Seattle Holistic Ctr

Seattle Holistic Center is the most nurturing and safe place. I was very aprehensive about having a baby and had a lot of childhood issues. I learned so much about yoga, caring for myself and my baby, and I continue to go there for Mom n' Baby yoga, open door, and other wonderful activities they put on for mothers, some free of charge! Colette is so kind and always makes me feel safe and calm and happy. I love this place! more

Please don't come here for your counseling needs. Go to a qualified, certified and trained professional. Look for some one with rudimentary counseling skills such as empathy, respect and warmth. Confrontation and the like doesn't usually occur until you feel safe with the person. This woman is woefully unqualifed. I doubt she has ever taken a basic psychology class. In the State of Washington all you need to hang out your shingle is to submitt some paper work and a check. If she would stick to Yoga that would be great as she is an incrediable teacher. more

My husband and I were having a hard time in our relationship during my second pregnancy and thought that Collette Crawford, who I adored during her prenatal yoga classes, would be just the one to help us out as we found out that she did counseling as well. I liked her comforting voice during yoga class and thought her approach and expertise in childbirth through yoga would carry over to her counseling sessions. Not true! We came in at 9 in the morning on a Friday ten minutes late and she spent the first five minutes of our session "scolding" us for not being on time (not taking her session serious enough) and for the fact that it took me two weeks after my initial phone call to her to make a appointment to see her. Her shocking comments went on and on! Not a good start when I was already stressed out by my relationship and pregnancy! Then, we tried to give her a background of our lives (my husband grew up in another country and there were cultural aspects to consider), we had just had a major financial disaster with a start-up company that we had started, and we just wanted to tell her a little bit about our "story." She rudely interrupted several times with a cold, blank look asking "why are you telling me this? I don't need to know any of this" We said that we felt she would want to know a little bit about our history and she kept stopping us, shutting us out. As the session went on, it seemed that everything we made a comment on she would take out of context and/or make very outlandish comments and was not open to listening to our defenses. She even called me "sly" at one point in the session, which gave me tears (and if you met me even once, you would know this is not true, almost laughable!). At one point my husband just made the remark that to help my kids sleep, I sometimes let them into my bed to sleep with me (and she fired out at me "You, You have put a wedge in your relationship."....and went on and on without letting me talk. She also told us that we "have no marriage!" At this point I was pretty upset (feeling very personally attacked) and I made the remark "I would like you to tell my children at home that their mother and father have no marriage!" And I furthermore went on to say that we may have a real rough/rocky marriage right now, but of course we do have a marriage/relationship and that is why we are coming in to help solve some of our problems. And she repsonded back with a very disgusted look that "You don't know how to Love!" My next point to her was "Everyone knows how to love. A newborn child, a mentally handicapped person, every human essentially knows how to love. We just might not show it." It went on and on this way, in circles. We even tried to ask her what kind of therapy methods she uses and would not let us call it "therapy." It was "counseling," -- difference, anyone?? She refused to give us information and kept saying that "you just need to see it and when you open up to it, it is so wonderful." She even went on to attack the psychiatric field, when I mentioned that my sister was a clinical psychologist and that we have had problems with my husband's brother who has mental illness. During that point in the discussion she actually started swearing and yelling, turning it over to something about "George Bush" and how they were all liars (how & why she linked George Bush with psychologists I will never know). I think she just wanted to yell (a little surprising to see your cherished yoga teacher out of control!!). She also put my husband's career as a CEO of a start-up company down and asked him seriously why he doesn't go work at the post office. Seriously! She demanded an answer from him why he didn't just go and work at the post office!! Not a great thing to tell a guy who has invested all of his time and money into a company!! She also insisted that "we were in crisis" and that we needed to come back every single day, for maybe weeks for her sessions. Being that we were going through a major financial disaster at that time, I was alarmed at the cost of what she was insisting on. She made more deragatory remarks about "Well, what would you do if you had cancer? Wouldn't you sell everything/spend every penny to fix it. and "You are in crisis," she kept on repeating over and over again (my neighbor friend later that evening told me "well, if you weren't in "crisis" before you came in there, you sure would be by the time you walked out!!). Okay, so we agreed to come back the next day, as she kept saying that we needed to make this commitment. So, we did. It was the same -- awful -- I walked out in tears and had one of sickest stomachs of my life!! I just felt like I was an awful person! So, we were scheduled to come back the next day AGAIN but by that time my husband and I finally put our heads together: we took walks, talked with our friends and thought that okay, we have made this "commitment" to come to her, and we will do so one more time, but if we weren't both in agreement to come back again, we would find someone else to help us. We went in to her office that next day in a totally different mood (that happens -- people are dynamic that way) and she kept demanding what had happened to us overnight. She essentially accused us that this was not really us, as I think she sensed that right away that she would not be able to challenge us, put us down, and get under our skins. So half- way through she tried to "fire us," saying "You two are just not ready for this." Not ready for Collette's "awakening???" She wanted us to end the session half-way through it and I challenged her, saying that I made the commitment to come like she had requested, bought a babysitter to watch my children for the hour and had just payed her for the full hour, She said she would refund the last half-hour and I said NO. I wanted to complete our session and I did with pride, challenging her the whole way. My husband was so proud of me and afterwards said "you took one of Seattle's biggest yoga gurus, challenged her philosophies and won." We walked out of there feeling much better than before and ran into another couple coming in right after us with the most disturbed, painful looks on their faces, like they were going off to war! I wonder how many other couple's she has done this too?!! She is unskilled, with no degree in counseling behind her name, a real "quack." To those who read this, remember you are not alone if you have ever met with this woman for counseling! Hopefully someone will find a way to put her out of business (at least on the counseling side!!) We found a wonderful new marriage counselor right away after that which was very successful! Thanks for reading this! more

