About Us

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Sha'ari Garfinkel is the director of Inner Listening Therapies Her approach integrates sound, music, talk therapy, EMDR and spirituality into psychotherapy. She is a specialist in treating complex PTSD.  Her interests in cross-cultural healing and music have taken her to Bali, China, Israel, Turkey, Nepal, Morocco, Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize, England, Jamaica,  the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico & India  in addition to indigenous communities throughout Washington State, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Canada. 

Sha'ari earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin College Conservatory where she studied music therapy.  At the University of Houston, she earned her Master of Social Work degree. Teachers and mentors include acclaimed music therapist and author Deforia Lane and renowned french hornist Robert Fries. She completed advanced training in Acutonics with Donna Carey at the Kairos Institute in New Mexico. Sha'ari studied to become a fellow in The Bonny Method under the mentorship of late visionary Linda Keiser Mardis. With the guidance of  Josie Juhasz, Sha'ari became certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 2019. She has studied Shamanic healing and earth-based practices with Rabbis Sarah Etz Alon and Gershon Winkler. 

Sha'ari plays many instruments including gongs,  flutes, conch shell, shofar and french horn. She studied Balinese gender with I Wayan Sinti and is a devoted sitar student at Ali Akbar College in San Rafael, CA under the tutelage of Tim White. Sha'ari has performed french horn professionally and worked for many  arts organizations including The Phoenix Symphony, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, the Allentown Symphony, the Federal Way Symphony and the Northwest Mahler Festival Orchestra among others.  

Sha'ari  has a private practice in West Seattle and offers in-person and teletherapy to clients in Washington State and Idaho. With over 30 years experience in health care, ER and mental health settings, she works with each client to find their own unique healing path and learn to listen to their innermost wisdom. Sha'ari remains committed to life-long learning and creative therapeutic exploration.