Adjustment Disorder

When facing a major life change, like a breakup, a move, a new job or the loss of a loved one, it is normal to feel a little off balance. But if you find yourself still feeling down after a couple of months and unable to find ways to cope you may have developed an adjustment disorder. Sometimes called "situational depression” an individual with an adjustment disorder often has many of the symptoms common to depression, such as worry, crying, sadness, feeling hopeless and overwhelmed, anxiety, fatigue, or insomnia. Adjustment disorders are very common and can affect anyone at any age. Unlike depression, an adjustment disorder is generally temporary and typically goes away once the individual is able to find ways to manage the situation. Consequently, treatment from a mental health professional for adjustment disorders is usually only needed for a short period of time.

Local experts in Adjustment Disorder

Jordan Hubchik (she/her/hers)

Licensed Art Therapist

LPC, LCAT, ATR-BC

An adjustment disorder is an emotional or behavioral reaction to a stressful event or change in a person's life. The COVID-19 pandemic is a global stressor that may lead to increased anxiety, depression, isolation, loneliness, confusion, and fear. I'd love to help you process the ways you've been impacted by the pandemic, and support you with adjusting to this new normal.

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Pearl Health Center

Licensed Professional Counselor

Life can be unpredictable and stressful at times. Our therapists can help clients navigate through these turbulent phases, and get to a place of increased resiliency and inner strength.

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Laura Wozniak (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW BCD

Most people present with a life issue such as career, health or divorce. This issue must be addressed respectfully starting with the clients' concerns. If longer-standing personality, mood or other serious issues are complicating resolution and well-being, trust has been established to address those as well. Many of my clients struggle with historic mood issues as well as current problems.

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Matthew Beeble (He/Him)

Licensed Professional Counselor

Adjustment Disorder is an experience that many people have. It is often what brings someone back into therapy or causes someone to seek therapy for the first time. Many of the clients I have been working with over the years begin therapy when their life is thrown off by a major life event. Much of the work I have done has involved processing and adjusting to significant life changes.

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Katie Azarow (She/Her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW, CADC I

I have worked with many teenagers and young adults who struggle with major life transitions. Honoring the intensity of these experiences and helping clients successfully move forward has been a cornerstone of my work in community mental health.

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Christa Cummins (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC

Life transitions and change, whether chosen or otherwise, can bring feelings of anxiety, depression, and feeling trapped. I'm here to support you as we explore potentially difficult choices and actions to find confident ways of being true to yourself.

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Jireh Miller (She/Her)

Professional Counselor Associate

LMHCA

My masters program emphasis of influences that contribute to emotional upheaval assist in discovering the underlying cause of adjustment difficulties. Work toward repair of those earlier emotional injuries results in repair of current upheaval.

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Blake Locher (he/him)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, CRC

Junctures in life can affect our mood, our beliefs, and even our core identity. Events like moving to a new town, a break up, the onset of a disability, or a change in job can spin us out. However, these events can also lead to growth and greater life satisfaction. Working towards this goal involves tolerating discomfort, building self-determination, and finding the meaning in our struggle.

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Nic Sutherland (she/they)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

LMFT Associate

If given the option on this platform, I wouldn't use the DSM diagnosis here, but rather point to the inevitable, painful, meaning cycles of change we are constantly thrown into by life. There is no avoiding the discomfort of change and growth, and when we can accept what we are really experiencing, we open possibilities we didn't know were there. I love being witness and steward to this kind of growth with my clients.

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Carlyn Glaser (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MS LPC

Years of working with clients in transition, especially in working with college students and survivors of domestic violence.

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Sabrina Walters (she/her)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

LMFT, LPC, Certified Gottman Therapist

So often when we are going through a transition in life, we hit some bumps along the way. It is normal, and I hope to help smooth the way to a new place in your life.

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Arrival Counseling annie dolle LCSW (she/her/hers)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

Make time to explore what ails you. I will follow you wherever you'd like to go, only this time you will be well supported. Lets find our way into the pain so that the path out can be cleared.

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Terri Mishler, PsyD

Clinical Psychologist

Sometimes it is challenging to adjust to difficult life events, and therapy can help you get past the difficult changes.

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Diana Groener (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

Life throws many curveballs at us. I will assist you in building and re-building your identity as you adjust to the unexpected turns your life takes.

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Krystal Marcinkiewicz

Licensed Professional Counselor

MA, LPC

Life is full of both expected and unexpected transitions, and change can be challenging, exciting, puzzling, and/or scary. My goal is to assist clients in exploring situations that are causing discomfort and adjustment and process the experience(s) to find comfort, relief, and/or contentment in moving forward.

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Jeff Guenther (he/him)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC

Adjustment issues that I typically treat in my practice are adjusting to life after a break up or divorce, adjusting to your new environment after college and adjusting to moving to a new city and settling in after a big move. Many of my clients are new transplants here to Portland and are in need of some support while they settle into town.

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Eric Abelow Blakeley (he/him)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

Whether it be from changes we choose ourselves or those that are dictated by life, adjusting to new circumstances can be emotionally taxing. My task in therapy is to help you regain your bearing and find new energy and fresh attention to the way your life is evolving.

