James Terhune (he/him)

My Background

I currently work as a staff psychologist and training supervisor within the Portland VA Healthcare System, where I provide individual and relationship therapy for Veterans and their partners. My own graduate and clinical training has spanned hospital, VA, and research settings and taken me from the New Jersey/New York area to Miami and to London. Across these different learning experiences, I have gained a deep appreciation for the integral role of culture and identity in how we understand mental health and wellbeing, navigate our closest relationships, and make sense of the world around us.

My Approach to Helping

In relationship therapy, I mainly utilize a treatment approach called Integrative Behavioral Couples Therapy (IBCT), which focuses on building a shared understanding of the patterns that keep couples coming back to the same stuck points rather than just teaching quick communication or problem-solving strategies (not that we can't incorporate those as well, when appropriate). However, the foundation for much of my clinical work is based in a contemporary psychodynamic lens, which I find is particularly helpful with couples in understanding how unconscious emotional processes and early family experiences can shape how we respond to our partners and how we interpret their responses to us. Irrespective of the terminology used, I work to strike a balance between identifying a core issue and focusing our attention on resolving it while not educing down the complex backgrounds and humanity of each person in the room.