Therapists for college students near Portland, OR

My goal is to support your growth and well-being through a collaborative, compassionate counseling relationship. Together, we’ll identify challenges, explore thought and emotional patterns, and work toward meaningful goals. My approach is practical, affirming, and values-based. I specialize in supporting individuals who have experienced trauma and work with concerns including anxiety, depression, chronic illness, life transitions, burnout, and relationships. I enjoy helping clients build coping skills, improve communication, and navigate identity, grief, stress, and women’s health. I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, Interpersonal Neurobiology, Collaborative Problem Solving, and Solution-Focused Therapy. My approach is shaped by specialized training in trauma-informed practices, emphasizing trust, choice, and connection. In addition, I’m trained in clinical supervision and writing WPATH letters for gender-affirming surgery. If you’re feeling stuck or overwhelmed, you don’t have to face it alone. Together, we’ll create a supportive space to explore what matters to you and find practical ways to move forward. Your feelings are valid, and I’m here to help you discover the strength and clarity within yourself.

When people can feel safe being their most vulnerable and authentic selves, it is such a privilege to witness. I enjoy working with people from all sorts of backgrounds and experiences who are curious about themselves and willing to be open to the therapeutic process. We start by getting to know each other and ideally we move forward to identify and build upon your strengths and work in learning more about patterns that may be holding you back. We work on what we can change, what we must accept, and what we want to challenge in ourselves. We move at a pace that will suit you and I will provide feedback or listen more as you need. We work collaboratively.

With over a decade of experience as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Rachel has seen firsthand the profound transformation that compassionate care can bring. Her mission is to empower clients with strategies to unlock their most confident, courageous, and authentic selves. She is honored to guide others as insight from their work together enables them to navigate challenges and build resilience. Rachel deeply appreciates the courage it takes to try something different. Rachel earned her Bachelor of Social Work from Pacific University and her Master of Social Work from the University of Utah. Her clinical experience includes working with children and adults in medical settings, with over ten years at a Portland-based children's hospital. Most recently, she has supported children and families navigating chronic illness. Rachel takes an eclectic approach to therapy, drawing from Internal Family Systems (IFS), Motivational Interviewing (MI), and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), tailoring interventions to each client’s unique needs. Throughout her career, she has worked as a group facilitator, crisis worker, case manager, and trauma responder, providing compassionate, evidence-based care in complex situations. Rachel lives in Oregon with her spouse, daughter, and their Golden Irish, Yoshi. As a family, they value balance and time outdoors—you’ll often find them rock climbing, hiking, or camping in the Pacific Northwest.

Real life is complicated and often times, it hurts. The struggles that we experience can take on a variety of forms, ranging from depression and anxiety, to trauma. As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I am dedicated to supporting my clients on their journey towards healing, empowerment and hope. I strive to offer a personalized and collaborative approach in therapy that focuses on developing strong, trusting relationships with my clients. I utilize a trauma-informed, humanistic, strength-based, non-judgmental style to provide a safe space for my clients to explore, heal and grow. I work with a wide variety of clients and work in depth with trauma/abuse, women’s issues, anxiety, depression, young adult/phase-of-life challenges, and childhood & relationship issues. I aspire to help my clients improve their coping skills, enhance relationships, increase self-esteem and build positive communication skills. I encourage potential clients to reach out to me in order to see how the two of us connect. I truly look forward to meeting you, and hope we can work together to find the growth and change that you are looking for.

I am informal, goofy, sometimes loud, curious, imperfect, and you get all that and more when we start working together. Therapy with me commonly looks like laughing together, sometimes until we cry; actually crying together; laying on the ground; understanding that dark humor is often a necessary coping strategy for whatever life throws at us; talking with my hands; and my facial expressions being apart of the conversation (AKA having real reactions to real shit). Growing up between worlds can get messy, that weird in-between of always trying to fit in. As a transracial/international adoptee, I know how frustrating that pull between cultures and identities can be. Whether you're a fellow adoptee, mixed raced, or 1st gen, we’ll explore those layers - the deep identity stuff, aka the “laugh so you don’t cry” stuff, and find your way back home within the complexity. As a relational, trauma-informed therapist, I believe healing happens through connection. I focus on how your relationships, past and present, shape how you move through the world. My work blends somatic awareness with curiosity and compassion to help you build relationships that feel nourishing, real, and aligned with who you are. Finding the right fit may be time consuming, but shouldn’t be draining. Consults are a brief window into what the therapeutic relationship will look like - like a vibe-check. And if the vibes are right, the hard stuff will come naturally and not feel forced. This is why I offer 25-min consults. Reach out for a consult and let’s take it from there!

