Dana Sheldahl grew up in Gig Harbor and attended area independent and public schools before earning her BA in Psychology from Western Washington University and her M.Ed. in School Counseling from Seattle University. During graduate school she completed her practicum experience at Hazen High School in Renton and a year-long internship at Salmon Bay School, a K-8 choice school within Seattle Public Schools. She was a residential counselor at Northwest Youth Services working with homeless and at-risk adolescents, and her primary experience as a School Counselor before joining GHA was at The Evergreen School, where she worked individually with students on a variety of issues, led counseling groups, and developed and taught their SEL curriculum. She has also been featured in Seattle’s Child, writing an article about how to support students’ SEL needs at home. She is the mother to three children, has two cats, and enjoys hiking with her kids, snowboarding, swimming and being out on the water.