Portland Therapy Center
Eric Goodwin

Eric Goodwin (He/They)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, NCC, MS

Therapy for anxiety, self-criticism, and the pressure to get it right. We make sense of what’s underneath so you have more room to choose.

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

971.533.5590

1110 SE Alder St.

Suite 301, #85

Portland, 97214

Email Website

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $185

Provides free initial consultation

Provides telehealth services

Practicing Since: 2013

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket
  • Out of Network

My Ideal Client

You may spend a lot of energy second-guessing yourself, replaying conversations, or worrying you got something wrong. I work especially well with adults dealing with anxiety, shame, harsh self-criticism, or questions about identity and belonging. LGBTQ+ affirming care is an important part of my practice, and I welcome the full range of what brings you to therapy. I’m a good fit for people who want to understand their reactions more clearly and create change, not just push themselves harder.

How I Can Help You

Knowing what you want to do and being able to do it are not always the same thing. Therapy can help us understand why certain situations feel so charged, why familiar reactions keep returning, and what makes change feel harder than it sounds from the outside. I’ve been practicing since 2013 and draw from IFS therapy, mindfulness, mindful self-compassion, and Person-Centered therapy. I completed Level 1 training with the IFS Institute and additional training through the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. As a Queer therapist, I bring particular care to identity, belonging, and the impact of being misunderstood, judged, or excluded. You should not have to spend therapy wondering whether I understand the context of your life. At the same time, I will not assume that identity explains everything about you.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

My interest in anxiety, self-criticism, and LGBTQ+ mental health is personal as well as professional. I know how easily messages about who we should be can become part of how we see ourselves, and how hard it can be to tell the difference between what is truly ours and what we learned to believe. One belief sits underneath much of my work: people are inherently good. Even the parts of ourselves we come to see as the “big bad” often make more sense when we meet them with curiosity, care, and loving connection. That kind of understanding can be deeply healing. Music is one of the ways I make sense of my own experience, and creativity has an important place in therapy too. An unexpected connection, a metaphor, a song, or a well-timed laugh can sometimes open something that explanation alone cannot. The work can be serious without requiring us to be solemn.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS) External link

    IFS gives us a way to become curious about reactions that are easy to judge or fight with. Rather than assuming anxiety, self-criticism, or avoidance is simply getting in your way, we can ask how it may have been helpful in the past and what it may still be protecting you from. I value IFS because it helps us work with the places that hurt without adding more shame, while making room for greater self-trust and flexibility. I have completed Level 1 IFS Training with the IFS Institute.

  • Mindfulness-based External link

    Mindfulness can give us a little more space to notice what is happening before we have to decide what it means or what to do about it. In therapy, we might stay with a feeling, notice what is happening in your body, or make room for a thought without immediately following it. Over time, that pause can support greater presence, self-understanding, and the ability to respond with more care when life feels difficult.

  • Humanistic  External link

    My Humanistic approach is grounded in Person-Centered Therapy and in understanding your experience from the inside, not reducing it to a diagnosis or a list of things to fix. As you come to know yourself with more clarity and less judgment, it can become easier to trust what you feel, recover when things go wrong, and move through life with more steadiness and confidence in who you are.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Anxiety External link

    Anxiety can make ordinary decisions feel loaded and leave you searching for certainty that never quite arrives. I’m interested in what feels at stake when anxiety takes over: getting something wrong, disappointing someone, being judged, or not knowing what comes next. Therapy can help us understand why those reactions have become so persistent and find ways of responding that feel less ruled by fear.

  • LGBTQ Issues External link

    Queer and trans people deserve therapy where identity is understood without becoming the explanation for everything. I work with LGBTQ+ adults around anxiety, shame, belonging, relationships, and the impact of being misunderstood, judged, or pressured to fit. Our work can make room for the full complexity of who you are, including the parts of your life that have nothing to do with identity.

  • Self-Esteem External link

    What gets called “low self-esteem” is often more complicated than simply needing to feel better about yourself. You may live with a harsh inner critic, perfectionism, or the habit of questioning your choices and comparing yourself with others. I’m interested in where that harshness came from, what keeps it in place, and how your relationship with yourself can become less punishing and more trusting.

Contact Eric

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