As a therapist, I’m inspired by being a part of the growth and healing process. Personally and professionally, I value bringing more kindness, vulnerability, self-compassion and creativity to the world. I enjoy working with a large range of clients and I specialize in helping clients heal from depression and anxiety, improve their interpersonal skills and overcome unwanted habits. I focus on creating a therapeutic atmosphere where people can truly feel safe, grounded, and open to exploration. Working with me means we will explore evidence based approaches and techniques, in a flexible way with attention to your needs.

I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who grew up in rural Northern California, where adequate mental health care was not accessible, and differences were not celebrated. I developed a passion for helping others after watching people I cared about struggle without support and going through my own challenges as an adolescent and young adult. After settling in the Portland Metro Area, I have developed a great love of our area's diverse populations and green landscapes, combining all the beauty the Willamette Valley has to offer with the convenience and luxury of inner-city resources and diversity. I have experience working in community mental health, hospice, and counseling with adults and teens ranging from late adolescents to the elderly. I especially enjoy working with those struggling with life transitions, trauma, chronic illnesses, depression, and anxiety. I believe that fostering safety and unconditional positive regard is the backbone of the therapeutic relationship. I use these core Rogerian principles and a strength-based approach along with techniques from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectal Behavioral Therapy, and Existential Therapy to aid people in broadening their perspectives, changing behaviors that are not working for them, and developing practical tools they can use in their day-to-day lives. I do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach to therapy and am variably directive in my approach depending on client needs. I am honored by those who share their brightest and darkest times with me. Time and time again, I am amazed by the strength and resilience of those who actively seek change. When I am not with clients, I can be found wrangling my two young children. I am a music, gardening, hiking, equine, and canine enthusiast. I also feel passionately about women supporting women and have enjoyed networking with other women in my local community.

I help college students cope with mental health challenges that get in the way of school and relationships. Having too much self-control, or overcontrol, makes it hard to enjoy life and connect meaningfully with others. It’s exhausting to feel like you’re always ‘on’, performing, or wearing a mask. Overcontrol can lead to problems like anxiety, depression, disordered eating, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and intimacy avoidance. You don’t have to struggle alone–I’ve been a therapist working with LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and other overcontrolled folks for over 10 years. Together, we can get you unstuck. Using practical (and fun!) research-validated strategies, you’ll learn to harness your self-control as a strength and break free from patterns that burn you out. Finding a therapist who gets you can be stressful. Let’s make this process easier for you: email me, call me, or visit waveways.org, and we’ll schedule a free consultation to discuss your hopes and needs.

Liberation Institute is a community mental health clinic that offers therapeutic services on a sliding scale. It first opened its doors on October 7, 2008, in San Francisco, then expanded to Portland in June 2020. Between the two locations, Liberation Institute helps 600 individuals, couples, and families a week by a staff of therapists, supervisors, artists, activists, meditation teachers and others who are committed to serving the community together.

I love supporting people in better understanding themselves. I value a collaborative relationship with clients as well as crafting the therapeutic experience to meet the needs of each individual I work with. I welcome members of the LGBTQIA2S+ community and provide affirming care for folks on the gender spectrum and/or amid gender transition. I have experience treating anxiety disorders, depression, trauma, life transition issues, and relationship concerns (family, partners, social) and have specific training in DBT, CBT, and post-modern models. I am a systemic therapist and will often bring larger systems, identity intersections, and relationships into our conversations.

My work is guided by the belief that mental health care should be compassionate, collaborative, and personalized. With a background in community mental health and primary care behavioral health, I offer an integrative, culturally responsive, and values-based approach to therapy. I believe therapy is most effective when it goes beyond symptoms—when we explore your values, goals, and passions together. Through this lens, we co-create a foundation rooted in curiosity, connection, and emotional safety, opening space for healing and growth. I’ve had the privilege of expanding gender-affirming care at a community health system in Seattle and helped develop a behavioral health department embedded within a community center—where I facilitated programming focused on emotional wellness and connection. These experiences have shaped my commitment to making therapy accessible, affirming, and grounded in real-world community values. My value of community and connection continues to be nourished at Aspire Psychology.

