Workplace and career issues are two of my primary areas of emphasis, helping people who want to stay in their present job with its difficulties, make a decision to leave and how to prepare for it, or even explore a different career and/or educational path–with all the emotions those things can evoke. Relationships, which are so important can be affected by these issues, so we can work on them as well. Many of those with problems that seemed overwhelming began by talking about them and when ready took small steps that in themselves brightened their outlook on the future and eventually led to improved outcomes. My mission is to see the world through your eyes, to pose questions to help clarify how you see that world, and to always be in your corner whatever you decide. What I will do consistently is listen intently without judgment, show sincere empathy, look for and validate strengths, do collaborative problem solving, and even share some humor along the way. I find that these practices help good solutions rise to the top. My name is Eric Levine. I’m a licensed Counselor based in Washington State having worked 12 years in the field of counseling after earning my Masters specializing in Counseling Psychology at UCLA. Like many counselors my preference is to work with people in person. But since remote counseling has come to the fore (even more so after the pandemic hit) I find the next best mode is talking on the phone which brings with it a sense of “presence,” along with inflection, emphasis, feeling tones, humor, and most importantly the ability to immediately clear up any misunderstandings with the sensitivity of the spoken word. In that regard I’ve been told I have a very calm and pleasant voice that I owe to my father, a newscaster whose warm emotionality came right through the radio, even more so to those of us around him. After a fairly long career in education and counseling programs, I seek to return through this venue to a similar position I held in a university setting where I was able to work individually with students, staff, and administrators, young and old. The shared openness involved was something I could never take for granted, the life stories amazing in themselves.