Who does Angela Sue Garvey work with?

Angela works with high-functioning women who still feel dysregulated in the relationships that matter most. Many have done therapy or personal development before; some are coming to this for the first time. She offers licensed therapy for women in Washington State and coaching for women nationally.

What is self-erasure?

Self-erasure is the learned pattern of minimizing, suppressing, or abandoning parts of yourself to maintain connection, approval, or peace. It's not a conscious choice. It's a nervous system strategy that develops early, when belonging felt safer through adapting to others' moods, needs, or expectations. It often shows up as people-pleasing, over-functioning, boundary guilt, self-blame, and the persistent feeling that you're too much or not enough. Angela addresses self-erasure through the Three Roots of healing: Biology, Belief, and Belonging.

What is the difference between therapy and coaching at Life on Purpose School?

Therapy is a licensed clinical service available to Washington State residents, addressing anxiety, CPTSD, relational trauma, and the deeper roots of self-erasure patterns. Coaching is a non-clinical service available nationally for women who are ready to practice living differently in their relationships, boundaries, and daily habits.

What is the Three Roots framework?

The Three Roots — Biology, Belief, and Belonging — is a framework built on the biopsychosocial model that most healing approaches only partially address. Biology addresses nervous system regulation and stored trauma. Belief addresses inner narrative, self-blame, and identity stories. Belonging addresses attachment history, relational patterns, and family systems. When all three roots are integrated, healing finally sticks.

Licensed Therapy · Washington State · Virtual

Still anxious.Still scanning the room.Still saying you’re fine.

Years of insight, and your shoulders still won’t come down. This is therapy for that.

Book a free 20-minute consult Not ready for a conversation yet? The free quiz takes about 3 minutes.

you don’t have to be fine here

You’d notice if a friend were this tired.

see if any of this sounds familiar...

A text comes in that says “can we talk?” and your whole body answers before you do.
You rehearse a two-minute phone call in the shower. Sometimes for days.
You know the exact moment someone’s tone shifts, and you’re already adjusting before you’ve decided to.
You apologize when someone else bumps into you.
You’re the calm one in every crisis, and nobody has ever once asked if you’re okay.

You’ve probably done real work on all of this. Therapy, books, maybe years of both. You understand yourself better than most people ever will.

And the bracing is still there.

Where the pattern actually lives.

we work at all three, not just the one you can already see

Biology

your nervous system

The anxiety, the hypervigilance, the stress that runs before your mind can catch it. You cannot out-think a dysregulated nervous system. We work where it actually lives, in the body.

the body does the reps

Beliefs

your inner narrative

The self-blame, the too-much-and-not-enough, the sense that everyone else’s comfort is your job. We find where that story started and build one that fits who you actually are.

the tapes we play

Belonging

your relationships

The over-functioning, the boundary guilt, the rooms that taught you connection costs a piece of yourself. We don’t just name those patterns. We practice something different, in real time.

there’s a seat saved for you

The Three Roots stand on the biopsychosocial model, which is established science: change tends to hold better when the body, the inner story, and the relational world are worked together instead of one at a time. The way I apply all three to self-erasure is my own developing work.

see the framework →

What therapy actually looks like.

Virtual. One-on-one. Fifty minutes.

My work is trauma-informed and relational, held through the lens of the Three Roots. I’m trained across several approaches, and I fit the approach to you, never the other way around. We go at a pace your nervous system can absorb, and I won’t push you past what feels safe.

This isn’t therapy that asks you to try harder. It’s therapy that reaches the part that was never actually reached.

The version of you on the other side of this work isn’t a new person. She’s you, with the volume back on. The one who answers “what do you want for dinner” with an actual answer. We work at the level where the pattern was learned, so what changes has somewhere to stay.

your seat’s already here

A few things to know.

Licensed marriage and family therapist associate, Washington State. All sessions are virtual, over secure telehealth.
I work with anxiety, trauma, relational patterns, boundary work, and self-erasure specifically.
You don’t have to be in crisis to start. Most of the women I see are managing well on the outside and tired of the gap between how they look and how they feel.
I don’t bill insurance, and I can provide a superbill that some plans reimburse. If you’re not sure what your plan covers, you can ask your insurance about out-of-network reimbursement.

Book a free 20-minute consult

Washington State residents only. Not in Washington? Coaching is available virtually, wherever you are. →

Questions I get asked.

the ones people are sometimes afraid to ask out loud

What’s the difference between therapy and coaching?

Therapy is a licensed clinical service for Washington State residents. It’s where we can work with anxiety, trauma, and the deeper roots of the pattern, held to clinical standards. Coaching is different work: non-clinical, forward-focused, and available virtually wherever you live. Coaching is not therapy, and I will always be clear about that line.

Do I have to be in Washington State?

For therapy, yes. I’m licensed in Washington only. For coaching, no. Coaching is available virtually, wherever you are, and for many women it’s the right door.

Do I need to be in crisis to start?

No. Most of the women I work with are outwardly capable and managing well. They start not because they’re falling apart, but because they’re worn out by the distance between how they appear and how they feel.

What if I’ve already done therapy?

Then you’re in familiar company. That’s most of the women I work with: you’ve done the work, you understand your patterns, and you still feel the old thing run in the moments that matter most. If earlier therapy gave you insight but not full integration, this work goes after what was likely missing: one of the three roots that never got fully reached.

Do you take insurance?

No. I don’t bill insurance, and I can provide a superbill that some plans reimburse. It keeps your records in your hands and our work between us.

What does a session actually look like?

Virtual, one-on-one, collaborative. We don’t only talk about what’s hard. We build the capacity to stay present and grounded while it’s happening.

You’ve been erasing yourself long enough.

You don’t have to explain it, and you don’t have to be sure. A 20-minute consult is just a conversation. No pitch, no pressure, a chance to talk about what’s actually going on and whether this is the right fit.