Therapists in Portland, OR

Even the most painful emotions have wisdom to them. Instead of seeing your mental distress as just a disease, I view it as the brain telling us that things in your life need attention. This might relate to your body, to your relationships in life, to old thought patterns, to what you do with your days, to how society treats you. There are many roads that lead to suffering. I hope to work with you to identify the circumstances that make your situation unique, so we can better understand how to improve your well-being. Then, we can work together to slowly but surely make the necessary changes towards a life filled with meaning.

Helping you to live a life that you value is my goal. Often in life we end up offtrack. We pay too much attention to things that don't truly matter to us... our fears, our pain, our sorrow. By themselves there is nothing wrong with them, but when they become prevailing forces in our lives, it leads to suffering. Too often we believe that we are the problem, when in truth, the problem is the problem. I believe that we can help you find your way. You can live a life where you have created your own meaning.

I believe that all people possess the desire for growth and development in their lives. When we encounter relationships or circumstances that overwhelm our ability to cope with them, we can begin to develop maladaptive patterns that make us feel stuck. Therapy can help clients develop insight into their behaviors, challenge patterns that aren’t working, and develop the resilience they need to continue seeking growth and development.

July 2024: accepting new clients. We will work together to identify the root causes of your issues, discover where and how you want to grow, and implement the tools to do so. I am solution-focused, direct, and compassionate in my approach. I have over 12 years of experience working in various clinical settings from hospitals to private practice. I guide my clients to use therapy as a tool for self-growth and ultimately, to achieve a higher quality of life.

Thanks for stopping by! I am here to support you wherever you are in your journey. Whether you are navigating life transitions, relationship distress, or seeking healing and healthier ways of coping after trauma or loss therapy can help. My goal is to support my clients in creating the change that will lead to living a more fulfilling life.

Not taking new clients until September! Short-term, solution-focused coaching and psychotherapy. After nearly 20 years of providing therapeutic services in a wide range of settings, my clients have taught me that transformation and change can happen...even in a single-session! I love working with people who are striving to actualize their vision for fulfillment in all aspects of their lives. Our work together will likely include both levity and depth, will offer you tools for re-alignment and reconnection with your "authentic self," & will support the change you are looking for in your precious life!

Thank you for your willingness to seek support, I'm glad you're here. I specialize serving people living with illness and those who care for them, in whatever capacity or role in caregiving and offer space to talk about hard things like serious illness, death, grief and loss, caregiving, life transitions, or the experience of distress. I also provide counseling and consultation for health care workers experiencing compassion fatigue, burnout, or moral distress. Together, we will connect you to your values, priorities, and sense of meaning in how you live, care, and/or work.

It takes a lot of courage to call a therapist you don't know. If you have been in therapy before you know how difficult it can be to tell your story again to a complete stranger. If you haven't been in therapy before you wonder how do you begin to trust someone even if they are a professional. I can help you on your journey. I am a committed, caring psychotherapist who has worked with all kinds of emotional problems. I am ready to help you if you are ready to begin this important work.

I am client-centered, creative, and interested in a holistic approach to therapy. I work to support individuals coping with: depression, anxiety, women's issues, trauma, and relational issues. I am connected to issues faced by the LGBTQ community. As a mother and an artist, I enjoy working with other creatives and parents. I offer traditional talk therapy, and 'walk & talk' therapy in Portland, Oregon. To learn more about the way I work please visit kierstinolivercounseling.com. I believe in nature as co-therapist, and try to get outside with clients when possible. You get to design your life, I am happy to help with the process.

Is your child struggling with OCD or anxiety? Are you a teen who feels overwhelmed with stress, academic or social pressure, anxiety, or just feeling like you don’t belong? Are you a parent who wants some concrete tools and strategies to help best support your adolescent? You are not alone and there are things that can help. I provide evidence-based psychotherapy for kids and teens ages 8-18 and their parents. Working with adolescents who struggle with OCD is both my specialty and my passion. My clients also often struggle with depression, chronic pain or illness, trauma, or adjustment to disability in addition to their anxiety.

I have worked with survivors of trauma for ten years. As a child survivor of narcissistic and abusive parents myself, I have fallen in love with the work of assisting survivors on their own path to safety, healing, and even joy! I specialize in survivors of narcissistic abuse, especially within adult children of narcissistic parents and intimate partners of narcissists. Having a Narcissist parent/partner is something you can only truly understand if you have experienced it personally, and it is my mission in life to use my own experiences and knowledge to help YOU understand and heal from the impacts of this kind of abuse.

My approach to therapy is compassionate and direct. I will be respectful, but I will also be honest. I routinely give homework assignments as part of therapy, with the belief that if you accomplish the task you will start to experience the change you seek. I will try to understand both the nature and context of your problem and the potential impact of change before I offer helpful solutions. I will ask you about where you are trying to go, and we will work together to develop a practical plan to help you get there.

I am a therapist providing telehealth services for clients anywhere in Oregon. My training and education has been focused on creative therapy to help cope with traumatic experiences. I have training in brief therapy and EMDR. This unique background provides the opportunity to reach out to many populations. I have worked with individual 3-87 years old with a wide range of concerns. I have opened my practice to the birthing community, offering services for perinatal and postpartum depression and anxiety. I am able to tailor treatment plans and methods to meet specific client needs through a creative approach.

My ideal client is someone who is committed to the counseling process and willing to show up and do the work. My hope for you is that with support, empathy and compassion, you feel heard, empowered, find the ability to heal and to overcome barriers in changing behaviors.

Seeking the assistance of a professional counselor is an important decision. Reaching out for help can be difficult, but once the decision has been made, most people, in my experience, find the outcome to be extremely rewarding. Stress, relationship difficulties, and career disenchantment are just a few of the normal issues that anyone may encounter over the course of one's life. Seeking an experienced and skilled counselor to help deal with any of these concerns is a demonstration of personal strength and healthy coping.

When facing anxiety and stress, you can often feel like it's a solitary journey, but it doesn't have to be. In my practice, I create a nurturing environment where your concerns are acknowledged and validated. We'll explore the roots of your anxiety and stress, all within a supportive and empathetic space. Our goal is to establish tools to help you manage anxiety and stress, enabling you to navigate life's challenges with grit and a keen sense of self.

My therapeutic work is grounded in the understanding that we all seek connection, acceptance, safety, and belonging. I emphasize a trauma-informed approach to counseling, which means I prioritize a strong relational foundation of trust. At my core, I trust in your intrinsic orientation towards healing and wholeness. This wisdom is what will help guide you on your therapeutic journey. I see my role, as your therapist, to be one in which I accompany you on your unique path.

*Limited openings on a case-by-case situation.* Support is how we do well. We all need someone in our corner with compassion, solidarity, and hope. I can be that for you and your relationship. I support individuals and couples navigating through life's traumas, transitions, and stress. You may be feeling overwhelmed or stuck, but also motivated to work towards a breakthrough. If you've been carrying tension, grief, conflict, or emotional pain, let's start to work things out. Together we'll look at practical strategies to utilize your strengths, change unhealthy patterns, and grow your resiliency.

I believe the role of a therapist is to be more than a reflective and empathetic companion in the client’s journey and must also incorporate directive approaches in order to alternate between being a companion and being a leader on that journey. Inherent in this belief is that clients are coming to therapy because they want something different than what they currently have. This can be as simple as a new perspective on a past or current struggle or as complex as a new skill set for managing and overcoming emotional, behavioral, cognitive, relational, or somatic patterns that have arisen in response to emotional distress.