Portland Therapy Center
Cat Bice

Cat Bice (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW, LICSW

I provide evidence based therapy with a warm touch. My focus as a therapist is on treating trauma and healing relationships.

Client Status

waitlist

Contact

503-477-2345

825 NE 20th Ave

Suite 250

Portland, 97232

Website Schedule Now

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $140-$185

Provides free initial consultation

Provides telehealth services

Practicing Since: 2000

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual
  • Relationship

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket
  • Out of Network
  • Aetna
  • Kaiser
  • Lyra
  • OHP CareOregon/HealthShare
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My Ideal Client

Typically my clients reach out to me because of feelings of sadness, worry, and disconnection in important relationships. My clients are often people who describe themselves as being “do-ers” who have difficulty slowing down to understand their internal world. Many of my clients are medical professionals, first responders, and veterans who have worked hard to train themselves out of their emotional reactions because of the need to focus and perform in their work setting.

My Background

I have been involved in mental health work since volunteering as a teen and my work has spanned a wide range. Since obtaining my masters degree in clinical social work, I have spent the past 22 years as a practicing therapist. In recent years, I have been increasingly drawn to understanding the role of attachment, relationships, and our feelings of connection to others as a core element of good mental health. This has led me to pursue training and consultation in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), which grows out of our understanding of how attachment and early relationships shape our emotional lives. It looks at human distress with a non-pathologising framework that helps us make sense of the relationship between experiences in the past and our behaviors and emotions in the present. The therapeutic work is focused on seeing and experiencing those old hurts so that we can tend to them, reorganize our feelings, and shift our present day relationships with ourselves and our loved ones.

My Approach to Helping

I know finding a therapist can be a daunting task, so it might be helpful to know a little about me. I have a warm, open style with room for humor. I work to help clients feel safe and heard so we can attend to the emotions that underlie the distress that brought you into therapy. With that goal in mind, I tend towards a straightforward approach and have been called direct, but my directness comes with compassion and deep respect for how hard it can be to show up to the therapeutic process. My work is grounded in relationships and connection, so I show up as me to my sessions. I am a mom, an animal lover, a gardener, and a cook. I believe in life-long professional growth and along with continuing to grow my skills as a therapist, I bring a commitment to an anti-oppressive lens and actively work to understand the roles of privilege and bias on our individual and collective wellbeing.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Emotionally Focused External link

    I began learning emotionally focused therapy in 2020 as I was searching for a treatment orientation that better aligned with my growing understanding of the role of attachment needs and trauma in a wide variety of mental health and relationship concerns. I have completed over 100 hours of structured training in EFT with individuals and couples and regularly participate in ongoing educational trainings, consultation, and review of my work as I work towards certification.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Relationship / Marriage Issues External link

    I offer both discernment counseling and relationship counseling to couples that I work with, but which format we use depends on where the relationship is and what it needs. Discernment counseling is for couples "on the brink" of separation or divorce. They are neither committed to ending the relationship nor are they both committed to change. The format is 1-5 sessions with a focus on clarifying the dynamics between them, what would need to change and whether they are willing to do that work.

  • Relationship / Marriage Issues External link

    I practice relationship counseling from an EFT model which works best when both partners are interested in participating in counseling. This approach focuses on exploring the emotions underlying our behavior and healing old hurts by creating opportunities for connection. The sessions help couples see and understand their hurtful patterns of interaction, then change this cycle as core emotions and needs are attended to.

  • Pregnancy (Prenatal Mental Health) External link

    Pregnancy and childbirth is expected to be a joyous time, but often no one talks about the pain of loss and the difficult emotions that can come as well. When someone has experienced a traumatic birth, a miscarriage or still birth, has lost an infant, or experienced a NICU stay, the pain can feel lonely and isolating. I see both individuals and couples who are pregnant, post-partum, or working through a trauma around childbirth to help address and soothe this pain.