Welcome, all ye tender-hearted
saddies & baddies
Queer, neuroaffirming therapy for creative, curious, helpers, caretakers, and liberation seekers, longing to feel at home in themselves, alive in their relationships, and awake in their lives.
How do we experience and express our collective grief while moving through our respective ages and stages of life? How do we develop a meaningful life and identity in the midst of suffering?
Capitalism culture packages healing and wellness into a glamorous product to be consumed. But healing is not linear: grief is a wilderness. The unfolding of life is unpredictable, terrifying, astounding, gorgeous. We live in a context that is unjust and heartbreaking, beautiful and mysterious, wedged inside the impossible predicament that everything we love will die.
Therapy may seem like a weird choice for this predicament, but in another view it’s the most basic way of doing our human thing. In relationship.
We explore and process ourselves, relationships, and community, as we let go of old stories that no longer fit, discovering safety and ground within, and the liberation to love and live awake.
“Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
-bell hooks (all about love)
approach
Some of the modalities and tools that inform and guide my practice.
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“Being our own safe haven and secure base requires that we first have the capacity to be with our Self. To sit, to listen, to be available to whatever arises within us.” (Jessica Fern, Polysecure)
I have found Internal Family Systems to be a beautiful way to help us learn how to listen. It is a gentle, creative, non-pathogizing way to get to know our many parts of self, and learn to heal ourselves with compassion, clarity, curiosity, and connection.
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Our body and our being knows how to heal, but complex, difficult life experiences can impact our capacity to remember our innate inner knowing. We may feel broken or like healing and wholeness is not available to us. Held in a safe, therapeutic relationship, EMDR is a process that can be a bit like pulling a thorn out of a wound, allowing the natural healing process to complete.
values
Some of the core values that inform how I orient to this work
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I approach therapy with a lens of “person in environment,” meaning the self doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Family, community, institutions, society, and the many intersecting identities we hold profoundly impact how we feel and show up in the world. This includes our internal system of self and the many parts of us that show up, in different ways, in different moments.
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I believe the therapeutic process is best approached from a trauma-informed perspective with true informed consent.
This means, to the best of my ability, I practice with transparency and authenticity and will give you as much information about what to expect from me and our work together as possible.
This also means while therapy may be challenging and uncomfortable at times, I will not rush your process and believe in your innate wisdom and deep knowing of what you need. If I notice a pattern of avoidance or stuckness, etc. I may reflect this back to you with inquiry and curiosity, but I will never know more about what you need then you . I will seek feedback, and see us as collaborators in holding all that is you.
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Above all I practice relationally. While I have education and training in specific modalities and theoretical frameworks, I believe that ultimately therapy is a (specific and specialized) relationship between two human beings.
We are in different seats, but we are both on the funky clunky journey of being alive. I am on my own path of healing too and will tune into your experience through my unique lens and will always be learning alongside you.
I deeply value authenticity, transparency, and curiosity and believe the therapeutic relationship is ground for exploring, repairing, and refreshing your relational patterns. I honor the privilege of journeying with you along your path.
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My lens of considering “person in environment” includes existential perspectives and the mystery of our broadest context of living (and dying) as human beings.
I love to zoom into the minutia of our nervous system and its response to daily life and also zoom way way out to the absurdity of our existence as strange beings on a floating ball.
Considering our many layers of living can help cultivate mindfulness of the present moment and place us in the room in a more meaningful and alive way.
FAQS
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My name is Linnea Stenhouse, I am an experienced LCSW practicing in Portland, serving all of Oregon.
I’m a bunch of other things too, but that is not why you are here I’m guessing.
To schedule a free consultation call, please email me, or fill out an interest form.
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I currently offer in-person and telehealth individual therapy for adults in Oregon, therapy intensives, licensure supervision for CSWAs and LPC interns; and consultation for professionals and organizations; and clinical training.
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I currently accept OHP open card.
I am out of networkwith other insurance companies and am happy to help you understand that process.
For more information on self pay/ out of pocket fees, learn more here.
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My approach is relational, collaborative, liberatory, and trauma-informed. I practice with transparency and believe in a non-hierarchal approach to healing.
To learn more and see if we might be a good fit, I offer a free 20 minute consultation.
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Who knows!
Learn More!