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Individual Counseling
There are as many different therapeutic styles as there are therapists. A positive connection with your therapist is a huge part of whether therapy will be helpful, so taking the time to interview therapists to ensure a good fit is worth the effort. I meet with clients prior to our making a commitment to the endeavor so that we both feel that we are speaking the same language, are stylistically compatible, and that I am the right one to help you get your needs met.
My experience has shown that weekly therapy brings about change and understanding more quickly than less frequent sessions, but I also understand that financial responsibility and learning styles might lead us toward bi-weekly meetings. I tailor my strategy to your specific goals and style and check in with you regularly to make sure we are staying the course.
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Couples Counseling
Intertwining our individuality with someone else’s creates a daily dynamism that doesn’t exist when we are just tending to our single selves. Couples counseling holds this complexity as the context in which all interactions occur and helps couples zoom back from the muck of objectivity battles (one person not doing something the “right way, for example) to the vantage point of appreciating the individuality of the other.
Identifying unmet needs and learning how to express them so that partners can help is a common theme. Identifying unhelpful patterns in the relationship is the first step to replacing them with more loving strategies.
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Grief Counseling
When someone dies, all of the small foibles and complaints about life fall away, and we awaken to what has always been present: that life is fragile and temporary. The pain of loss is often accompanied by an acute awareness of what matters and what doesn’t. After the initial shock and disbelief move into a new reality, grieving includes a reassessment and redefinition of the way things are.
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This process is extremely personal and unique; no two people grieve the same way despite some cultural messaging that “we should be over it by now,” or “you should start dating again.” Grief counseling supports a client’s unique path through grief and validates the complexity of emotions associated with loss.
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Career and Entrepreneurial Counseling
I believe that having meaningful work that is fulfilling and satisfying is a key element to our deepest sense of wellness. Because we spend so many hours of our life working, we want our work to be in alignment with our values, our temperament, our gifts, and our interests. Career counseling has two distinct parts: understanding yourself and understanding the world of work.
Once both are clear, the next step is finding where those to parts intersect. I support clients in finding their own right livelihood, either by finding a job they love or by creating a job for themselves through self-employment.
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This 8-week course is designed for individuals who want to embark on the path of self-employment, and have an idea for a business they would like to create. The program for successful entrepreneurship starts with an intensive self-assessment of one’s relevant psychology, in other words, how well do you know yourself and how you will meet the challenges of self-employment? From here we move on to flushing out the vision for your business and doing a preliminary viability study to ensure the possibility of success before getting too far.
Once viability is established (or the vision is modified to account for new variables), then action steps are illuminated to put the wheels in motion. This course includes homework including workbook exercises, informational interviews, online research, and financial recordkeeping practice exercises.
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Women in Transition Process Group
Mid-life for women is a time of change and flux. Of course, experiences vary, but often the physical aging process and changes in family life, career, and relationship status can influence a renewed drive for meaning, an enlivening sense of empowerment, a redefining of identity, and a recalibration of how to be. This process is challenging, sometimes painful, and yet is a transformational opportunity to set the waves in motion for the second half of life.
The purpose of this women's group is to share our experiences of the process, to normalize what feels strange, to celebrate insights, and to learn from each other. We will explore the stages of transition, reactions to change, and identify values, all to support taking the steps ahead with intention. The group takes place on Wednesday evenings and is limited to eight women. Each two-hour session costs $50.
Please call for information or to reserve your space: (503) 784-6214
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Beach Retreats for Therapists
Counselors are caregivers, and caregivers have a critical need to replace the care they give away, so they have more to give. The desire to be there for our clients as well as for others in our lives can often lead us to over-extend our giving without refueling. “Self-care” can happen in many places, and one of the most nourishing places for me is at the ocean.
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Retreating from the needs of others and immersing in the beauty of the Oregon coast or the warm Pacific waters of Hawaii is in itself restorative, and to this, the weekends add workshops geared to counselor growth and enrichment.
Retreats are Friday afternoon through Sunday. Workshop content varies per weekend. Please contact me for the next retreat ahead.
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Walking Therapy/The Healing Power of Nature
Some of my best internal processing happens in the woods. I have spent my entire adult life marching around in Forest Park and Tryon Creek, alone, with my dog, or with a friend. I find that the combination of physical movement and the beauty of our incredible urban woodlands help me untangle my thoughts and soothe my psyche and heart. I've helped many a friend work through a difficult situation while breathing in the clean forest air, and there is something about walking side by side that reinforces that we are all in this together, here to help one another.
If clients are so inclined, we can choose to do some or all of our individual therapy sessions outside. I have identified two woodland trails that I think are perfect for such sessions: The Aspen Trailhead to Wildwood Trail in NW Forest Park, and The High Bridge Trail in Tryon Creek, as well as laps around Laurelhurst Park. All trails offer options that allow for flat, easy walks or more vigorous hills, with much privacy and little interruption. The choice of venue is determined by the client. Weather is, of course, a variable, and outdoor sessions can be weather-dependent. If it's just too cold or mucky, we can opt to meet in the office.
If you're curious but unsure, try it. It may be your cup of tea, or you may determine that you'd rather have a cup of tea inside.
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Virtual Therapy
During our efforts to contain COVID-19 by staying home, all sessions are virtual sessions. I'm so grateful that we have this technology so that I can continue to support clients during this challenging time. I've done virtual sessions for years, so I've known that therapy works long-distance, and now that we've all become Zoom experts out of necessity, the daily engagement with others through this virtual medium has increased my appreciation for the ability to connect across the ether, plus clients seem to enjoy being in the comfort of their own spaces!
This miracle of modern technology allows us to have video sessions via confidentiality-secure software (think a HIPPA compliant Skype). You can schedule Virtual Sessions on the appointment calendar on my home page.
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