Understanding is
where we begin.

Growing up means figuring out who you are. We take the time to understand that journey, and we build our support around it.

Every Person Makes Sense

When you take the time to see someone through their own experience, they start to make sense. That is always where we start.

A Space Outside Everything Else

Outside family, school, and peer life. A place where the parts of themselves they are still working out can come forward without an audience.

Building Something That Holds

We are working toward something they carry forward. A grounded sense of who they are that does not depend on things going well.

Schedule a Consultation

Many teens and young adults are facing a deep, complicated struggle.

You want your teen to find their own footing. When something is in the way of that, you try to help but it all goes wrong. You know your teen does not fit the traditional models, but you still worry that you are failing them.

That is not failure. That is adolescence.

We work in that space.

Talk to us about what you are seeing →

"I want them to know I support them, whatever they decide to do. I just want them to be okay."

"I am worried about this next transition and I do not know how to help them through it."

"Something changed and I cannot tell if it is a phase or something more."

"I keep wondering if I should have seen this sooner."

"Every option in front of us feels like the wrong one."

We take the time to
actually know them.

Every person arrives with their own way of taking in the world. Here is what that looks like in practice.

How we work

1

Get to know them

How they think. What matters to them. Where they feel most like themselves and where they feel furthest from it.

2

Build a real relationship

We give the relationship time to root. A space outside family, school, and peer life where the parts of themselves they are still figuring out can come forward safely.

3

Shape the support to fit

Once we understand how someone works, we build from there. Mentoring, skill building, self-exploration, all tuned to this specific young person.

4

Develop identity and purpose

The heart of the work. Helping a young person settle into who they are, find their own motivation, and build a sense of self that holds over time.

5

Address what gets in the way

When anxiety, depression, or other struggles are blocking growth, we address them as part of the larger picture, in service of the foundation we are building together.

Collaborative care,
shared grounding.

Every counselor in our practice is trained directly within our developmental, neurodivergent-affirming approach. Johnny Spangler provides close clinical oversight and regular weekly supervision, ensuring that every family benefits from both individual relational warmth and senior clinical expertise.

Johnny Spangler, MA, LMHC - Founder and Clinical Lead
Founder and Clinical Lead

Johnny Spangler

Affiliate Faculty, Antioch University Seattle  |  Neurodiversity Concentration and Certificate Program

Johnny Spangler sees counseling as a supportive space built on genuine warmth, authenticity, and a deep respect for how an individual experiences the world. For him, training the next generation of counselors is the engine that drives his daily practice. His role as a counselor educator, supervisor, and workshop leader allows him to look at developmental health through a much wider lens. While working directly with clients remains a central part of his practice, these broader educational initiatives provide the precise groundwork for our clinical team.

This ongoing educational work directly shapes how we approach care at Spangler Counseling Group. Our framework incorporates foundational neuro-affirming practices, but we build upon that standard to recognize the absolute uniqueness of every person's internal reality. We couple this individual focus with a strong understanding of shared human experience. Ultimately, leading these broader projects ensures that our practice remains purposeful, modern, and entirely dedicated to helping individuals trust, navigate, and own their life journeys.

Sean Flikke, MS, LMHC-A - Associate Counselor
Associate Counselor

Sean Flikke

MS LMHCA

For nearly three decades, Sean Flikke has worked alongside marginalized and neurodivergent young people in schools, community programs, athletics, counseling settings, and mentorship spaces. His work is grounded in the belief that healing, growth, and meaningful change happen through authentic human connection, emotional safety, and relationships built on trust rather than judgment. Sean recently completed his Master of Science in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling through a CACREP-accredited program at Montana State University Billings and is working toward full licensure as an LMHC-A in Washington State. His clinical experience includes urgent care behavioral health, psycho-social assessment, case management, and counseling support for youth navigating ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, emotional regulation challenges, and trauma-related concerns.

Sean’s counseling philosophy blends person-centered, narrative, and short-term solution-focused approaches with a warm, energetic, and deeply relational style. He believes young people are far more than diagnoses, behaviors, or academic performance, and works collaboratively to help clients identify strengths, reshape personal narratives, and build practical strategies for success in everyday life. Drawing from a lifelong background in education, coaching, creativity, and community leadership, Sean brings a gregarious and artistic presence into his work, using humor, storytelling, curiosity, movement, and genuine engagement to create spaces where young people feel seen, valued, and empowered to grow into fuller versions of themselves.

Beautifully complicated young people.

Teens and young adults of unique strength and complexity, carrying far more than the people around them realize.

Some of our clients carry diagnoses. Many do not. What they share is a sense of standing at a crossroads, often one their family does not yet fully know how to map for them.

The work is ultimately about who they are becoming. We help each young person develop the core of their adult self: their identity, their sense of purpose, the grounded confidence that comes from genuinely knowing themselves.

Reach out and tell us about your emerging adult →
Two young people silhouetted against a beautiful sunset over the water
Adolescent Identity Development
The work of figuring out who you are before you fully know who you want to be. Belonging, self-worth, the particular weight of becoming.
Young Adult Transitions
College, first jobs, leaving home, finding direction. Early adulthood carries real developmental weight. We help young people navigate it with more clarity.
Motivation, Purpose, and Direction
For young people who possess unique, unrecognized strengths but find themselves completely stuck. Who sense something is off but cannot yet name what. We help bring their picture into focus.
A Natural Fit for Neurodivergent Youth
We work through a neurodevelopmental lens. Individual processing style is where understanding begins. For neurodivergent young people, that lens lets us hold all layers of their experience at once.
The Things They Cannot Say at Home
We sit outside every other context in their life. A space for the questions they are not ready to ask anyone who already knows them. Real safety for real exploration.
When More Support Is Needed
We recognize and treat anxiety, depression, OCD, executive functioning challenges, autism support, and suicidal ideation. The professional depth is there whenever it is needed.

Things worth
talking through.

A beautiful bird perched on a budding branch with a soft green forest background

We want you to feel fully comfortable before making any clinical commitments. Here are common areas we discuss.

Set up a free consultation →
A beautiful bird perched on a budding branch with a soft green forest background
Johnny Spangler, our Founder, acts as the Clinical Director and supervisor. He actively coordinates on case planning and hosts weekly clinical supervision. This means your teen receives dedicated relational focus while being backed by extensive clinical expertise.
Often, yes. Most teens resist being evaluated or "fixed." We specialize in setting a warm, non-judgmental atmosphere outside the pressure of family or school dynamics, helping them feel met on their own terms. This usually melts therapeutic resistance quickly.
Almost never in the way you fear. Young people usually struggle because of a friction mismatch between their specific developmental path and the complex environments around them. Asking the question simply highlights how deeply you care.
That is a natural, healthy milestone of adolescent development. Developing an independent inner life is healthy. We offer a secure, objective container outside the home where they can explore hard questions safely, bringing clarity back to their relationship with you.
We work through a strictly neurodiversity-affirming lens. Whether carrying a diagnosis (ADHD, Autism, Executive Dysfunction) or navigating general learning/processing differences, we focus on identifying their specific processing profile and building tailored skills rather than attempting to enforce behavioral assimilation.
A simple consultation call. It is a warm, low-pressure conversation to discuss your teenager's or emerging adult's background, explain our fit, and connect you with a clinician if appropriate.

You do not have to
figure this out alone.

Tell us a little about what is going on. We will follow up honestly about how we can support your teen or young adult.

If our collaborative practice is not the right fit, we will gladly point you to trusted resources that are.

Reach Out

We respond within two business days. Intake consults are held by phone or video call.