Mental
Health Therapy
At The Buddha's Medicine, we understand that true healing addresses the whole person - mind, body, spirit, and the connections between them. Our therapy services complement our integrative medical approach, recognizing that mental and emotional well-being are inseparable from physical health and nervous system regulation.
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Our therapy services blend traditional therapeutic modalities with mindfulness and somatic, body-based healing practices. We believe that lasting change happens not just through insight, but through nervous system regulation and the restoration of connection - to ourselves, our bodies, and our communities.
Our Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Associate, Jamie Van Auken, brings a unique combination of athletic and yogic experience, as well as extensive training in relationally-minded and trauma-informed somatic therapies. This background allows us to offer something truly distinctive: therapy that honors the wisdom of the body while addressing the complexities of modern life.
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Jamie received her master's degree in marriage and family therapy from Lewis & Clark College and her undergraduate degree from Cornell University where she majored in Catharsis, studying the intersection of psychology, movement, identity studies and perfomance studies. Her specialized areas of training include:
couples counseling
child development and family therapy
somatic interventions
attachment theory
Internal Family Systems (IFS)
neurodiversity and neuro-affirming care
nature-based therapy
somatic EMDR
intimate partner violence
Previously, she worked as a program coordinator, yoga therapist and milieu therapist at eating disorder treatment centers in NY, WA and OR where she centered a Healthy at Every Size approach and yoga / mindfulness based interventions. She shared mindfulness skills with semi-professional and professional athletes, including Olympians. She has spoken at conferences and colleges across the US and her work on the intersection between athletics, body denial and eating disorders is published in Carolyn Costin’s book: Yoga and Eating Disorders. She is also an E-RYT 500 certified yoga instructor and has owned and operated a yoga studio in WA for over a decade.
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Neurodiversity-Affirming Relational Therapy
Here at The Buddhas' Medicine, we celebrate neurological differences as natural variations in being human - not as deficits. Jamie's neurodiversity-affirming approach helps clients understand their unique neurological makeup and needs while developing practical tools for thriving in a neurotypical world. Jamie has extensive experience supporting families with multiple neurotypes and somatic needs, and she offers a compassionate, strengths-based approach to caregivers and families.
Couples & Relational Therapy
Using attachment theory, Emotionally-focused therapy, and Polyvagal theory, Jamie helps couples develop the nervous system informed regulation and communication skills needed for lasting intimacy. Her approach recognizes that healthy relationships require each person to be regulated and connected to themselves first. Jamie has extensive experience working with high-conflict relationship systems, mixed-neurotype relationship systems, and relationships where trauma is present.
Eating Disorders & Body Image Healing
Jamie provides a compassionate, somatically-informed, non-diet-based approach treatment that recognizes eating disorders as complex conditions requiring both psychological and embodied interventions. Her approach integrates nervous system regulation, internal family systems, and body wisdom restoration to support sustainable recovery. Jamie is also passionate about supporting women through their pre and post natal journeys and beyond.
Burnout & Life Transitions
Jamie's mindfulness-based approach to burnout and life transitions (large or small) helps you slow down and receive. Using a variety of wholesome sensory stimuli and experience-based interventions, Jamie holds a safe container for you to rest, receive, and reconnect to your internal wisdom. This work is deeply intentional, and together with Jamie, you will find a map back to your center.
Parent / Caregiver Support
Jamie draws from systems theory, collaborative problem-solving, psychoeducation, and Good Inside© strategies to help you hold space for your beautiful, growing children. A mama herself with two neuro-sparkly kiddos, Jamie has real, lived experience navigating multiple systems, providers, and education structures. Jamie is committed to supporting caregivers through a neuro-affirming model, centering what works and is wonderful about you and your family.
Identity & Transitions to Parenthood
The journey into parenthood often brings about changes in identity and priorities that can feel disorienting and isolating. Many new parents find themselves asking "I became a mother/father, but what happened to me?" Jamie provides compassionate support and practical care for individuals experiencing these challenges, grief for their pre-parent selves, or difficulty integrating their new parental role with their existing sense of identity. She recognizes that becoming a parent involves not just learning new skills, but undergoing a fundamental transformation that affects every aspect of your being - your body, your relationships, your priorities, and your understanding of yourself. Through mindful reflection, compassionate witness, psycho-education, and deep honestly, Jamie helps clients navigate these seasons of identity with curiosity rather than judgment, supporting the natural evolution of self while honoring what feels lost or changed in the process.
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Somatic-Based Therapy
Drawing from two decades of high-level athletic experience and extensive yoga training, Jamie offers unique somatic-based therapeutic interventions that help clients reconnect with their bodies' wisdom. This approach is particularly beneficial for trauma recovery, eating disorder healing, nervous system regulation, and for people that feel like that have gained insight, yet run into the familiar "nothing seems to change." Jamie’s unique combination of cognitive wisdom and experiential interventions help clients metabolize what they feel like they "know" but cannot seem to shift, creating a powerful integrative, embodied approach to healing.
Somatic EMDR
Jamie is currently training in somatic EMDR: a powerful approach that combines traditional EMDR therapy with body-based interventions. This method is especially effective for trauma processing, allowing the nervous system to complete interrupted survival responses in a safe, supported environment.
