Kelsey is a licensed professional counselor in Southeast Portland specializing in helping clients reconnect with their bodies, make peace with food, heal from religious trauma, and navigate the world through a LGBTQ+ lens.

**** Update as of 3/13/24: I am currently full and not able to accept new clients at this time. I do not keep an active waiting list. If you are interested in working together please check back over the summer when I am more likely to have openings. Thank you!

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Hello and welcome! I’m Kelsey (she/her/hers), and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor, Clinical Supervisor, consultant, and educator based in Southeast Portland. I’m here to walk with you on the path of being human. My professional journey has led me to work in a variety of settings including a college counseling center, a psychiatric hospital emergency room, a therapeutic horticulture program, a mindfulness-based therapy collaborative, and, most recently, a healing center dedicated to serving trans people of color in eastern North Carolina. I also spent one year working on a PhD before deciding that full-time academia was not making my heart sing and returned to clinical practice and consultation work.

My primary areas of clinical focus these days include body liberation and eating disorder healing, anxiety, and life and relationship transitions. As a member of the queer community, I work with many LGBTQ+ identified individuals and aim to create a safe container for those who are questioning their sexual and gender identities. I also support those healing from religious trauma and clients looking to redefine their relationships with their bodies and sexual intimacy as they work to unlearn conditioning around purity culture.

In addition to providing individual therapy services, you can find me working as a consultant and adjunct counseling faculty. I provide support and trainings to healthcare and community organizations that are committed to making their practices and policies more accepting and welcoming to diverse bodies. I also am an adjunct faculty member at the Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling where I teach Fat Studies in the Eating Disorder Certificate Program and various courses in the Professional Mental Health Counseling program through the Department of Counseling Psychology .

 When I’m not working, you can find me digging in my garden, cooking, backpacking, meditating, reading, and listening to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumors album on repeat.

WHO I WORK WITH

I believe that as human beings we are all naturally oriented towards growth and healing. I also understand that part of being human is to know suffering. Therapy is one of many ways that we can facilitate movement towards healing as we redefine how we relate to our own experience of suffering. Over the years I have worked extensively with the following presentations: anxiety, depression, body image, binge eating disorder, anorexia, bulimia, chronic dieting, LGBTQ+ issues, religious trauma, grief and loss, trauma and PTSD, sexual abuse, women’s issues, gender transitions, career counseling, life transitions, and relationship issues. I have a special place in my heart for supporting those transitioning away from or questioning their evangelical Christian identity and discovering new meaning making systems and forms of spirituality.

INTUITIVE EATING, HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE, & BODY LIBERATION

My primary specialty area is supporting my clients in healing their relationship with food and their bodies from a Health at Every Size perspective. As a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, I am passionate about helping clients make food “less of a thing” as I often say. Many of us can become preoccupied with making the “right” or “healthiest” food choices and this can lead to unnecessary stress, chronic dieting, weight cycling, and disordered eating. And this preoccupation makes sense. We live in a world that puts a lot of pressure on bodies, especially bodies of those socialized as women, to conform to a narrow ideal that is unattainable for most of us. I focus on helping my clients learn how to thoughtfully attend to their hunger cues, bodily sensations, and overall well-being while simultaneously working to challenge the systems that repeatedly value some bodies more than others.

Intuitive Eating is a paradigm that helps us to connect with our body's inner wisdom, reject the diet mentality, and make peace with food. It is designed to help those who struggle with the following:

• Feelings of guilt related to food

• Restrictive eating

• History of binge eating

• A desire to reduce stress related to eating

• Chronic dieting

• Self-esteem issues

• Stress related to food & nutrition

• Body image concerns

I also have experience working with clients experiencing disordered eating and eating disorders and am honored to work as part of eating disorder treatment teams.

TRAINING & APPROACH

I received both my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Master of Arts in Professional Mental Health Counseling from Lewis & Clark College here in Portland. Additionally, I completed some doctoral study at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where my research focused on integrating body liberation practices into counselor training programs. I am a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and completed my training under the author of Intuitive Eating, Evelyn Tribole. Additionally, I have studied Gestalt Therapy at the Appalachian Gestalt Therapy Institute in Asheville, North Carolina with Nicholas Emmanuel and Ernest McCoy. 

My approach to counseling is a relational one where we will work collaboratively to determine what is getting in the way of you feeling well and whole. I utilize Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in my work with clients and appreciate the way it focuses on clarifying our values and utilizing an attitude of mindfulness to take steps towards what matters most to us.

I also have training in the following approaches:

·      Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

·      Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

·      Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

·      Ecopsychology

·      Mindfulness, meditation, and somatic approaches

All of my work with clients is situated within an understanding that systems of oppression impact mental health. I believe that the role of therapy is not to help clients adjust to their oppression but rather to collaboratively build up resources to challenge systems that routinely cause harm to groups and individuals.

If spirituality is important to you, I am happy to incorporate those values into our work together.

It is an honor for me to do this work and I look forward to connecting with you.

Working with Kelsey

I see clients Tuesday through Friday both virtually and in person at my Northeast Portland office. At this time I am accepting new clinical supervisees but have limited capacity for new clients.

Insurance plans I accept: Pacific Source, Blue Cross Blue Shield/Regence, Moda

Insurance plans I support in filing out-of-network claims: Providence, United, Aetna, Cigna

If you choose to pay out of pocket, my fee is $175 per session. I am able to provide you with a superbill to seek partial reimbursement from your insurance company using out-of-network benefits. Please call your insurance company directly to determine your eligibility for out-of-network benefits.

Please note: Insurance that covers mental health services is an important benefit, but please be aware I am required to provide a diagnosis to your insurance company.  If you are uncomfortable with having a mental health diagnosis, please discuss this with me.  You have the option to pay for services out of pocket and not involve your insurance company.