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Professional Counselor Associate

Change can be unsettling. Life transitions whether personal, relational, medical, academic, or professional can evoke anxiety, depression or decrease in functioning. Maps that served one context may be in need of revision to navigate the next phase.

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Jennifer Stratton (She/Her/Hers)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC

Each stage and phase of life has unique challenges and opportunities for an evolved self to emerge. We are certainly feeling change simmering on every level in our current world. On some levels, we adjust quickly to change--we are designed to adapt. But we evolve slowly--almost minutely--over time. I love offering a safe and supportive place for clients to pay attention to themselves and the ways they are being stretched in the change process--and walking with them through that process.

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Deah Partak (She/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW, CADCII, ACS

Life takes many twists and turns. Changes can be unexpected, planned, natural, feared, or welcomed. Sometimes the emotional stress can feel like too much. Change is inevitability; letting it control our emotions is not. There is always the opportunity to transform and promote growth and wellness. I look forward to the chance to help you transform and grow.

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Clea Partridge (she/her/hers)

Professional Counselor Associate

Masters of Science in Counseling

Adjusting to life's changes is often a stumbling block. Life adjustments can be disorienting at best, and emotionally taxing or even painful at worst. I support my clients as they navigate life's turbulence by offering them new ways of approaching circumstances, while at the same time, helping them understand themselves in a deeper and more nuanced way.

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Jennie Hagen (She/Her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LMHC, LPC

Change is inevitable, but transitions can shake up our emotions, thoughts, and sense of self. It's very common for people to have intense reactions to new or different life circumstances. Together, we can find ways to help ease the discomfort of a new situation and begin to feel positive about going through changes.

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Kimberly Woodworth (She/Her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

MS, LPC, NCC

Experience with clients in navigating big life cycle changes or processing what is hindering progress in my practice is common.

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Dave Davis

Qualified Mental Health Professional

MA

Sometimes life changes unexpectedly and we find ourselves suddenly in a place where our old strategies or self-understandings no longer apply. This may happen when we lose a job, become a parent, or end a relationship. We can experience intense disorientation, confusion, anxiety and depression when these things happen. We will work to understand the meaning of the change and develop strategies to make the best of it, or at least to "adjust" to it in a healthy way.

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Karen Maloney, MA, LPC

Licensed Professional Counselor

The goal when treating this disorder is symptom relief and behavior change. The hope is to identify what is causing the distressing behavior and emotions and address them effectively.

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Ashley Parkinson (she/her/hers)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW, CADC-I

I enjoy supporting people through life transitions, as these can be times of great growth and learning (as well as challenge and exhaustion). I have experience working with college students in "quarter-life crisis," as well as people facing "mid-life overwhelm" as they manage relationships, career, health, and caregiving of children and elders. Although stress is a normal part of big life changes, having support during difficult times can reduce symptoms and prevent further complications.

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Sasha Rosenfels, MA, LMFT (She/her)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

LMFT

Along our journey through life, we often experience a stressor or series of stressors that may be understandably overwhelming. In sessions, individuals unpack these experiences, identify and process the affects they've had and build tools to help them manage both the emotional and logistical consequences of these stressors.

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Natalie Thomas (She/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

QMHP

I have worked with many clients who are struggling to adapt to major life changes. I primarily use an ACT approach to help clients settle in to the inherent unknown associated with change, while supporting them through complex emotions that come with new life phases.

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Beth Bloom (she/her)

Clinical Psychologist

Psy.D.

I have both the training and clinical experience to treat issues related to adjustment, including life transitions, crises, grief/loss, and post-traumatic stress.

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Arah Erickson (she/her/hers)

Professional Counselor Associate

MS, NCC, LPC-A

Changes in family and relationships, moves, job or health changes, death of a loved one, and other life events can be difficult times of transition, leaving us feeling unmoored, questioning things that once felt certain. These can be painful times, and often also create opportunities for personal growth, a way to potentially move closer to your authentic self and hopes for your own life. I will support you in finding your strength and discovering your path forward.

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Heather Lokteff

Licensed Professional Counselor

Life is full of adjusting to changing circumstances. These are the adjustment issues I often run into in my practice: moving to a new city, a break-up or divorce, a career change, becoming a parent or empty-nester, graduating college, just to name a few!

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Jessica Powers

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, CADC-II

This is usually a short-term response to a life change or stressor, and can take the form of anxiety, depression, or both. People with depression often feel sad or hopeless, not interested in doing things or not enjoying things they used to enjoy, and may even have thoughts of not wanting to wake up or wanting all of their problems to go away. When these thoughts become more persistent, it is definitely time to get help.

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Donna Prinzmetal (she/her)

Licensed Marriage Family Therapist

I help people with a variety of life transitions. If you have recently experienced a change in relationship, work, or family status, you might be feeling overwhelmed, depressed or anxious. Therapy can help you make sense of the changes in your life and can also help you make positive choices when embarking on a new path.

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