A woman smiles welcomingly in a therapy room. The room is warm and inviting. Licensed Professional Counselor. Trauma Survivor Therapy, Trauma Therapy, Somatic Therapy, Cognitive Therapy Techniques

Mary Claire Woster, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

Pronouns: She/Her

Claire Woster is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). She is passionate about the resilience inherent to all people. She uses this passion to cultivate a healing dynamic with clients that illuminates personal strengths and fosters empowerment. Through the use of therapeutic relationship, Claire aids in exploration of needs, values, and belief systems which allows for development of the most direct healing path for each person she works with based on their unique background.

Claire views every symptom, thought, emotion, behavior, and belief as having an important message. She teaches approachable mindfulness techniques that help clients develop the ability to explore difficult areas of their lives with curiosity. This compassionate self-exploration disconnects identification with negative thought and behavior processes, fosters internally sourced self-esteem, and aids in the re-storying of narratives associated with experience.

Claire has specific training to work with trauma survivors and trauma response at a somatic level. She utilizes knowledge about brain/body processes to normalize trauma activation and the effect it has on relationships with self and others. She teaches clients to investigate the language of their body which aids in the development of tools to regulate emotion, promotes agency over internal experience, and increases distress tolerance. Claire also utilizes cognitive therapy techniques that increase experience of choice around response to thought, emotion, and behavior patterns.

Claire is a LGBTQAI+ competent, sex and kink positive clinician. She is drawn to work with adults who experience symptoms related to trauma response, grief, depression, shame, and anxiety as well as clients who experience personality, attachment and relationship-related disorders.

Claire utilizes tools from Gottman Method relational therapy, she is a Certified Brainspotting Practitioner, a Sensorimotor Psychotherapy practitioner, and an active member of the Alaska Regional Chapter of The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (AK-ISSTD). She graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2010. In 2017 Claire obtained a Master of Arts in Professional Mental Health Counseling with certification in Ecopsychology from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon. During the five years between college and graduate school, Claire worked in Wyoming within the criminal court system as an advocate for victims of crime and for a non-profit as a shelter coordinator for women exposed to intimate partner violence and sexual assault.

Claire was born and raised in North Pole, Alaska. She spends most weekends backpacking, trail running, packrafting, and splitboarding.