Banner image with "Helping you gain self-acceptance to transform your personality, improve relationships, reduce anxiety and depression, and gain contentment" and pottery bowl

About Harper West, Mindful Self-Compassion Therapist

Harper West is a licensed psychotherapist and expert in improving relationships with yourself and others through self-acceptance. She is an expert in recovery from relationships with narcissistic or abusive partners or parents. Trained in Mindful Self-Compassion and Compassion-Focused Therapy. Providing relationship therapy using Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy and attachment-focused child and family therapy.

Harper West is a contributing author of #1 Amazon and #4 New York Times bestselling “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” and award-winning “Pack Leader Psychology.” Appointed to the Michigan Board of Psychology.

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold lacquer, resulting in something more beautiful than the original. In celebrating a history of imperfections, the art form reminds us to embrace our own flaws, perhaps even finding the shining beauty and value in our healed scars.

Peter Mayer’s song Japanese Bowl (on YouTube) explains this philosophy beautifully.

Photo courtesy www.lakesidepottery.com

The ability to handle shame, imperfection and failure with equanimity is self-actualization and enlightenment.

Hands making a heart shape in front of a sunset

The Power of Self-Acceptance

Do you want to feel more calm, contented and fulfilled? Be truly self-confident? Learn how achieving self-acceptance permanently frees the mind from low self-worth and self-blaming thoughts that lie at the heart of many experiences with anxiety, depression, relationship problems, and other struggles.

Improve Your Relationships

What emotion is most harmful to relationships? The answer may surprise you. Read a real life example of a rocky marriage and learn the root cause of most relationship difficulties, including high-conflict marriages and family relationships, domestic violence, abusive parenting, substance abuse and more.

Contemplative man looking at city skyline, words "Stop Stigma" stamped over image

An Outraged Psychologist Speaks Out

Why are normal human reactions — fear, shame, self-criticism — incorrectly labeled as “mental disorders?” The “disease” model promoted by pharmaceutical manufacturers and our mental health system discourages people from seeking therapy that can lead to solutions to anxiety, depression and more.

Individual, Couples & Family Therapy

As a licensed psychotherapist, Harper specializes in helping adults and teens improve self-compassion and self-acceptance, strengthen self-worth, regulate emotions, and develop mindfulness.

In-person counseling appointments are available in the Great Lakes Psychology Group office in Clarkston. Michigan residents throughout the state may schedule online therapy through Telehealth. Learn More about therapy with Harper West.

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Recent Blog Posts

New York Times Podcast: “What Autocrats Have in Common with Abusers”

When I was recruited to write a chapter for “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump” in 2017 I knew my approach would be very different from the other writers, all esteemed and established mental health professionals. They generally wrote chapters consistent with a...

Self-honesty is THE Key to Accountability and Personal Growth

Being honest with yourself is the key to accountability and personal growth. Self-honesty and being able to hear the truth from yourself or other people is the real goal of personal growth and psychotherapy. Without this skill of honesty, self-awareness isn't...

Understanding Narcissistic Family Systems In Your Life and Our Politics

This video by Matthew Cooke draws the same comparisons I’ve drawn between family systems of narcissistic abuse and societal levels of authoritarianism such as the Trump/Vance/MAGA regime. My understanding of narcissism and narcissistic family systems was why I — can...

I write often on topics related to human behavior including self-acceptance, anxiety, depression, shame, trauma, relationships, parenting, mindfulness, and more.

Read my Blog