About Dave Lechnyr

I used to feel like a complete mess. I felt lost. Every emotion and thought I had felt wrong. I felt totally lost like I was drowning. I was so uncomfortable and very unhappy. I was starting to lose myself and everyone else that I cared about. After working with Dave, I learned how to be mindful and talk myself out of my spiral of endless worry. I don’t feel so completely lost or crazy. Instead, I feel more normal, more at peace. I’m not totally fighting myself at every turn.“

Welcome! I work with people who want to get unstuck by becoming a better version of themselves. My approach to working with clients has been influenced greatly by the compassion of Carl Rogers, the cognitive-behavioral skills of Aaron Beck and the wisdom of Pema Chödrön. I use Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and am one of the few Certified Gottman Therapists in the area.

Of course, that’s the boring stuff. Let’s try that again with something more interesting:

• Eugene is my home town.
• I graduated in 1992 with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Social Work.
• Two of my sisters are also therapists, and my father is a retired Psychologist.
• I learned to drive a stick shift on the hills of downtown Seattle.
• Growing up with three younger sisters, I’ve never learned (or cared) to understand the rules for football.
• I’m pretty good with Star Trek trivia.
• I both love, and shudder at, the 80’s.
• My two favorite books for personal growth are The Alchemist and Who Moved My Cheese (only 95 pages; you can’t beat that).

For those that are fans of the Myers-Briggs, here’s my results (INFP):

I feel strongly that real, genuine change can happen when we remember and respond to these Essential Life Skills:

1. Accept yourself and your situation as they are in order to know where to begin (what we avoid imprisons us).
2. You must be curious to learn about your hidden thoughts and motivations, without assigning blame – this part is tricky.
3. Have compassion for yourself and stop trying to prove yourself.
4. Let you past inform your future, but not control it.
5. Our thoughts and actions can directly affect our emotions.
6. How we respond to a situation is just as important as the situation itself.
7. Personal growth can be difficult to achieve when pursing dreams rather than goals.
8. How we talk to those we care about is more important than what we talk about.