Portland Therapy Center
Colette Gordon

Colette Gordon (they/them)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC

I'm full but can often schedule in assessments for gender affirming surgery (letters). There's no charge if I can't bill your insurance.

Client Status

not accepting clients

Contact

503-780-4169

631 Northeast 102nd Avenue

Portland, 97220

Email Website

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $80-$125

Provides free initial consultation

Provides telehealth services

Practicing Since: 2015

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket
  • Out of Network
  • Aetna
  • First Choice Health
  • OHP CareOregon/HealthShare
  • PacificSource
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My Ideal Client

People who come to me are generally looking for politically informed therapy with an anti-oppressive lens. Most are specifically looking for a queer and/or trans counselor. They're generally very values driven and hard on themselves. Many are trauma survivors and many minimize their struggles by comparing themselves to others. They seem to be down for a collaborative and engaged approach and building trust to work from a place of vulnerability. They're pretty damn great and are doing big work.

My Approach to Helping

I believe we feel better when we feel connected. Connection comes from being seen, heard, and understood in our relationships. So many of us are struggling and suffering due to ongoing disconnection, which is often rooted in systemic oppression. I will work with you to build a connected therapeutic relationship grounded in the following principles: 1. Collaboration: We both bring our expertise, experience, heart and smarts to some complicated challenges. We talk, feel, and puzzle our way though it together. 2. Contextual awareness: Paying attention to the social, cultural, historical, economic, and political context surrounding your life will shape our work together. 3. Harm reduction: I am not here to ask you to give up anything you need. I strive to honor what care, coping, and surviving look like for you at any given time. 4. Non-pathologizing and non-blaming: You are not a problem to be fixed and your struggles are never just a reflection of you.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

Based on my experiences on both sides of the couch, I believe in the power of counseling. When we find a great counseling fit, it can make living in this world at least a bit better, it can energize and empower us, and it can support meaningful changes in our lives. I am driven to engage in struggle for collective liberation and I am committed to deeply supporting each other along the way. I hold a master’s degree in Professional Mental Health Counseling from Lewis & Clark College. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists and I abide by its Code of Ethics.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Feminist External link

    Feminist therapy is about empowerment: power that comes from within and collectively and allows you and your people to make change and impact your lives. I want to help you to support, nurture, and grow mutual empowerment in your relationships. I see therapeutic goals as rooted in moving towards connection and increasing mutuality in relationships rather than focusing on independence and separation.

  • Relational  External link

    Therapeutic growth requires a genuine and authentic counseling relationship that we build together. To support that, I work to really show up in the room. I am soft, warm, empathetic, and compassionate. I’m also expressive, fierce, and engaged. I’m goofy and often laugh at the absurdity of our world. I am not shy about the impact of my politics on my work. And I swear. If that sounds like a good fit for you, let’s talk!

  • Narrative  External link

    I'm all about working to increase the room between who you are and the problems you’re struggling with. I think developing this distinction can reduce suffering and empower change. I incorporate writing and stories. While not technically narrative therapy, I want to give a shout out here to one of my favorite trauma treatments: Narrative Exposure Therapy. It’s a beautiful intervention involving stones, flowers, candles, metaphor, testimony, story, and so much courage on the part of the client.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Cultural and Systemic Oppression External link

    Systems of oppression are at the root of so much suffering and disconnection from each other and they also intensify it. While systemic change is beyond the scope of therapy, therapy can provide support with the impacts of oppression and support you in any work you are doing to resist or and dismantle systems of oppression. A lot of my work involves working to reduce and resist internalized oppression.

  • LGBTQ Issues External link

    I am queer and trans and committed to working in these communities. I understand these identities broadly and I know that sharing them does not mean we have the same experience. I want to make room for your experience under this queer umbrella, including as it relates to race, gender, ability, size, sexuality, culture and socioeconomic status.

  • Gender Identity External link

    I bring my own experience of being trans and want to be here for your experience of gender: your story, your life, your identity, and your family, culture, and communities. And I'm here to write letters to help with accessing medical care too.

  • PTSD External link

Contact Colette

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