Gaelen Engler, LCSW

Individual and Couples Therapist , Clinical Director

Gaelen Engler joined Sweetgrass Psychological as a Social Worker Licensure candidate in 2020 after serving adolescents and families for many years. Alongside her clinical work, Gaelen has held countless jobs working in the outdoors, from mountain guiding to wilderness therapy. She practices in both our Whitefish and Columbia Falls locations and remotely via telehealth.

Gaelen earned her Masters of Social Work from the University of Montana in 2019, where she cultivated both clinical skills and a passion for social justice and community engagement. Gaelen works with adolescents, adults, and couples in all stages and walks of life.

Gaelen values a compassionate, relational approach to working with people, honoring their lived experience and inner wisdom above all else.  She believes in the power of exploring one's story in the context of the connection she builds with her clients.  Gaelen recognizes that re-visiting our narratives and our past can be uncomfortable and nerve-wracking, and she knows it takes an honest, skilled, and non-judgemental therapist to ensure that it is safe to do so. Clients working with Gaelen often say that her calm presence invites them to show up fully themselves in the therapy room. This allows them a break from the demands of their lives in the spirit of understanding what they truly need and long for. She supports clients in building confidence and self-compassion, and she walks alongside people as they discover a sense of healing. Gaelen is a trauma-engaged clinician who has training in Emotionally-Focused Therapy, as well as Internal Family Systems, and enjoys taking these approaches with people when it feels of interest to her clients.