Bobbi Cleary, LPC

Bobbi Cleary brings a holistic perspective to counseling, framing emotional and mental wellness as essential components of overall balance and life satisfaction. She approaches therapy as a practical partnership in which learning and applying new tools leads to measurable improvement in daily functioning and well-being. Empowerment is central to her work - helping clients access their own resilience and inner strengths to move toward healing, greater calm, and renewed joy.

She adapts interventions to the individual needs of each person or couple, describing her style as eclectic because she draws from multiple evidence-informed approaches to pursue particular therapeutic goals. Her methods include reflective Rogerian techniques, cognitive-behavioral strategies, mindfulness practices, self-compassion and self-regulation skills, and Gottman-informed work with couples. These theories and techniques are used beneath the broader aim of forming a strong therapeutic connection that supports healing.

Cleary holds a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from Alaska Pacific University, awarded in 2005, and is an LPC - a Licensed Professional Counselor - which signifies graduate-level training and professional licensure. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese Studies with a minor in French from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1998, and spent two years living in Japan, an experience that deepened her interest in cultural influences on behavior and language.

Her clinical background spans psychiatric inpatient and residential settings, where she provided group, family, and individual therapies as well as intake assessments, and extends to outpatient work in agencies and private practice. Cleary works with concerns that commonly include stress, anxiety, trauma and abuse, grief, depression, addictions, LGBT issues, relationship and family challenges, intimacy-related issues, parenting, anger, self-esteem, career concerns, and bipolar disorder.

Born and raised in Homer, Alaska, she often uses natural imagery to describe human experience - much like Kachemak Bay, lives move through stormy and calm phases, and with time calmer waters return. That perspective informs a patient, hopeful approach to the therapeutic process.