Experience

Walter Cardona, M.Ed. is a clinician with 25 years of clinical experience, graduating with his Masters in Counseling in 1999. He has extensive education and training in psychotherapy and family systems theory.  He has considerable experience working with emotionally and behaviorally-challenging adolescents since 1994. During his graduate training, he completed a year-long practicum at the Masters & Johnson Sex Therapy Clinic in St. Louis, Missouri.  He taught a Family Relationships course at Virginia Tech, as well as a Systems Theory and Family Therapy at the Calgary Health Region's Family Therapy Training Program.   He worked in family therapy centers, and clinically managed a juvenile sex offender treatment program. He consulted with First Nation healing centers helping young offenders develop healthier lives through a combination of conventional mental health therapies and traditional aboriginal healing practices.  He operated a private practice in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, conducting ongoing therapy, parenting assessments, adolescent risk assessments, and chemical dependency evaluations.  There, he was qualified as an expert witness in Family Therapy and Systems Theory, parenting, and parenting assessments for the Alberta Provincial Family & Youth Court. 

Upon arriving to Seattle, Walter served as a Crisis Intervention Specialist with the YMCA and King Co.'s Children Crisis Outreach Response System (CCORS) assisting families and their children and adolescents from 2010 to 2014 before starting his private practice full time.  While moving to Bellingham in 2022, he continues to serve all of Washington State via telehealth.

His scope of private practice focuses on the treatment of a variety of issues using emotional, relational, and trauma-focused approaches.

Credentials

Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) Washington State (LH60516944)

National Certified Counselor, National Board for Certified Counselors (ID: 657185) 

Certified as a Mental Health Professional (MHP)  and Certified as a Child Mental Health Specialist (CMHS)

Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider (CSOTP) Washington State (FC60867733)

Division of Behavioral Health and Recovery, WA State Department of Social Health and Services (DSHS)