Whatever your reasons for seeking therapy or counseling, I assure you when you step into my office, you will be treated with respect, compassion, & validation. I believe everyone is doing the best they can with what they know. And that is typically where we start the therapy process - with acceptance of where you are now. The work I do with my clients is collaborative - we create a treatment plan together, with goals you want to work on. We achieve these goals by building skills, improving understanding & insight into how these behaviors got started in the first place, & increasing resources in your life. I'm a licensed professional counselor, practicing since 2003. I'm trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, & use Cognitive-Behavioral, Mindfulness, and Stages of Change strategies in my practice, as well as some somatic strategies, if needed. I specialize in treating depression, anxiety, past trauma & PTSD, alcohol & drug problems, relational issues, life transitions, grief, anger, confidence problems. I love this work! I use these strategies in my own life and will share what I've learned, through my own experiences. Most of my clients appreciate this and don't feel so alone in their struggles. We all struggle! Through acceptance, and a bit of humor, we can achieve change.

Timothy Lafolette is a psychiatric nurse practitioner with more than 13 years of experience working with clients utilizing medication management and talk therapy. He enjoys working with clients who are looking to take their next steps toward self-acceptance and wellness. He views the therapeutic process through a trauma-informed lens, using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing methods.

I'm a licensed professional counselor (LPC) specializing in trauma-informed therapy for anxiety, OCD, and life transitions, including relationship and sexual health. Website: nightbloomcounseling.com Email: laura@nightbloomcounseling.com Phone: 503-583-2101 Facing difficult experiences can leave us feeling overwhelmed, isolated, and stuck. Yet these challenges often hold the potential for profound growth, transformation, and self-discovery. I offer a safe, open, and stable therapeutic environment where you can explore your concerns with the support of a neutral, experienced licensed professional counselor. I especially enjoy working with creative and highly motivated individuals who are striving to live a meaningful, authentic, and secure life. My passion is helping clients cultivate greater empowerment, self-compassion, and connection. I aim to make therapy a collaborative space that highlights your strengths and embraces curiosity about the social and cultural context of your experiences. As a multiethnic therapist, I understand that identity can be complex and meaningful to explore, both within yourself and in your relationships. I’m passionate about supporting clients through significant life transitions such as shifts in life or relationship roles, parenthood, career changes, relocation, or closing one chapter to begin another. I also enjoy helping clients explore the impact of religion or spirituality on their past and define what they want that relationship to look like moving forward. Lastly, I find value in exploring how past experiences with caretakers, family, friends, and romantic partners influence current relationships and one's sense of self. I’m here to help you process the past, explore present opportunities, and create a future that aligns with your values and aspirations. Whether you're looking to gain tools for distressing situations or you want to better understand yourself and your relationships, I look forward to supporting you in living a life that feels meaningful and authentic.

Please visit my profile to learn more about my services.

Living in a world filled with poverty, marginalization, oppression, and pandemic(s) can feel daunting and lead people to feel as though they have little agency. Therapy can be a helpful place to explore the places in our lives where we do have agency, where we are able to make tangible changes-often times this is in our interpersonal relationships. I work from an attachment focused and relational cultural perspective that is grounded in feminist practice which prioritizes the exploration of identities, oppression, intersectionality, and their impact on social and emotional functioning. I draw upon interventions from psychoanalytic psychotherapy, attachment focused therapy, emotionally focused therapy, radical acceptance, and health at every size. I have experience working with people struggling with issues related to depression, anxiety, life transitions, gender identity, queer issues, and relationship and family challenges. I take a non-pathologizing approach to working my clients, with a particular focus on those have been marginalized by the mental health profession in the past.

