Inside Passage Counseling opened its new downtown Bellingham office in July 2025, offering trauma-informed, evidence-based therapy to clients in a beautifully remodeled space.
Photograph by Kristen Boehm
Founder and Executive Director Heather Varnau, MA, LMHC, has practiced therapy under the Inside Passage name for more than 18 years. Varnau and her husband, Co-Owner, and Assistant Director Chris Aiken previously lived on Lopez Island, where Varnau specialized in three-day intensive couples counseling.
“Couples would travel to Lopez and do these therapy retreats with Heather,” says Aiken. “All through COVID, Heather’s waitlist for couples was just growing. It was nuts.”
Photograph by Kristen Boehm
That burgeoning need sparked Inside Passage’s evolution into a group practice. In 2021, the couple was joined by their old friend, Laura Gambrel, PhD, LMHC, and more counselors and associates soon after. After several years of rapid growth in offices around Bellingham, Inside Passage has roosted on Cornwall Avenue, with over a dozen counselors (and more on the way). They’re looking forward with a focus on community, connection, and wellness for both clients and counselors in the face of uncertain times.
“When things are unpredictable, and they are right now, there’s a natural stress level that’s ratcheting,” says Aiken. “There’s something about coming together as a team to try to do something good in the world.”
Photograph by Kristen Boehm
Modalities
Inside Passage specializes in four therapy methods: Internal Family Systems (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Gottman Method Couples Therapy, and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT).
“We specialize in the gold standards of therapy methods for helping individuals and couples heal from trauma and build secure relationships,” says Varnau. “But more than that, we love what we do and care about every one of our clients.”
Photograph by Kristen Boehm
IFS helps someone meet and connect with different “parts” of their psyche, each of which stem from different experiences in their life. By knowing these parts and understanding their roles, people can regain control over their patterns of behavior. EMDR helps people reprocess specific traumatic experiences, which makes it particularly helpful for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Photograph by Kristen Boehm
For couples, Inside Passage utilizes the Gottman Method and EFT. Both are doctor-developed and evidence- based. Where the Gottman Method is fairly cerebral, according to Aiken, EFT helps create secure bonds by improving emotional and physical intimacy.
In addition, they offer therapy intensives, a rarer form of counseling that’s gaining in popularity. These multi-day sessions eliminate the 50-minute time limit and the weeks of waiting between appointments. They allow people to dig deep and push through mental blocks to achieve results in three days that could otherwise require three to six months of therapy, according to Inside Passage.
Photograph by Kristen Boehm
Safe Space
Inside Passage worked with local company Alexei Ford Design Build to remodel the second-floor, 7,000-square-foot space. They added 13 offices for a total of 15, created a Community Room to host group therapy and training sessions, and added windows, skylights, and sky tubes. Wooden floors, bright walls, living plants, and 15-foot ceilings all contribute to an airy, soothing atmosphere.
“This place felt like a healing space when we first walked in, and our goal has been to make it feel like a sanctuary in the middle of the city,” says Aiken. “This world needs more safe spaces for everyone to be themselves and learn how to be better versions of themselves.” 1319 Cornwall Ave., Ste. 200, Bellingham, 360.300.2123, insidepassagecounseling.com