Internal Family Systems (IFS) Therapy
Jamie offers Internal Family Systems therapy, a compassion-based modality that recognizes that we all contain different "parts" within us - managers, protectors, firefighters, and exiles - who deeply need our attention and curiosity. IFS interventions support the our natural capacity for healing, which happens when we listen deeply to all 'parts' of our being through the wisdom of our Self. This method is particularly effective for eating disorders, identity-healing, relationship issues, and anyone interested in developing a more compassionate relationship with all aspects of themselves.
Nervous System Regulation
Understanding that all healing begins with nervous system safety, Jamie offers specialized support for developing regulation skills based in Polyvagal Theory. This includes breathwork, somatic awareness practices, psychoeducation, and practical tools for managing activation in daily life. These skills form the foundation for all other therapeutic work.
Walk and Talk Sessions
Jamie offers and facilitates outdoor nature walk appointments (when the weather cooperates) as part of the healing process. Using nature-based therapy and bilateral stimulation, these sessions offer a unique opportunity for further regulation, mindfulness, and clarity.
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Jamie's therapeutic model complements our philosophy at The Buddha's Medicine: genuinely integrative medicine, truly individualized care. Jamie's approach to mental health and wellness integrates evidence-based modalities and training with somatic, safety-based and mindfulness-informed healing practices. Her commitment to meeting people wherever they're at extends into her work, where each person's healing journey is fully unique. Whether you're seeking support for depression and anxiety, eating disorders, life transitions, healing from burnout, challenges related to neurodiversity, or relationship concerns, Jamie brings the same individualized, compassionate approach that defines all of our services here at The Buddha's Medicine.
Our mental health and therapy services are seamlessly woven into our integrative medical care model at The Buddha's Medicine, and that integration opens doors and opportunities for truly comprehensive care. We understand that anxiety, depression, relational struggles, body image concerns, and other psycho-emotional challenges often have physiologic components that would benefit from medical support.
This is where collaboration between Jamie and Dr. Matt comes in. Through Ayurvedic and integrative medical care with Dr. Matt, you can explore how factors like nervous system dysregulation, hormonal imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and chronic health conditions may be impacting your mental and emotional well-being. Rather than treating symptoms in isolation, Dr. Matt addresses the root causes of your concerns, and supports your system's natural capacity for balance and vitality.
Collaboration between Dr. Matt and Jamie allows them to get to the core of your needs, facilitating sustainable healing that encompasses all aspects of your well-being. Rest assured, though, that whether you're working with either Dr. Matt or Jamie individually, or both simultaneously, you'll experience the same commitment to individualized, compassionate care that defines our approach at The Buddha's Medicine.
Jamie’s Why
“I became a therapist because I was tired of incomplete therapy. After years of traditional talk therapy, I had insight, but I still felt stuck. My healing process led me to yoga and other embodied practices, where I learned that lasting change requires a regulated body that is cared for and heard. As a former Olympian, I had discipline in which I could control my body; mindfulness and yoga practices reveled that rarely listened to it. Yoga taught me to be a compassionate witness to myself and understand how energy flows within my being.
My experience deepened through motherhood, marriage, and life's many challenges. My oldest child is neurodiverse, and I quickly learned that our modern world isn't constructed to tend to his needs. I felt on the deepest, most intrinsic level that neurodiversity isn't something to fix - it's something to understand and honor. I started seeing the cracks in our systems up-close and deeply personally. I am passionate about shifting conversations from deficit to variation, helping families recognize that struggles aren't about being broken; they're about needing the right support to thrive. I'm committed to awareness building and shame-breaking. I want the people I work with to understand their unique nervous systems, so they are able to claim their strengths and honor their intrinsic way of being.
What I know to be true is that we always feel before we think - 80% of nervous system information flows from body to brain. This is why insight alone wasn't enough for my healing. I became a therapist because I know what it's like to need help. I know what it's like to feel confused or at the mercy of your reactions, your habits, your sensitivities. I know what it's like to have all the 'right' tools and still feel stuck. And I know the relief of finally working with someone who sees you. I am committed to seeing you.
“Together, we'll listen to the wisdom your body wants to share, because the pieces you need are already here. I want therapy to feel like drinking tea or taking a hike with someone who truly gets you. I want our work together to feel grounding, nourishing, and alive. My job isn't to fix you; it's to help you remember you were never broken to begin with.” - Jamie Van Auken, Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Associate
"I have the privilege of practicing truly integrative mental health care at The Buddha's Medicine. In this integrative model, we recognize the inseparable connections between emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. Mental health symptoms and conditions can be layered and complex, and this compassionate approach to healing makes space for all forms of knowledge and care. True healing is possible when we respect that the mind is inseparable from the body, and acknowledge that the body has an integral wisdom and capacity to heal." - Jamie Van Auken, Registered Marriage and Family Therapist Associate
Why Choose Integrative Mental Health Care?
In our experience, the most profound healing happens when we address both the psychological and physiological aspects of mental health. Our position as both a medical practice and therapeutic space allows us to offer something rare in healthcare: fully integrated support that centers the inseparable connection between mind and body.
Just as we meet you wherever you are in your physical health journey, Jamie's therapeutic approach honors your starting point and moves at a pace that feels sustainable to your nervous system. Because genuine healing isn't about forcing change - it's about creating conditions where your natural capacity for wholeness can emerge.
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“Jamie is a seasoned professional, something that I wouldn't have believed possible for someone so young if I hadn't witnessed her ingenuity and brilliance first-hand. She's the perfect blend of supportive and responsive without coddling. She will help you get wherever you want to be. She is Magic.” — AJ, Client
