Meet Our Behavioral Health Providers
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Amanda Willgins
Licensed Mental Health Provider
I am a proud citizen of Chickasaw Nation – Chikasha saya. I work with Adults and Youth 13+ experiencing a range of mental health concerns. I am most equipped to help with anxiety, grief, trauma, low mood, and gender/sexuality exploration. I have specialized training in the following:
- EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing)
- Lifespan Integration
- Cognitive Processing Therapy
- Polyvagal theory
- Mental health for Gender-diverse people
Our LGBT2S+ community has a special place in my heart, and I welcome them to visit with me to experience gender affirming mental health care. In my free time, I play electric guitar, cuddle with my 2 chihuahuas, and spend time with my family.
Amanda Willgins
Mental Health Provider
Camille Schaarschmidt
Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate (LMHCA), National Certified Counselor (NCC)
MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, BS in Psychology with Minor in Communication Studies at Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA
Anxiety, panic, trauma, grief, addiction and recovery, depression
I began serving at Lummi Behavioral Health in 2020 as an intern through my counseling graduate program and began officially working for LBH in 2021 after finishing graduate school. Before working as a counselor for the Lummi Tribe, I served at Access Living, Inc. for two years, as a direct support professional for adults with developmental disabilities. During this time, I was also a lead grief facilitator at OurTreehouse, where I held space for children who experienced a death in the family and provided active listening and reflection during their grieving process.
Navigating the challenges of life can be a daunting task and one that we don’t have to take on alone. The lens that I use for counseling is both strengths-based and trauma informed. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), person-centered therapy, and EMDR are the approaches that I most often utilize when working with clients. I believe that we all have the innate capacity to heal when given the necessary tools and I am honored to walk alongside you in your healing journey.
I was born and raised in Washington state and have always been passionate about spending time outdoors. Outside of work, I enjoy connecting with nature through trail running, mountain biking, and skiing. Aside from outdoor pursuits, I can be found reading, practicing yoga, drinking tea, or spending time with family, friends, and my puppy in my free time.
Camille Schaarschmidt
Mental Health Provider
Marilene Silva
Traditional Name: Kaikoxipa
Mental health provider
Education:
Masters degree in Psychology from Antioch University Seattle
Bachelors degree in Psychology from Antioch University Seattle
Associates degree with concentration in Chemical Dependency Counseling from Skagit Valley College after transfer from N.W.I.C in BellinghamHigh School degree from Lummi High School in Bellingham
Area Of Specialty: My areas of expertise relate to working with individuals, couples, and families who have suffered from trauma, chemical addictions, relational issues, intergenerational trauma, impact of contemporary racism, internalized oppression, attachment issues, acculturation, immigration, intimate partner violence, sexual trauma, and other issues. I am an ally of LGBTQIA2S+, Indigenous, Black, and oppressed people of color everywhere. I am certified as a Gottman Educator, Certified Core Therapist in Sexual Trauma, trained in EMDR, Clinical Sex Therapy trained, and Emotionally Focused Therapy trained among other modalities. I am also trained in forensic immigration mental health assessments for adjustment of status.
Areas of Interest: I am a multilingual anti-racist, somatic abolitionist, cultural analyst, justice-oriented, liberation-focused, psychotherapist who focuses on de-colonized and transformative mental health care.
History. I began serving at Lummi in 2007. Before LBH, I worked at a community mental health clinic in Bellingham serving the international indigenous population from Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, El Salvador, Venezuela, and other places.
Current role/focus/approach: I am a dually licensed mental health and substance use disorder therapist. My focus is advancing the health interests of Indigenous peoples. I believe effective counseling must be culturally intelligent and apply the sacred cultural and spiritual ways of the participants in a harmonious merger with scientific evidence-based knowledge.
Originally from Brazil. I am an enrolled member of the Macuxi Tribe of Northern Brazil in the Amazon Region.
Hobbies: Spending time with family and friends, going to brunch with my Elders, learning a new language, long walks in nature and shopping with my little sister Shamie.
Marilene Silva
Mental Health Provider
Natasha McGowan
Licensed Mental Health Provider
Education: MS in Marriage and Family Therapy at Fuller School of Psychology in Pasadena, CA.
Area Of Specialty: Significant experience and training in work with youth and children, training in attachment work with non-traditional and non-bio families, training in work with those with developmental disabilities.
