Find A Therapist
Welcome to OMHA
We are a highly skilled panel of experienced mental health practitioners who treat mental and emotional disorders as well as help people deal with difficult and challenging life problems.
Styles of Therapy
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Frequenty Asked Questions
(Click on the question to see the answer.)
How can I find a counselor I’d feel comfortable with?
Getting a recommendation from a friend who is savvy about counseling and who knows you can be a great place to start. Or finding someone who has expertise in a type of therapy you’ve found helpful in the past is another good way. If you have a medical practitioner or other “wise person” who has a sense of you and has connections with the counseling community, that can also help.
Otherwise, take time going over listings in this and other websites, and make a list of those who work with your kinds of issues and whose ideas about counseling feel comfortable. Then call a few and ask if they are taking clients and if they would be available for a conversation about how they work. Then:
1. Schedule a half hour phone or in-person conversation. Many counselors will do this for free if you ask.
2. Notice what it feels like to talk with this person.
3. If there are any concerns or any discomfort, pay attention. Does the counselor feel like he/she comes from your fear about counseling or is there a mismatch between you and the counselor?
4. Can he or she describe how they might work with you? (This will be very general at this point since they don’t know you.)
5. Are they into fixing you or helping you learn how to help yourself? (The learning part is definitely a plus.)
6. Is this person encouraging your independence?
7. Has he or she spent significant time in their own counseling? Are they still getting peer supervision?
There may be some other things you’d want to ask about, such as the therapist’s understanding of working with someone with your particular ethnicity or beliefs.
In some cases you might ask if he or she’s licensed by the state. At this site all of the therapists are licensed, all have graduate degrees from accredited colleges or universities, and are credentialed to meet national quality assurance standards.
I’m in crisis. Where do I turn?
If you’re feeling like hurting yourself call 911 or go to the nearest emergency room. In Lane County you can call the White Bird crisis team. They are available by phone and for walk ins 24/7. You can reach them at 541-687-4000.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 (TTY:1-800-799-4TTY) takes a wide range of calls, and serves veterans as well.
In Portland, you can call Multnomah County Crisis Line at 503-988-4888, or Clackamas County Crisis Line at 503-655-8585.
In Marion County, Oregon, you can call the Psychiatric Crisis Center at 503-585-4949.
In central Oregon you can call Dechutes County Mental Health at 541-322-7500.
In southern Oregon you can call Jackson County Mental Health at 541-774-8201.
If you are feeling intense feelings and you’ve successfully and safely dealt with these feeling before, what did you do the last time that you were successful? Can you do that again?
I’m not sure what my problem is or if I even have a problem. I just feel uncomfortable. Can counseling help me?
It could be very helpful. The initial part of the therapy process focuses on discovering what’s going on. Often that means sorting out social or psychological difficulties but it could also mean referring you for a physical assessment.
What should I expect during the first session?
Your counselor will ask what problems or concerns have brought you into the office. Following this he or she will usually explore such things as: family history, relationships, work, substance use, cultural background, major losses, personal traumas, and medical concerns. After one or two sessions focused on gathering information the therapist will often discuss with you his or her initial ideas about what’s going on and how the two of you might work together.
What do people experience in counseling?
Good question. The obvious answer is that it depends on you and on your therapist. Youtube is one of the best places to find out what others have experienced or what a session might be like.
Go to: www.youtube.com and search for “experiences with counseling”
I don’t have insurance and don’t have much money but really need help. What should I do?
In Lane County, you can call White Bird Clinic at 541-342-8255 and ask about inexpensive counseling. They have a list of agencies and individual counselors with sliding scale fees. If you have Medicaid they can connect you with agencies which take that.
In Portland, you can call Multnomah County Crisis Line at 503-988-4888, or Clackamas County, call the Mental Health Organization at 503-742-5335.
In central Oregon you can call Dechutes County Mental Health at 541-322-7500.
In southern Oregon you can call Community Works at 541-779-2393 .
There are so many kinds of therapists. What’s the difference?
Alphabet soup for one thing. Those who focus on counseling include: Licensed Professional Counselors (LPC), Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists (LMFT), and Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSW). Plus there are Psychologists and Psychologist Associates.
LCSWs, LPCs and LMFTs have masters degrees – though occasionally you’ll find one with a doctorate. Psychologists have doctorates. Specific training varies a bit by school but generally those on the LPC track focus on assessing and counseling individuals. Those becoming Marriage and Family Therapists get training on repairing family systems as well as how to counsel and assess individuals. Social Workers have several training tracks including managing social service agencies or working in medical facilities or providing direct care to the chronically mentally ill.
