Marie

I grew up, primarily, in Portland, Oregon and am intimately aware of and well-versed in the specific type of racism that is perpetrated by well-meaning progressives (mainly in the form of microaggressions and racial gaslighting). I have a deep understanding of Portland’s history as an anti-Black system, and the knowledge and experience around advocacy and policy to make real changes for our community. I have honed my skills in advocacy, facilitation, training, leadership, consultation, advising, clinical supervision, and community organizing. I enjoy collaborating with multi-disciplinary and diverse teams to create and problem-solve new processes and systems.

I graduated with my master’s in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling (clinical mental health, specializing in chronic illnesses, disability, and psychosocial adjustment) from Portland State University in 2015. I was the Program Coordinator and Professor for the Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling program and have taught several graduate counseling-specific courses at both Portland State University and Lewis & Clark College.

My therapeutic process is to facilitate personal growth through collaboration, bringing about resilience, self-empowerment, and independence. I believe that every person has a best self and that by tapping into our strengths we can precipitate lasting change. The bio-psycho-social counseling approach of mind, body, and spirit in working with the total individual is the basic theoretical foundation of my work with clients and supervisees.

As part of my values, I believe early-career professionals deserve strong support to build the foundation of their careers in counseling. Enjoying your work and your life while allowing it to become deep and meaningful are critical to avoid burnout and I am a fan of quality-of-life. Ongoing supervision and consultation are essential to maintaining the boundaries required for a successful work-life balance.

I offer strengths-based work and I am committed to providing care and supervision that recognizes and is tailored to the experiences and needs of those most marginalized and minoritized. This includes, but is not limited to, the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), LGBTQ+, and Disabled communities.

In my general framework for clinical supervision, I consider the dynamic aspects in the client-therapist relationship, in hand with our nature as biological beings (cuz science!). To aid in organizing your supervision experience, I use the Systems Approach, the Discrimination Model, and Relational Alliance Model as my primary supervision modalities, all of which are grounded in the Relational-Cultural and Feminist Theories. I will always consider your development and competency level with an emphasis on honoring your identity and supporting your growth and development.

While supervision is primarily meant to strengthen your clinical skills, I recognize that there are many intersections of identities and the effect of socio-cultural systems on members of minoritized groups and my role is to facilitate the discovery process within the context of the individual’s cultural worldview. We will work on how we can work to address issues of power, systemic dysfunction in institutions, the intersections of race, gender, ability and culture, vicarious trauma, and inter/cross-cultural awareness. I encourage awareness of parallel processes and transference/countertransference.

I also believe clinicians need truly safe and engaging spaces to address their own mental health in supervision. I help clinicians develop their clinical skills, areas of expertise, and work through complicated ethical or self-as-the-therapist issues. I provide a space to efficiently troubleshoot everyday challenges when working with clients that go beyond treatment, keeping ethics and your values aligned to your best practices inside and outside of the therapy room.

I share many of the intersectionalities of the clients and supervisees I work with and, as a Queer Woman of Color (QWOC) with a non-apparent disability, I have lived experience that can be invaluable. Working within institutions that were built from and continue to function from White supremacy has been difficult, however, I work tirelessly to be a part of the change that I want to see in these structures; and benefitting from my proximity to Whiteness, I am in a unique and privileged position to use my voice and platform to bring marginalized and minoritized voices to the table. I believe that my background in culturally and disability-specific counseling, education, and lived experience can assist in helping facilitate an opportunity for my clients, supervisees, and myself to learn and grow together.