250 Cushman Street, Suite 2G
Fairbanks, AK 99701
(907) 251-5775
Bessie Green, a white woman, looking into the camera smiling to welcome you. She is standing outside a gray building in the snow. She wears a black jumpsuit and a gray cardigan, in the grand tradition of therapists in cardigans. Her right hand is on her hip, her left arm hangs at her side. Her brown hair falls past her shoulders.
You can find hope and healing.

Meet Bessie Green, LCSW, IMH-E® III. Therapist in Fairbanks, AK.

A hurtful relationship can leave you doubting yourself, confused, on edge, and afraid to trust. Big life transitions can leave you grieving and doubting yourself. As a parent, it can be so painful to watch how the challenges in adult relationships around them have impacted your child. We can work together to bring healing and peace to you and your children.

My style as a therapist is highly collaborative. As I get to know you and to understand your history and the challenges you are facing, we will make a plan together to get you to a place where you feel strong and healthy, and able to find joy in your life and your relationships. Sometimes our work will focus on understanding your past. Other times we will be focused on your present experience and on strategies and techniques you can use to manage the way you feel or to achieve your goals. I draw from a variety of therapeutic modalities to find the strategies that work best for you. We will also look to what other supports you can bring into your life to feel connected and supported in your community.

As a therapist, I work to understand what it feels like to live your daily life. I want to understand your experience so that I can help you to move towards your goals. Your goals become my goals as we work together to help you or your child to find relief. I’ll be in your corner, holding hope, offering encouragement, and strategizing with you as you navigate your challenges and find your path to the life you want to live.

A white woman in sunglasses, with dark hair, feeling empowered through counseling, stands with her back to the camera, arms outstretched towards the sky. The sun peeks brightly through the space below her right arm, its rays shining across her dark-colored sweater. A leafy deciduous stand of trees lies in the background, and a pale orangey sky.

Clients appreciate that, no matter how tough the things that they face may be, I am in it with them to find their path through. I’m resourceful and creative, and I have hope in even the hardest circumstances that healing is possible. No matter how stuck you feel, I believe in the resilience and courage of my clients, and I will help you to believe in your own inner strength and find your confidence and trust in yourself to make it through.

I’ve spent fourteen years working with women, men, and children to recover from painful or abusive relationships, and to break cycles and repetitive patterns. I’ve learned to help people to understand and enforce healthy boundaries, learn healthy relationship skills, and feel safe and strong again after life has left them feeling afraid and alone.

I have extensive training in infant and early childhood mental health. I’ve spent years learning to support parents to support their children’s earliest experiences, where kids learn the skills that will set the foundation for relationships for their entire lives. I love infant and early childhood work, because I find this to be a powerful way to support a family to heal together.

Bessie stands, arms crossed in front of her, body slightly tilted to the right, and smiles into the camera. She wears a black jumpsuit under a gray cardigan. Behind her is a gray building, and snow on the ground. Bessie’s brown hair, streaked with gray, falls in waves past her shoulders. She’s ready to do the work with you for counseling in Fairbanks!

Specialties

ALine drawings of two people, sitting in chairs facing one another, with word bubbles over their heads, for relationship trauma therapy.
Relationship Trauma Therapy for Adults
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Line drawings of two people, sitting in chairs facing one another, with word bubbles over their heads, for therapy for life transitions.
Therapy for Life Transitions for Adults
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Line drawing of two people. A short-haired person sits on one side of a desk, facing the viewer, a pony-tailed person looks back at them from the other side of the desk. Each has a word bubble by their heads for children’s therapy services.
Children’s Therapy Services for School-Aged Kids and Adolescents
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Line drawing of an adult in a dress, facing a child in a dress, with arms raised up towards the adult, for family therapy for early intervention.
Family Counseling Services for Early Intervention
(prenatal to age 6)
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How I Work

Trauma-Informed Stabilization Treatment for adults & adolescents
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) & Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) for adults & adolescents
Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) for expecting parents, infants & young children
Attachment, Regulation, & Competency (ARC) Model for school-aged kids
This treatment modality is used to help you to get your overwhelming symptoms under control first. Then, with a solid foundation, we move forward to process your difficult experiences and help you to create the life you want to live.
In the ARC Model we work to promote a child’s secure attachment to their caregiver, help a child learn essential emotional regulation skills, and to help a child to feel competent and capable in their life. I will work with you to help you learn how to support your school-aged child or adolescent.
CPP is a model to support infants and young children together with a parent or caregiver. I will work with you to help you to help your baby or young child. This relationship-focused modality promotes a strong, secure relationship with you as the foundation for all of your child’s future relationships in life.
I use CBT and DBT to offer you a variety of strategies and skills to help you to challenge unhelpful thoughts, tolerate distress, manage your feelings, and navigate relationships.

Guiding Principles

  • You belong. I welcome all people, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or family configuration. No matter your beliefs, your background, or your identity, I will do my best to honor your experience, your values, and your perspective.
  • You are the expert in your own life. I see my role as providing support, sharing information and resources, strategizing together with you, and cheering you on. Together we will identify your goals. I will always support you to find the path that feels right to you.
  • You deserve the highest standard of care. I participate in continuing education constantly and follow the latest research to provide the best, evidence-based, trauma-informed care to everyone I work with.
  • Sometimes we all need help. I offer a non-judgmental space for you to explore your experiences and your emotions and find your path to recovery. It takes courage to ask for help, and I will work to create the safety you need to be vulnerable to support your growth and healing.
  • Your privacy is vital. I don’t take for granted the trust you place in me by sharing your story, and I work hard to uphold the highest standards of ethical practice and confidentiality.
  • This is your space. Therapy only works if it is working for you. We are collaborators, and I value your feedback on what feels supportive and what doesn’t work for you as together we discover your path to healing.

Training & Experience

Education & Licensure

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker #140001, Alaska
  • MSW, Social Work in Rural and Indigenous Communities, Humboldt State University, 2016
  • MS, Biology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2009
  • BS, Biology, BA, Plan II Liberal Arts, University of Texas—Austin, 2002

Training & Certifications

  • IMH-E® III, Infant Mental Health Specialist, Alaska Association for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
  • Child-Parent Psychotherapy, rostered clinician
  • Advanced Clinical Training in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health, Barnard College at the University of Washington
  • Extensive experience and training in domestic violence intervention, with both survivors of violence and people who have used violence in relationships
  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
  • Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
  • Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Model

Professional Associations

  • Alaska Association for Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health
Schedule a Free consultation
Location
250 Cushman Street, Suite 2G
Fairbanks, AK 99701
In-person in Fairbanks Telehealth throughout Alaska
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