Of course, formal training is only the beginning of what for most therapists is a lifetime of study and growth. Many will develop significant skills and knowledge in diverse arenas. These arenas include: autism; lesbian gay and bisexual; personality disorders; attention deficit disorder; depression; panic disorder; and many more. You will see the breadth of these specialties as you investigate the therapists on this site. They also develop their own way of working, using tools (styles of therapy) they are most comfortable with. These tools include: psychodynamic, transpersonal, hypnosis, EMDR, cognitive behavioral therapy, guided imagery, biofeedback, and so forth. And each therapist will blend the tools in his or her own way. So someone who years ago got a masters in Social Work may wind up working similarly to someone who graduated with a masters in Counseling Psychology, and perhaps very differently from another person with a masters in Social Work.
Psychologists get doctoral degrees, usually PhD or PsyD. During school they focus on such things as research, assessment, and clinical skills. When someone gets a referral for a psychological assessment they are usually being referred to a psychologist. Psychologists may teach at the university level and they do much of the research in this field. But, like other types of therapists, psychologists who focus on counseling (clinical work) develop a unique focus and a unique collection of skills for doing that work.
There are also Pyschiatriac Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) and Psychiatrists. Either of these can do counseling but generally they focus on assessing people for medications and writing prescriptions. Nearly all PMHNPs have masters degrees in nursing though occasionally you’ll find one with a doctorate. Psychiatrists have doctorates in medicine.
Will my counselor think I’m crazy?
Probably not. In fact, the DSM, the bible of mental health diagnosis, doesn’t even define the word. Many people seeking counseling are having understandable reactions to difficult circumstances. Discovering the old memories and/or current events which are triggering the reactions is the beginning of the healing and beginning of your understanding that you’re not “crazy.”
Will my counselor insist that I have to take medications?
Not usually. Occasionally counselors will feel that it’s helpful to get stabilized on medication in order to successfully do the work of counseling, but clients often choose counseling because they’d prefer living unmedicated and therapists honor that. Also, only medical doctors, psychiatrists, and nurse practitioners are able to prescribe mental health medications in Oregon.
I have insurance but I’m concerned about using it for counseling because I will get labeled with a mental health diagnosis and have difficultly if I ever have to purchase insurance as an individual
This is a reason why some people choose to private pay even though they have insurance. And because private pay is less work for therapists they occasionally offer a discount for individuals who pay at each session. But cost is still important and if you need counseling and can’t afford it without using your insurance then it probably makes sense to use it.
I need a prescription for mental health medication. Who can do that?
The only people who can prescribe medications in Oregon are psychiatrists, other medical doctors including MDs and DOs, and nurse practitioners including psychiatric nurse practitioners (PNPs or PMHNPs). Counselors, marriage and family therapists, social workers, and psychologists are not allowed to prescribe medications. And even though all medical doctors are allowed to prescribe mental health medications many choose to refer this type of prescribing to psychiatrists or PMHNPs.
My wife and I are seeing a counselor and our counselor is suggesting that we also get individual counseling. Does this make sense?
Yes. If one or both members of a relationship needs to do significant work on an big trauma, bipolar disorder, panic disorder… then it can make sense to do that work individually.
Should I expect homework?
Depends on how you and your therapist want to work.
Who is in charge of therapy?
You are. You can start or stop at any time. But if you and your therapist have been working for a bit and are getting into the juicy part of your issue, the core stuff, and you have felt safe with the therapist (though not so safe with this issue) then it makes a lot of sense to stick it out, dive into the fire, and assume that someone’s filled the pool. (How’s that for a seriously mixed metaphor?) If your are getting overwhelmed by feelings as you approach your core, make sure your counselor knows and the two of you can decide how best to proceed.
How do I know I’m getting the best help for me?
There’s no way to know exactly. Even the idea of “the best help” isn’t entirely clear. You can make it better by keeping your therapist appraised about what’s working and what’s not. And you can change therapists if you’d like. You can even ask your current therapist for two or three names of therapists he’d imagine might be a good fit.
Why would I want to do hypnosis in a counseling office?
Hypnosis for psychotherapy is focused on communicating directly with your unconscious. So you focus your conscious mind on a story or a picture while you relax your body. Then you might ask your unconscious to find the early event that is an issue you may be having now. Once your unconscious has found that, you might ask it to clear away the memory of the event, or change the memory into something much more positive so that you have a comfortable feeling whenever it gets brought up instead of significant fear.