I've had questionable experiences, both in the prenatal classes and most recently with Aikido. I never felt comfortable in either situation and am finally unraveling why. I'll try to make this succinct. I took the prenatal classes with Colette - who I found alternately comforting and patronizing. In the end, I discontinued the class as I found the general mood intolerant (esp. to those who do not favor natural birth and "breathing" over prescription drugs for post-partum depression, as one example). My husband and I also saw Colette in a counseling session where we were astonished to feel more ill-at-ease than when we came in to talk with her (I won't go into the more personal details but we slunk away feeling reprimanded like teenagers). A couple of years later we joined some friends' kids at the Aikido classes for kids. The instructor was wonderful with the kids, esp. the wiggly set; appropriately firm and clear with expectations. The "sensei", however (and don't you dare call anyone else by this title) is an arrogant megalomaniac. I've seen him move 4-year olds to tears (and outraged a mother in the process) and, when my husband and I changed our minds about our daughter continuing after a year (after some miscommunication with the instructor and just, well...time to move on as our daughter is more of a "free spirit" playing-type of 5-year old and we're OK with that), he refused to even consider refunding our tuition (we had paid just the previous day for a 5-month package and hadn't even started the classes yet!) because "That's the policy." Furthermore, he told my husband "you're just upset because you can't get what you want," among other choice statements, interrupting my husband and being basically incredibly rude. So much for being a good customer! While the instructor was capable and there were fun games and activities to keep the class exciting and fast-paced, the place felt like a scary boot camp (parents were even reprimanded for their wandering toddlers - which, again, I understand, but the way in which it was done felt uncomfortable and embarrassing - and could have been done much differently). There was not "soft touch", in other words. I'm certain some kids and their parents would love this kind of paternalistic ass-whopping, but not us. We learned the hard way. more

I went to Seattle Holistic Center my entire pregnancy and found yoga the best way to help me through the aches and pains of pregnancy. It felt so good I was motivated to continue some of the positions and stretches at home on off days (I always slept better after stretching). It is not a tremendous workout, but a good supplement to additional cardiovascular exercise. The other big pro is being is a class full of pregnant women. As you look around the room you are reminded of where you were just weeks earlier and can look forward to the next stage. Also, there are endless "tips", that you can't find in any book, for all the pregnancy ailments. For example, if you have trouble urinating try holding up your belly. Just one warning... If you are not doing the homebirth / midwife thing be prepared to feel judged (god forbid you are having a scheduled C-section). The instructors (Collette in particular) are not very open-minded to the many ways one can bring a child into this world (or your personal choice in the matter). Nothing that a little thick skin won't protect you from. more

Whether expecting or recovering, I highly recommend the Seattle Holistic Center. Prenatal: If you are pregnant and located near Wallingford or Greenlake, check out Collette's Prenatal Yoga class. I give them credit for preparing both my mind and body for delivery. I had days when I thought I had it bad. Then class starts, everybody introduces themselves and shares their ailments (so that it can be addressed in class). Suddenly my aching hip sounds minute compared to Jane who just got back from a month of bed rest! Puts everything in perspective. I always walked out feeling relieved that I was not the only hormonal person in town! Postnatal: If you have a crawler/toddler, you can take them to Yoga class! This is the only place that I know that has a parent/toddler yoga class. With a kid friendly atmosphere, go strengthen your back, calm your nerves and meet great down to earth people. This is a drop-in class. At $16 a class, it is money well spent for my sanity. more

I took a yoga class here a while back and I liked it. I should have gone to a beginner class (I chose an 'all levels' class) but the teacher was really good. The class was big so I recommend that you know a bit about yoga before you go so that you're not doing the poses wrong and then not getting any help. SHC also has an amazing Aikido program. I have know a few people to study under Sensei Bookman (Bookman Sensei?) and they have great respect for him. There is also bodywork at SHC by appointment. Pretty cool. more

I took four months of prenatal yoga at the seattle holistic center at their wallingford branch and really enjoyed it. The renowned leader of the program is colette (who is also a nurse) although there are several other excellent instructors. Each class starts with a round of how-do-you-do: "hello, my name is jane and i'm 26 weeks pregnant and my (insert body part) is killing me". Colette is very touchy feely and empathetic but also very helpful. She will suggest drinking this kind of tea, taking this vitamin or eating watermelon as a remedy or if you are having a physical pain like a tight back she will recommend specific stretches. This part is helpful in that either you feel pretty darn lucky your ______ aren't hurting or you hear about similar pains/discomforts and some possible solutions. Then there is usually 90 minutes of stretching and toning (right down to your pelvic floor) where the instructor offers great stretches to address all the pains mentioned before and to help prepare you for childbirth. The center offers a deep schedule of classes and once you purchase your ten(?) classes you can pretty much go to any session you want. I went twice a week and felt great. I would say these classes are a moderate work out. Obviously not much cardio-vascular but I was definitely sore after using different muscles. more