Hi! I’m Vina Barham (she/they).
I am the founder of Kasama Mental Health, PLLC, a trauma-informed private practice based in Washington State. I also currently work as a part-time child and family therapist at my local community mental health agency and as a contractor at a local group practice. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate (LMFTA) and my license # is MG700477777. I am under the supervision of Angelina Bowen.
My work is trauma-informed, relational, and holistic. I integrate:
Evidence-based therapies that help you examine the relationships between your thoughts, feelings and behaviors
Systemic lens that bring in macro perspectives of the systems that impact our beliefs, our way of relating, our way of being.
Body-based approaches that attend to the nervous system and somatic experience
Parts-based work that honors the protective roles different parts of you play
An attachment lens that helps make sense of relational patterns and emotional responses
Expressive arts–informed practices (such as movement, imagery, drawing, collage, writing, or creative reflection) to support meaning-making, integration, and emotional expression beyond words
In practice, this means we gently explore where you feel stuck while also calling forth the strengths, wisdom, and resources already within and around you. We make space for thoughts, emotions, and body sensations with curiosity and compassion, moving at the pace that feels right for you.
I am a non-binary first-generation Filipino-American immigrant and uninvited settler living on the ancestral lands of the Suquamish people (a.k.a. as Bainbridge Island.) I grew up in Philippines and have Ilokano roots from both my parents.
My lived experience deeply informs my work. I am highly sensitive + neurodivergent and understand firsthand what it’s like to navigate mental health challenges, identity shifts, and the search for belonging. I have also experienced the power of having a safe, attuned therapeutic relationship - and the importance of exploring healing beyond strictly Western models.
Parenting was my entry point into anti-oppressive and liberatory practice. I was an unschooling parent for many years and lived in a cohousing community, experiences that have profoundly shaped how I understand relationship, autonomy and collective care.
I also carry a history of Evangelical Christianity and missionary work in my early adulthood, an imprint I’ve spent years unlearning. That journey led me toward a more animist worldview and reconnection with ancestral and earth-based ways of knowing. Leaving church was the catalyst for unpacking my internalized colonial views and beliefs, a process I continue to take part of personally and professionally.
A Little More About Me
Outside of therapy, I find grounding and meaning in:
dancing and movement
black coffee and long walks
tarot, writing, and dabbling in arts
being near water and working with the soil
knitting projects I rarely finish
reading many books at once
time with my partner, kids, cat and chosen family.
(Aries sun. Aquarius Moon, Libra Rising - if that matters to you.)
Below is a list of where I trained and who I have learned from in the past few years:
M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy, Touro University Worldwide: August 2023- August 2025
Nia, White Belt and Blue Belt: 2012 and 2022-2023
Parent Coaching Certificate with Jai Institute: March 2023 - October 2023
Certificate in Somatic Embodiment with Linda Thai: May 2023 - July 2023
Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 1: June 2024
Certificate in Trauma Studies at Trauma Research Foundation with Bessel van der Kolk: February 2024 - Present
Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Katelyn Baxter-Musser: August 2024
Mastering Internal Family System for Trauma, Anxiety, Depression, Addiction and More with Frank Anderson: September 2024
Trauma-Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Russ Harris: January 2025
IFS Circle with Crystal Jones and Pamela Krause: April 2025 - September 2025
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy with Robin Williams Blake, James Hawkins and Kathryn de Bruin: July 2025
Introduction to Play Therapy with Rosie Newman: September 2025
Sensorimotor Psychotherapy with Jacquie Compton and Susan Webb: August 2025 - Present
Gottman Method Trauma and Affairs: October 2025 - Present
Mbari: Art, Bodies, and Care at the End of the World with Bayo Akomolafe: November - December 2025
Expressive Arts Therapy: The Foundation Course with Cathy Malchiodi: January 2026 to present
Motivational Interviewing with Paul Hunziker: January 2026