of dismantling systemic and medicalized trauma and oppression.
Ana’s extensive training, with specialized practice in addictions and dual-diagnosis recovery, contributes to her comprehensive approach. When she sits with a client, she considers every aspect of their health, including how dominant structures and systems may have contributed to their health and history, where appropriate looking at how trauma and oppression can be perpetuated or further contribute to inequity in families and communities. She provides care tailored to the individual, taking into account the determinants of each person’s experience of wellbeing and obstacles that may change how a person encounters health and body.
Ana strongly believes in an individual’s ability and natural progression towards healing. Even that with which we are suffering can be helpful information about how the mind and body want to heal, and she takes to heart the importance and potential of the therapeutic alliance in helping to encourage the process of meaningful growth and change.
Ana identifies as a queer, Ashkenazi Jewish woman. She recognizes the complexities of identity, working to understand the intersection of her own areas of privilege and oppression among dominant systems that allocate power to some to the exclusion of some others, and how this can show up in clinical work. She sees it as her personal and professional responsibility to always be learning, both to hold herself accountable and work to interrupt these systems that have real consequences on health.
Outside of healing work, Ana loves to read and reflect and watch movies and spend time with her partner and their two elder cats (“Moscau” and “Siam”) and dog (“Annie Banannie”). She loves to be in nature, plant things in her yard, and write. She loves food – cooking it, eating it, and sharing it. She engages in political work and writes for an online publication working to address mental health stigma.
Credentials and Education: Ana is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor in the states of Washington and California and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate (LMHCA) in Washington. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree at Bryn Mawr College in greater Philadelphia, PA and her Master’s in Counseling Psychology (MACP) and Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine (ND) degrees at Bastyr University in Seattle, WA. She completed an integrative medical residency in Connecticut, and has specialized training in addictions, counseling for chronic illness, existentialism, family systems, mindfulness, and biopsychosocial modalities. She is a first-generation college student and a lifelong learner, crediting her education as a place of her own healing and development.
Ana offers counseling in English
