Therapists in Portland, OR

Spectrum Counseling is growing and adding new therapists! Please contact us to be placed on our waitlist for therapy. Visit our website for more information by clicking the "website" button on the left.

Sometimes we need a caring person, skilled at listening, who will act as a mirror, reflecting back our deepest knowing and personal truth. The act of entrusting another in this manner helps us to realign with our wisest self. We begin feeling more at ease and clearer about our intentions. Choices begin to reflect who we really want to be in the world. Suddenly, we are noticing and appreciating what is right and joyful in life more of the time.

My areas of expertise include depression, relationship problems, difficulties managing emotions, anxiety, trauma and PTSD, adolescent issues, ADHD, loss, and family of origin issues. I also enjoy helping individuals with identity development issues, including those related to culture, gender, sexuality, and important life transitions.

We all have moments of change in our lives that take us through ups and downs. Sometimes we can get stuck in understanding what is happening and knowing how to move forward. Living with challenging transitions is one of those moments when having someone to talk to, who truly understands from personal experience, makes the difference. I am a licensed counselor who through a social justice lens, will listen to all your frustrations with loved ones, friends, co-workers, and our misinformed society.

ARE YOU WANTING A MORE AUTHENTIC WHOLEHEARTED LIFE? I am a certified Daring Way facilitator who works with clients to develop shame resilience skills and a courage practice that transforms the way they live, love, parent, and lead. Dr. Brene Brown's The Daring Way(tm) curriculum is a highly experiential methodology developed to help men, women, and adolescents learn how to show up, be seen, and live braver more authentic lives. Using this methodology I work collaboratively with my clients to support them around challenges with stress, depression, anxiety, relationships, work, and recovery from addictions.

I have two specialties, working with children and parents through adoption issues and working with children whose parents are experiencing separation and divorce. As a certified adoption specialist, I help adoptive parents and adopted children navigate through the developmental stages adoption brings. I also assist birth parents and adult adoptees through the complexities of search and reunion issues so they can complete their stories and find healing.

I treat adults experiencing a variety of life's challenges, including relationship problems, transition challenges, career worries, money-related difficulties, health concerns, anxiety, and depression. This work combines practical guidance, problem solving and education. My therapeutic style is collaborative. Together, we look for insight into the origins of unwanted behavioral, emotional, and relationship patterns, then use that new knowledge to develop strategies to help you get "unstuck" and move forward in your life.

If you are looking for confidential, professional and respectful counseling, you have come to the right place. If you have experienced trauma, depression, anxiety, relationship or family struggles... our group of qualified therapists will work with you on improving areas of your life so you gain control. Our goal is to help you uncover your true potential and lead a life that is worth celebrating. We will work with you to better understand and resolve challenges in your life and help you discover what may be holding you back from experiencing a fulfilling and meaningful life.

I provide useful and in-depth psychotherapy in Connecticut, New York, Oregon, & California. People are in a constant developmental process, whereby symptoms are signs of ongoing struggles to sort through past experiences while organizing oneself in present living. Depression, anxiety, & personality traits are markers of this process. Therapy with me would seek to aid in your understanding of how & why you live the way you do, and hopefully lead to change. My hope is that we can find a way for you to live more fully and for problems to be comprehensively understood, formulated and articulated, and resolved in a sustained way.

We often face challenges in our lives and relationships that test our resilience, confidence, and faith. If you are considering counseling, chances are you are experiencing significant stress, or feeling a desire to make some changes. I provide an encouraging, nonjudgmental space to explore your feelings and experiences.

People come to therapy for many different reasons. Perhaps you wish to know yourself better or to understand what is happening in your relationships. Sometimes depression or anxiety become unmanageable. Emotional pain and suffering are normal aspects of life but it is possible to achieve a more balanced and resilient emotional state and more fulfilling relationships.

Have you been through a difficult experience? I specialize in emotional and relational disorders arising from trauma, sexual abuse, attachment disruptions, and less-than-optimal early childhood experiences. These types of experiences can create life-long distress and difficulty with relationships. Finding the right therapist is an important first step in healing from trauma. My orientation integrates modern neuroscience with relational psychotherapy. In addition to traditional methods, I utilize expressive approaches such as sandtray, play therapy, psychodrama, movement, and art therapy in my practice. I will tailor your sessions to meet your unique needs and ways of expressing yourself.

Knowing that it is usually an experience of pain or frustration that prompts people to seek counseling, my goal is to provide a safe place for you to effectively move through it. Often that pain comes from unmet needs, harmful experiences, or coping systems that no longer serve you. I want to work with you, to offer reflection, understanding, information, and new windows to help you experience relief and a sense of well being. Approaches include insight oriented talk therapy, mindfulness, EMDR, and art therapy and are chosen on what would be most appropriate to your individual goals.

You are happy and successful, the one people come to for help, the couple others admire, the fixer. What no one knows is that on the inside, behind closed doors, you feel like a mess. Maybe you even worry you're permanently damaged or that your relationship has experienced too much pain and resentment to recover. The isolation of keeping it together for the world makes the exhaustion, worry, and unhappiness even heavier. You are not alone and you are not doomed to this place forever. You can be ok, you can feel happier, your relationship can be fulfilling again.

Many people grow up in dysfunction and therefore they relate in inappropriate ways. Clients that I have helped the most typically relate to these dysfunctional ways: They guess at what normal is. They judge themselves without mercy. They have difficulty relaxing and enjoying life. They have difficulty with intimate relationships. They over-react to changes over which they have no control. They constantly seek approval and affirmation. They feel that they are different from other people. They avoid conflict or aggravate it; rarely do they deal with it. They fear failure, but sabotage their success.

Dear Potential Client! Have you lost someone and can't seem to move on? Do you find that unresolved abuse issues still bother you and get in the way of daily functioning? Are you not able to create the intimacy and closeness you desire in relationships and find yourself repeating the same patterns that you know don't work? Is your confidence level not where you want it to be? Do you and your partner struggle with how to best parent? Is anxiety and depression causing you to isolate, worry a lot, lose sleep, feel hopeless? I can help!

Are you ready to live a better you? You are taking the first step in attaining peace-of-mind, I respect and applaud you for doing so. I have a Masters degree in Social Work from Portland State University and over 40 years of experience working as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I began my private practice, Pathways to Peace Therapy, over 20 years ago, while also working in community mental health and E.R. crisis intervention for over 15 years. In 2014, I also began working with OCD patients. Working in various mental health settings has been invaluable in providing tools to bring to my clients individual needs and goals.

***Currently available for in-person and Teletherapy appointments*** I am passionate about people leading empowered, connected, and purposeful lives. I provide counseling services to diverse clients as they learn, change, grow, and function in increasingly inspired, creative, healthy, and adaptive ways. I work collaboratively with clients in identifying needs, making changes, and practicing new skills in a safe and supportive setting. I am experienced in working with adults, couples, families, as well as adolescent clients, on issues including depression, anxiety, trauma, grief, anger, identity, and unwanted thoughts or emotions.

Seeking support takes courage. I'm glad you're here. I provide compassionate, effective counseling for couples. I work specifically with couples hoping to enhance their communication, couples who are navigating a life transition and couples hoping to obtain balance, peace and happiness in their relationship.