Therapists in Portland, OR

Welcome! My name is Lauren. I am a Marriage and Family Therapist Associate who provides integrative telemental health care to Oregon residents.

Get better, heal, and integrate. My role is to help you become your fullest version of yourself. My ideal clients are ready to look at new ways of encountering old problems. I enjoy working with many identities, including my own LGBTQIA+ and Latinx communities. Relationships, sexuality, identity, trauma, anxiety, kink, and neurodiversity are recurrent therapy themes. At times in our lives it is key to have the competent support of an advocate to walk through tough life experiences. I see individuals, relationships, and groups.

Whether exploring counseling for the first time, or seeking a new therapist or clinical supervisor, thank you for considering me. I am kink aware and sex and body positive and have focused much of my practice on trans, non-binary and queer health. I offer individual counseling to adults and teens 13+ and couples/relationship counseling. I believe people are innately driven to grow and overcome obstacles through the resolution of trauma and other adverse experiences. Sometimes, we need support navigating barriers to our progress. My 30+ years’ experience as a therapist establish a foundation you can trust.

Every person has amazing inner strength to overcome challenges, and an innate desire to live a meaningful life. Depression, anxiety and trauma can make us lose sight of our strengths and desires, but that can change with the right support. My practice is grounded in being compassionate, non-judgmental, and giving you the necessary tools to bring balance to your mental health. Together, we’ll focus on changing life-patterns to improve general wellness, while also addressing the underlying causes of your problems.

When relationship challenges arise, it can be more difficult to feel connected, in alignment, and in choice. Most of us are doing our best, but if our strategies aren't effective we can sometimes feel stuck, distressed, or confused. By bringing awareness to our relational patterns in a compassionate and non-judgmental environment, I believe we build capacity to take on our unique challenges as a team with the important people in our life. My goal is to support people to feel greater safety, self worth, regulation, collaboration and alignment in their lives and relationships.

Thank you for exploring your options for support. People who seek out therapy want something in their lives to change or are adjusting to a change that they never wanted. Therapy can be incredibly helpful and healing. Therapy can also be about getting to know yourself and supporting your growth. Your goals are valid and I look forward to supporting you.

I specialize in working with the queer and trans community, especially those who’s identities fall across multiple intersections. I work with individuals (14+) struggling with issues related to attachment trauma, gender identity exploration, executive dysfunction, racial identity exploration and surviving/thriving while living in systems of oppression. I also offer relationship counseling for couples, polycules and other relational dynamics (18+) struggling with issues of connection, trust, and sexual intimacy.

My goal is to empower those who often find themselves in the margins in our society. My work often focuses on identity issues with LGBTQ individuals, couples or moresomes, and I work with folks in an affirming way that integrates principles of justice and equity. I utilize Narrative and Emotionally Focused systemic approaches in therapy to help my clients celebrate aspects of their identity that are often marginalized by society.

I am honored to work with adolescents and their families. The years from 11-18 are a time of big changes and big questions. Everyone struggles during this developmental phase, but some of us need extra care during this time in order to arrive at adulthood ready to thrive. Parental participation in treatment with me is essential, and I tend to be the best fit for parents wanting to be closer to their child, parents who want to work with their child to heal, or parents who feel they just don't know how to help.

As a queer therapist, I greatly honor and celebrate the uniqueness of our own life stories and personalities. The interventions I offer are carefully tailored to your concerns, needs, and personal style. I integrate empirically validated approaches with traditional therapy and metaphysical healing components. I provide a therapeutic presence that is grounding, nurturing, and sincere. Together, we will combine your own self-knowledge and life expertise with my clinical expertise. I will co-journey with you to explore the depths and peaks of your experiences, and to provide support and reminders of your greatness along the way.

This “being human thing” is hard, and often feels uncomfortable. Sometimes the “uncomfortable” is experienced internally, sometimes externally, and sometimes both. This is a result of our actual or perceived response to the past, present, or future. Our work together will be focused on helping you to be “uncomfortable on purpose,” through identifying your values, increasing your capacity to tolerate uncertainty, processing what has maintained your current ways of living, and learning how to engage with yourself and others in a way that makes this “being human thing” a little bit easier.

Current Openings! EMDR available! This life can be hard and the things we go through can have a profound impact on how we navigate life, no matter how big or small. My practice is especially attuned to the needs of individuals and communities who have been othered or exist on the periphery, whether due to their identity, relationship structure, or lifestyle choices. Neurodiversity, people of color, members of the LGBTQIA+, you are welcome here. From navigating non-monogamy and polyamory to exploring kink-positive dynamics and body-affirming philosophies, I offer a safe haven for those seeking understanding and validation.

We're living through a difficult time period, which can compound upon pre-existing traumas, anxieties, stressors, and relational difficulties. I would love to join you alongside your journey to stability, improved quality of life/relationships, and mental health. I will explore with you your past and current experiences and feelings to get to the root of what is causing struggle and assist in locating a path of healing and relief.

Feeling isolated, unsure of your purpose, stressed in your relationships, or ashamed or confused about your thoughts, actions or feelings? You are not alone. Mental health, relationship conflict, social/economic stressors, and life during COVID can all make it challenging to feel truly connected. But experiencing connection – whether with yourself, loved ones, pets, or the natural world – is the cornerstone to wellness, and it's worth the vulnerability it takes to get there. Together we'll explore how to support you in building connections and coping skills that nourish you and your relationships for the long term.

I hold unflinching space for folks wanting to survive and thrive outside the norms. Quirky oddballs, freaky queers, radical rebels, whatever trail you're blazing, you'll be celebrated here. It's an intense time to be alive and it takes guts to be yourself in a world that is often unkind. You may be navigating understandably scary questions about who you want to be, how to reconnect with your partner, or where to find reprieve from overwhelming stress. You don't have to do it alone. I will skillfully hold the tough stuff, while also supporting you in sowing seeds of joy, pleasure, and resistance.

I believe the most important parts of therapy are trust and collaboration. You'll know immediately if the therapist is right for you. If you don't feel it, keep looking. There's a lot of us therapists out here and your time and self-work are important! Additionally, at our most vulnerable times in life, we need someone who will hold a safe space for us to approach our edges - the parts of us we tend to avoid or neglect. Addressing our 'issues' is intensely brave and can also be terrifying! I commend you for embarking on this journey and invite you to call me if my words resonate with your needs.

I believe that my clients hold within themselves the key to healing and change, and it’s a privilege to collaborate with each of them in this process. It is important to me that each client feels seen and affirmed in the therapeutic relationship. I work with clients in the LGBTQIA2S+ community experiencing PTSD and trauma symptoms, religion and cult recovery, anxiety, OCD, phobias, shame, relationship challenges, and more. I also offer letter writing sessions for gender affirming procedures.

My clients grow to empathize with themselves and their partner(s); implement non-violent communication and boundary setting; and identify values, needs, and goals; and stabilize symptoms of depression, anxiety, mania, gender dysphoria, PTSD, and insomnia.

Open for 1:1, couples, and group! Therapy for the apocalypse: specializing in anxieties, existential overwhelm, improving relationships and boundaries, exploration of identities, and I prioritize Queer/TGNC individuals and those impacted by systemic racism, misogyny, and socio-political issues. I work with people who consider themselves perfectionists, overthinkers, people-pleasers; loners, weirdos; people told they are "too difficult," "too sensitive," "too much;" those who want to connect with others but feel unable to due to past hurt or current negative narratives about themselves.