Anna Smyth, MSW-I

Hi, I’m Anna!

I've always been deeply empathic and attuned with others. After working as a health educator for a decade, I would often have clients and students ask if I was a therapist; after a while of that I finally decided to become one!

I enjoy working with adults, families, and older adults.

It's important to me that I truly understand who someone is before jumping in to give them solutions. If a client is coming in with significant emotional distress and dysregulation, we first focus on regulating the nervous system through grounding practices, meditation or somatic work.

Once the nervous system is settled, we broaden to address the issues that may have caused the distress, understanding that a person's social, physical, and mental health are all deeply interconnected.

I hold two Masters degrees, one focusing on mental health and one focusing on physical health. This combination allows me to approach clients with a whole person perspective and provide as comprehensive support as possible.

My Approach

I implement modalities based on what the client is reporting and what I am observing in what they need. My primary tools are emotional attunement and curiosity to determine which modalities are needed from session to session.

Specialties

  • Childhood trauma

  • Perinatal depression

  • Attachment-based parenting

  • Grief and Loss

  • Financial distress

Modalities

  • EMDR

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS)

  • Mindfulness

Client Focus

  • Adults

  • Families

Clinical Side

Education

  • University of Utah

  • Arizona State University

Training

  • EMDR

  • IFS

  • Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)

  • Functional Nutrition

Human Side

I enjoy spending a free weekend:

Being outside in my garden, on the kayak, cycling in the desert or hiking in the mountains

My guilty pleasure is:

Dark chocolate. The darker the better!

A piece of therapeutic advice that works for me:

“This moment is your perfect teacher.”