About Dr. Robin Barre
Dr. Robin Barre has been actively engaged in the lives of teenagers for almost 30 years. She has made it her life’s work to understand the Adolescent psyche and the nature of Adolescence. Before turning towards psychotherapy, Robin was a teacher, having achieved her teaching degree through Antioch University Seattle. She earned her doctorate in Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute in 2015 as well as a master’s degree in Depth Psychology and a master’s in Counseling Psychology. She is a Level 3 trained certified Internal Family Systems therapist and IFS-Institute approved IFS consultant.
As an educator and depth psychotherapist, Robin has found that each profession informs the other. In fact, it was the experiences of her middle school students which led her to become a trauma therapist specializing in adolescents and the adolescent psyche. She often tells the story of one student in particular whose circumstances broke open her heart and set her on the path that led her to her work with The Shiftless Wanderer.
Robin’s life was changed and enriched when she became the education director and teacher of street-involved youth in downtown Seattle, further expanding and deepening her regard for and commitment to adolescents. She has served as a school-based mental health counselor for Island County, providing counseling services for students grades K-12. During this tenure, she coordinated care with families and guardians, school district staff, the courts, child protective services, community social services, and other mental health and medical providers in private practice and agency settings. During this time, Robin experienced first-hand the struggles that caregivers, organizations, and parents face every day in their effort to serve adolescents. Over the years, she developed tools and resources to respond to these challenges, as well as invaluable insight into how to affect significant change in our care systems, communication, and communities.
Dr. Barre is unique in the field of adolescent psychology as she brings her perspective and understanding of adolescence as the most crucial transformative period in a person’s life, other than birth and death. She diligently honors her own lively adolescent energies, compassionately tends her Inner Teenager, while embracing her role as an elder in the lives of young people. Aside from the work she does through The Shiftless Wanderer to educate, support, and train organizations and caregivers, Robin maintains a private psychotherapy practice where she specializes in adolescent issues and complex trauma.