Gabriel Boyer

Gabriel Boyer (he/they)

Professional Counselor Associate

MA, MEd

Supervisor: Daniel Schiff, PhD and Alexa Adams, LMFT

Relational Somatic & Gestalt Therapy for close relationships/couples and individuals.

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

(503)4366647

1600 SE Ankeny Street

Portland, 97214

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $120-$210

Provides free initial consultation

Practicing Since: 2020

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual
  • Family
  • Relationship

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket

My Approach to Helping

I offer a place to slow down and notice what's happening underneath the chatter and business of our lives. I am warm, engaged, and responsive to your unique way of making meaning. My practice and training focuses to create the kind of relationship that allows difficult feelings, old patterns, and unspoken longings to come into view. As we expand into those, there is often richer understanding and a more attuned way to unfold into new possibilities.

More About the People I Treat

I specialize in working with queer folk, survivors of childhood wounds/trauma, those in open relationships and other healers. I also focus on sexuality, grief, anxiety, shame and recovering playfulness.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Relational  External link

    I mix attachment theory with Relational Gestalt, Somatic, and Relational Psychoanalytic approaches. These converge on the restorative potential of relationships. These practices center on building a safe therapeutic relationship, unique to each person--more feeling, more silence, more sass. In relationships where we feel met, shame and anxiety diminish, a path opens to explore more deeply, to uproot core knots and create new ways to live and flourish.

  • Somatic Therapy (Body Centered) External link

    Engaging the body often means slowing down to invite subtle experiences to emerge. I invite in body expression, movement, and more space for emotion to emerge more fully. I pay particular attention to open diminished affect and impulse. My background is eclectic in somatic therapy: primarily contemporary Reichian. I also use Hakomi, trauma informed tools from Somatic Experiencing, and from my experience in Yoga and Buddhist practice.

  • Gestalt External link

    Gestalt means whole, holistic. The focus is on *your experience*: what you feel, sense, how you flow, your way of making meaning, and our unique way of meeting together. I attend to subtleties in your process, not just what you share but how: pacing, body expressions, breath, etc. This is woven together in a genuine, open hearted explorative therapy. Relational Gestalt is an updated and more attuned thread. It has an optimistic spirit, nurturing awareness, resilience, spontaneity and play.

  • Psychodynamic  External link

    Relational Psychoanalysis incorporates attachment theory, feminist and queer theory. Coalescing with Stephen Mitchell (ancestor to Esther Perel and Orna Guralnik from Couple's Therapy), a mutually collaborative exploration of the interplay between your inner process and the world around you. This includes your attachment history, relationship patterns, and leveraging our relationship towards your growth.

  • Depth Therapy External link

    Opposed to the medicalization of human experience, symptoms & sufferings are the call towards transformation. As they say "the way out is through." What unique supports are needed to courageously move towards deeper feelings?

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Relationship / Marriage Issues External link

    Therapy for 2+ or more people. I use an embodied attachment-based approach that attunes to patterns of dysregulation: how those patterns disrupt connection and how patterns can shift towards greater connection. This attends to empathy between you and supports a sturdier foundation to talk with greater honesty and depth. I am sex positive, kink friendly and specialize in the particular challenges of open relationships. I also work in a nonbaised way with many monogamous couples.

  • LGBTQ Issues External link

    The way we love, touch and fuck--the way we're drawn to others is, in my view, the most important part of our lives. In a culture that harms people for natural erotic movements, there are times for sanctuary. Whether you want a queer pos space to talk about other issues or desire more direct untangling of homophobia or transphobia, we can build towards your goals to continue a life of resilience, connection and love.

  • Polyamorous and Open Relationships External link

    Open relationships work. I bring both personal experience and professional training. Whether you're beginning to explore or further on your way, I support people in many different configurations to thrive in relationships. I also support queer folk and am kink friendly.

  • Historical Trauma External link

    My approach with trauma values consent and respect. At your own embodied pace, we slowly turn towards to build resilience in a trusted, supportive relationship.

  • Anxiety External link

Contact Gabriel

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