John Lakvold

Biography

Qualifications & Experience

I hold a B.A. in History from Freed-Hardeman University, a J.D. in Law from the University of Toledo, and an M.A. in Professional Counseling from Liberty University. I am a licensed counselor in Washington and Idaho and a Washington state-approved supervisor for LMHCs. I have also completed Level 2 of Gottman training for couples counseling. I have experience working with troubled adolescents, children with psychiatric issues, individuals with severe and persistent mental illnesses, couples facing marital issues, military service members dealing with stress and adjustment, and much more.

My Call to Christian Counseling

I thought that I was going to become an attorney, but God had other plans. After failing the Ohio bar exam, I needed a job to pay my substantial student loans. I started to work with children dealing with trauma, substance use, mental health, and other adverse childhood experiences. A year after I got married, my wife encouraged me to expand my education to become a counselor.

More About Me/On a Personal Note

I love to travel with my wife to national parks and places to experience diverse cultures. I enjoy being outdoors and seeing animals in the wild. I have gone camping countless times. I have also begun to take up photography with an interest in wildlife and national scenery.

Services and Specialities

Areas of Expertise/Specialties

• Anxiety
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chemical Dependency
• Counseling for Teens
• Couples Counseling
• Depression
• Grief and Loss
• Individual Counseling
• Infidelity and Affairs
• Marriage Counseling
• Online Counseling
• Premarital Counseling
• Relationship Issues
• Sex and Porn Addiction

Anxiety

With anxiety, individuals interpret their experiences as dangerous, which can lead to dysfunctional thinking, distressing feelings, avoiding people, places, and/or things, and physical symptoms. As your counselor, my job is to help you to challenge your thinking, restructure your thinking in a more adaptive fashion, discover the usefulness of having some anxiety, and sometimes expose you to tiny amounts of anxiety at a time to help you overcome your fears and stressors.

Depression

Individuals with depression tend to have negative thoughts about themselves, others, and the future leading to feelings of unlovability, worthlessness, helplessness, hopelessness, and/or inadequacy. My job is to help you discover the underlying thoughts causing your feelings, evaluate your thinking more accurately, and learn how to live with tolerable levels of sadness without sinking into deep depression.

Couples Counseling

Applying the Gottman Sound Relationship theory, I will help you get to know your partner better, assist you with building fondness and admiration for each other, explore ways to focus only on each other, educate you on the importance of building your relationship love bank, manage conflicts between one another, explore individual and couple dreams, and develop routines and rituals to deep your relationship.

Infidelity and Affairs

Infidelity does not happen in a vacuum. Infidelity is often more complicated than it seems. Working together as a couple can help each partner to discover why the infidelity occurred and how to prevent it from occurring again. The hurt partner can heal from PTSD-like symptoms. The offending partner can learn to atone, attune, and re-attach to his or her partner.

Chemical Dependency / Sexual Addiction

From an individual counseling perspective, it is important to (1) identify perilous situations, both external (e.g., people, places, and things) and internal (e.g., problematic mood states); (2) address dysfunctional thinking about drugs, one’s ability to “handle” substance and/or process of choice (sexual/porn addiction); (3) reduce automatic negative thoughts that facilitate arousal and/or intent to use; (4) gradually lessen physiological carvings and urges; (5) benignly confront “permission-giving beliefs” that justify one’s use; and (6) plan potential external and internal circumstances that might trigger a lapse or relapse.

If the individual is already undergoing individual treatment for substance and/or sexual addictions, it is important to talk about the ways in which the addiction interfered with the addicted individual, non-addicted individual, and the relationship itself without blame. By talking about the impact, the couple can rebuild their relationship and attend to each partner’s individual needs.

Payment and Forms

Sessions: I offer 53-minute sessions. Sessions can be held more than once per week, weekly, or every other week. Scheduling options are discussed in greater detail during your Risk-Free Initial Session.

Availability (by office location):

• Spokane Valley – Thursday, Friday, Saturday
• Spokane – Tuesday, Wednesday
• Online (WA Only) – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday

Fees: I offer a Risk-Free Initial Session for individuals and couples looking to pursue counseling with me. Please note that there is a fee for the Risk-Free Initial Session as it is a clinical hour and reimbursable to most insurance companies, but if you choose not to reschedule and continue therapy after the initial session the entire fee for the session will be waived. For ongoing treatment the full fee per session is required at the time of service.

Insurance: As a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), most insurance companies will reimburse for a portion of my services (as an Out of Network Provider). Please consult with your insurance provider as to whether they specifically cover adolescents, individuals and couples.

Receipts/Statements: In the event you require a printed or digital receipt, I will provide receipts for personal use, insurance reimbursement, Flex Spending Accounts (FSA), and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).

Payment options: Cash, Check, or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, & American Express). A fee of up to 4% per transaction may be added for credit card payments.