Portland Therapy Center
Elizabeth Knutsen

Elizabeth Knutsen (she/her)

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

LCSW

Reconnect with your body. Reconnect with you.

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

503-744-7269

1110 SE ALDER ST

STE 301

Portland, 97214

Email Website

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $150-$220

Provides free initial consultation

Practicing Since: 2018

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket
  • Aetna
  • OHP CareOregon/HealthShare
  • Providence Health Plan

My Ideal Client

I work with individuals who are interested in building a deeper level of understanding of limiting beliefs held about themselves and the world that keep them from living the fully expansive lives they deserve. My clients are sex workers, those with eating disorders/disordered eating and those who are involved in community/political organizing/working class identity. Please note I only provide telehealth sessions; I no longer live in OR. Please inquire about sliding scale rates.

My Background and Approach

Mind and body connection is one of the main portals to gaining a deeper understanding of ourselves. I utilize Somatic Experiencing and Mindfulness to help support my clients build safety and connection to their bodies to support their healing and growth process. I am deeply committed to obtaining consent and feedback from clients to ensure they are getting their needs met in our time together. It takes courage to show up as one's authentic self and to be vulnerable. I will validate the hell out of you and also provide reality checks when needed. Your feelings are real and they need space AND we can explore new ways of being in the world. I utilize Marxist Theory of Dialectical and Historical Materialism along with Liberation Psychology to help my clients analyze how the material conditions of our world create mental health issues.

Why I am a Good Fit for You

We'll be a good fit for one another if you appreciate direct feedback that has a softness to it. If you are ready to consistently show up and feel. I actively strive to dismantle beliefs that have been socialized in me that are harmful to others and myself. This is an ongoing task as, globally, we continue under late stage capitalism. I will often "punch up" at systems of oppression that hurt us all. We all live in a world that doesn't always support expansion and safety. Explore building safety in ourselves and our world and look at some of the ways your beliefs and actions may not be aligning with your values so we can come back home to those values. I take identity into consideration in my work with clients and will support you in separating your identities from the identity politics; a tool of the ruling class used to keep us separated.

Techniques I Use

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Political Climate External link

    Workers of the world unite! Here in the US we have been conditioned to believe ruling class propaganda that keeps us separate as members of the working class; this breeds hopelessness and contributes to freeze in our own individual lives. If you are looking to thaw and mobilize to create a world you want to live in, we will be a good fit. I apply the theory of the working class to help my clients find their footing in a confusing world.

  • Compassion Fatigue External link

    Many sex workers often burn out from the level of emotional engagement their job requires. Holding boundaries for yourself and with clients takes so much energy -- especially when you safety is at risk. It makes sense you're feeling burnt out. Let's build some skills around taking care of you and allow for space for burnout without normalizing it as a "right of passage" under capitalism.

  • Personal Growth External link

    Personal growth is a wild ride. I know in my lived experience that I was never told how painful and lonely it can be. Often personal growth involves grief and letting go of what our lives used to look like and radically accepting where we're currently at in our journey while still dreaming of what we want our future to be like. It's a lot to hold! I'd love to help support you in opening up space for the most authentic version of you.

  • Eating Disorder External link

    If you struggle with your relationship to food and movement -- I can help. Many of us struggle with internalized fatphobia and I can provide you resources and tools to dismantle this belief that was socialized into you. We've come to learn through living under capitalism, that it can feel safer to live in a particular kind of body; the kind of body that capitalism deems "acceptable." This simply isn't a reality. Work with me to dismantle unrealistic expectations we hold for our bodies.

Contact Elizabeth

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