Oregon Compassion Therapy

Therapy can be a space for insight, personal development, and healing. Each one of us has our own unique history and growth process. My goal is to support your overall mental, emotional, and relational health. I work with a range of experiences including anxiety, trauma, shame, and grief. I also specialize in the following experiences: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD); trauma including dissociation, disembodiment, panic, and fear; shame, guilt, and a loud inner critical voice/part of ourselves; and helping couples identity and repair unhealthy relationship patterns and coping mechanisms related to these experience. People who I work with may be experiencing the following: intrusive, unwanted, and obsessive thoughts / behaviors; feeling like your mind and emotional responses are stuck or cycling through a painful loop; dissociation, feeling like you are not in your body, and cannot connect with emotions and sensations the way you want to; experiencing the inner critical voice / part of ourselves that says you are doing the wrong thing and not worthy of care; and falling into habitual relational patterns related to these issues that cause ourselves and our partners pain, and that we are having difficulty changing or identifying. ___________________________________ Therapeutic Approach You are your own person. There is no single modality that is right for everyone. Instead, I weave together diverse therapeutic approaches to address your personal needs. Here are some of the tools I draw from: Somatic Therapy provides a way to process feelings in your body, so they do not feel stuck or overwhelming. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy cultivates a heightened awareness of thoughts and feelings, allowing you to engage with them in healthier ways. Behavioral Therapy helps you reshape unhealthy patterns linked to thoughts and feelings. Existential Therapy contributes to philosophical or spiritual integration, aiding in understanding, building, and repairing your unique frameworks of self. Compassion Focused Therapy equips you with tools for positive self-development, addressing the inner critic as well as feelings of shame and guilt. I believe that the client-therapist alliance is the most important aspect of therapy. It is vital that you feel seen, safe, and supported. Our sessions together focus on your goals and needs, in an environment centered in compassion, non-judgment, and deep listening. ___________________________________ About Me: Before becoming a therapist, I gained over 10 years of experience in providing non-clinical counseling services. This included roles such as Director of Care Services and senior Care Team member for an international peer-support organization. Additionally, I served as the director of a teen leadership wilderness adventure program and worked as a meditation teacher. In 2023, I was invited to Harvard University Medical School to co-lead a training for Post-Doctoral Fellows in Integrative Medicine. The focus was on exploring how specific types of meditation can potentially exacerbate anxiety and dissociation, leading to experiences resembling Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and Depersonalization and Derealization Disorder (DPDR). This training delved into the neuroscience underlying Meditation-Related Adverse Effects (MRAEs) and discussed optimal care modalities for managing conditions such as increased anxiety and dissociation. If this resonates with you, please contact me for a free 20 minute phone / video consultation to explore working together. You are not alone. I'm here to help.