Hi, I'm Heather Rose, a psychiatric Nurse Practioner. My path into psychiatry was shaped by years of clinical experience working with people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. I take a warm, collaborative approach with young adults navigating anxiety, depression, ADHD, and much more. My goal is to meet you where you are and work together at a pace that feels right for you. I am glad you are here and considering options for yourself. Often, the hardest part is believing that things can be better. Do you feel out of sync, trapped by overthinking, a perpetual knot in your stomach, or a weight on your chest? Maybe you are persistently under a cloud of exhaustion or the mental strain of regulating your attention. Is it a feeling of being stuck on a treadmill: always in motion, but never arriving at a place of peace? Whether navigating restless anxiety, low mood, pressures of college or playing a sport, let's find a way for you to regain traction and move forward with clarity. As a PMHNP, I offer an active, collaborative space. My approach integrates the basic: sleep, nutrition, and movement, with the options of psychotherapy and medication management. We tailor these tools to help you identify and reach your own specific goals. We will focus on building a foundation for tangible action, relief, and feeling better. In our sessions I provide a steady, informed presence where we can explore your experience at your own pace. My role is to offer the support and tools you need to navigate life with more resilience and ease. If this resonates with you, please reach out to schedule a session via telehealth or my NE Portland office or. I look forward to supporting you.

Jon Haley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). He was born and raised in Michigan and received bachelors degrees in Spanish Language and Political Science from Alma College, and his Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Nevada, Reno. Jon has work experience in the government, non-profit sector, child welfare, in-patient, and outpatient mental health. Jon enjoys working with, adolescents, adults, and couples. His specialties include Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT-informed), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Gottman Couples Therapy and providing mental health support for the LGBTQ+ and veteran communities. Jon has experience working with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders and personality disorders. His therapeutic framework is person-centered and environment focused. When outside of the office, Jon likes to spend time in the outdoors, take care of his plants, walk his miniature poodle Harvey Milk and listen to NPR. A message from Jon: “Thank you for reading my profile. It’s truly a privilege to be allowed into my client’s lives. I believe that everyone is trying the best they can with the resources available to them. I help my clients balance between acceptance of their current situation, and implementing change strategies to build the “life worth living” that they want and deserve. This is the essence of DBT - engaging in the dialectic, the balance of two opposite ideals. Taking that first step in seeking out help is often the hardest, but can also be the most rewarding. I look forward to working with you.” “You cannot think yourself into a new way of acting, you can only act yourself into a new way of thinking.” –Marsh Linehan

Do you worry constantly, have a persistent fear of failure or judgement and feel on edge with just about anything? Feeling like you’re not good enough, not living the life you want to live, or that you’ve lost touch with the things that bring you happiness with little hope that you can live life in a fulfilling way? Have you had a traumatic experience that left you feeling disconnected and having a hard time trusting people, with the need to protect and numb yourself? These things can impact our physical and mental wellbeing, keep us up at night, make us feel disconnected from the people closest to us and reduce our ability to achieve what we want in life. I may be able to help. I have experience guiding people with these concerns to make meaningful changes to increase their satisfaction with life. A sense of safety, confidence, hope, fulfillment and loving connections with your important people is what I work to achieve with you and it can be done. Research shows that 75% of people experience positive results after seeing a therapist. One of the most important predictors of positive outcomes in therapy is the therapeutic alliance, or the partnership between therapist and client. Therapeutic alliance means shared decision-making, mutual respect, non-judgement, empathy and understanding in the therapy room. I focus heavily on these elements so we can work smarter and not harder and to create an alliance that produces the results you want in therapy.

My heart's work is connecting with people, holding space for their hurt, and empowering them to reach towards a connected, integrated life. My ideal client is someone who is curious about WHY troubling symptoms exist in the first place; someone who is ready to either step into therapy for the first time (hurrah!) or to step away from traditional talk therapy and begin deeper, more profound healing from the bottom up instead of the top down; someone who is wanting to feel more connected to themselves and others, and to feel more joy. I specialize in treating trauma, dissociative disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, and life disturbances of all kinds. I have obtained extensive advanced training in EMDR, dissociative disorders, preverbal trauma, and somatic experiencing. I use EMDR psychotherapy as the framework for my practice and have witnessed amazing results. Jung said "Know all the theories, master all the techniques, but as you touch a human soul be just another human soul." I will create and hold space for you to just be, and you will find me a warm, experienced, intuitive presence. We will work together to move you towards a more connected, joyful, playful life. I can't wait to meet you!