Areas of Interest: Trauma informed work with youth, families and couples. Attachment-based and trauma informed parenting and relationships. The strengthening of biological, non-traditional and non-biological parenting attachments. ADHD and Trauma work, work with developmental disabilities.
I am grateful to have begun serving at Lummi in December of 2014. The Lummi community is amazing. Before Lummi Behavioral Health, I served at Bethany Christian Services in Bellingham being trained in attachment and adoption-related therapy. Prior to this I worked with a small organization called Family Focus in the Seattle area, working with children and young adults with developmental disabilities. Prior to my last lot of education, I worked and trained in a therapeutic group home with teens and tweens.
Currently, I provide services to individual youth and families and also to parents, couples and individual adults. My focus is the participant’s strengths and resiliencies and their practiced skills that can be used and adapted to face new or existing challenges. I am a strong believer in the telling of story, of seeing one’s strengths and resiliencies in one’s story and of building on strength that already exists.
Originally from England, UK. My family is English and has been in England for generations. They are all a little weird😉 and also wonderful. I unintentionally immigrated to the US in 1989 with my family, though my extended family remains at home and so much connection with home was kept. One of the key things outside of my immediate family that has kept me here in the US has been the presence and influence of indigenous communities, because it is here that I am reminded the most of groundedness and health, especially in terms of the history and importance of the land, community, care for other and connection. I have a passion for these things, and also for a few others such as a zoo of pets😊, travel, the study of history and the telling and creating of story in general. I love to walk, use google maps to travel places when I can’t do it in person, and to take road trips to see the land.
Natasha McGowan
Mental Health Provider
Rachel Colston
Associate Level Licensed Mental Health Provider
Education: BS in Psychology w minor in Global Health, University of Washington; MS in Clinical Psychology, University of West Alabama
Area of Specialty/Interest: LGBTQIA+ communities, trauma, neurodiversity, disability justice, liberation psychology, social supports/community building, life transitions
I am a newer member of the Lummi Behavioral Health team starting in January of 2023. Before being offered the opportunity of serving the Lummi community, I interned in community mental health at Sea Mar in Bellingham, then worked at a group private practice for one year.
Currently, I support others through individual and group counseling using a trauma-informed lens. I am passionate about creating and holding space for fellow members of the LGBTQIA+ communities and those of us that have experienced generational and historical trauma to be a support in the healing journey. I am a strong advocate for collective and community healing, so I encourage people who work with me to tap into resources outside of individual counseling including community as well as familial and personal practices.
Originally, my family was a military family living across the continental United States until we retired in the PNW in 2006. My family includes my parents, four brothers, one sister and huge extended family on the east coast. I like to watch horror movies and video game walkthroughs, do anything crafty with my hands, and have recently been learning to cook more complicated foods.
Rachel Colston
Mental Health Provider
Christina Choi-Pearce
Areas of Interest: Grief, anxiety, depression, trauma, racial trauma, and support through life transitions/changes.
Languages: English
I am newer to the Lummi Behavioral Team, having joined the team in August 2023. I completed my graduate degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA. Before coming to the world of counseling, I worked in Higher Education supporting college students in their academic journeys. I have worked in several capacities both at the university and the community college; supporting students holistically as a Resident Director and supporting academically at-risk students through advocating and one-on-one coaching. I have always had a passion for mental health support and am excited to be at Lummi Behavioral Health.
Before joining the Lummi Behavioral Health team, I worked as an intern therapist for Accent Counseling, where I was able to provide counseling and support to Asian-American clients, as well as other marginalized clients. I have always been passionate about bringing more representation to spaces that have traditionally lacked, such as the counseling field. As an Asian-American woman myself, I understand what it feels like to have my identities pushed away or not acknowledged as having a direct impact on my life experiences. My main goal is to create a space for people to be able to show up as they are and to keep their story at the center of my work. I aim to be collaborative, trauma-informed, culturally humble, and multimodal in my work.
I have moved around a lot in her life and calls many places home, but when I moved to Bellingham in 2012, I fell in love and decided to call this place my permanent home. I come from a proud Korean immigrant family, and I hold cultural values and traditions close. In my free time, I enjoy exploring the city’s food and coffee scene with my husband, my dog, and whatever my current read is.
Christina Choi-Pearce