Kristin Schuchman

Kristin Schuchman (she/her)

Professional Counselor

MSW, CSWA

I treat individuals coping with anxiety, stress and self-limiting beliefs. Experienced with adults with ADHD. I also offer career coaching.

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

503-754-2636

Spark Counseling + Coaching

5939 SE Belmont St.

Portland, OR 97215

624 Southeast 70th Avenue

Portland, Oregon 97215

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $100-$150

Provides free initial consultation

Provides telehealth services

Practicing Since: 2013

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual
  • Group

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket

My Ideal Client

I thrive with creative and unconventional individuals, including adults with ADHD. I can help you prioritize self-care + build confidence while finding joy in everyday experiences. Many feel alone -- remote work, disconnect with loved ones, and overwhelm from personal + career obligations. Stress compounds if you also navigate workplace politics or even harassment and abuse. I enjoy helping people balance external expectations while cultivating purpose, meaning, mastery, + a sense of belonging.

My Approach to Helping

I offer a mix of counseling skills and patient yet clear-headed insight, helping individuals experiencing anxiety and overwhelm navigate personal and professional obligations. I can offer empathy and understanding as well as tools to help clients overcome self-limiting beliefs, look inward for sources of motivation and self-confidence, build better boundaries, and cultivate a sense of mindfulness and inner calm. I love helping people unlock inner potential and build fulfilling lives while prioritizing self-care and personal relationships. I excel in supporting clients overcome the common threats to personal angst -- indecisiveness, lack of confidence, fear of risk, toxic workplaces, bullying, people-pleasing tendencies, and social anxiety. I offer a safe place as well as perspective and tangible tools for helping you stay on tops of life's demands without sacrificing your personal well-being and physical health.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

Believing you need to keep the spark alive in both home and work life, I challenge clients to create lives that provide meaning and self-expression while maintaining balance. I work well with individuals who identify as creative or purpose-driven (or a combination thereof). I am committed to women's economic empowerment and am an active supporter of LGBTQIA+ and Black Lives Matter. I offer expertise for remote workers wanting to feel more engaged with colleagues and a sense of purpose, parents and caregivers balancing family and professional obligations, re-launching after an absence, and anyone who believes Brené Brown is right when she says, "When we have the courage to walk into our story and own it, we get to write the ending." I meet clients over Zoom and in-person in a COVID-safe, routinely sanitized office.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Narrative  External link

    Narrative theory involves taking a close look at the stories we tell ourselves and seeing what we can do to tell a more constructive story. For instance, a woman who has experienced bullying or abuse in a work setting can over time reflect on the experience as an episode in resilience as she considers the solid work she was able to complete despite a toxic culture. Lars and the Real Girl is my favorite example of a movie that portrays narrative theory at its best.

  • Career Counseling External link

    Steve Jobs said, "Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. Don't settle...you'll know when you find it." I have helped hundreds of clients navigate tough career transitions and toxic work environments and have even authored two books, including Jump Start: How to Redirect a Career that has Stalled, Lost Direction or Reached a Crossroads.

  • Motivational Interviewing External link

    I am certified in Motivational Interviewing (MI), an evidence-based technique designed to help clients change self-defeating habits in their lives and strengthen their personal motivation to reach specific goals. While it sounds like a series of questions, it is actually a method of listening that elicits the deeper reasons that we resist change and stay stuck in destructive patterns. MI has proven results in helping clients realize their potential and experience transformational change.

  • Relational  External link

    Relational therapy is based on the idea that mutually satisfying relationships are necessary for our emotional well-being. Taking into account social factors, such as race, class, culture, and gender, it examines the power struggles and other issues that develop as a result and how they relate to the relationships in your life. Relational therapy can relieve feelings of distress in personal and professional relationships and help manage subsequent feelings of anxiety, trauma, or stress.

  • Coaching External link

    I offer Career Counseling + Career Coaching (and there is a difference). Career Counseling has you dig deeper when facing challenges like workplace bullying, career pivots, past work trauma, + adult ADHD. It asks you to determine sources of engagement and purpose and to look inward to overcome self-limiting beliefs. Once you are clear about next steps, Career Coaching offers tools to move you forward (i.e., resume writing, interview prep, etc.) so you can confidently create a fulfilling career.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Personal Growth External link

    The inability to understand your purpose can leave you feeling stuck or anxious, often bleeding into your personal life. I offer mental health and career counseling for those hoping to manage a sense of overwhelm in their work or other sources of pressure. If you are hoping to cultivate more inner calm and self-actualization in your life and/or work, I can act as a sounding board and provide accountability while giving you space to reflect on options and empathetically strategize.

  • Divorce External link

    Few events knock you off your bearings quite like divorce or long-term relationship fallout. As a mental health counselor I can help you feel like yourself again and prepare for a new life full of possibility and promise. As a career counselor I can help you find your professional footing as you navigate the complexities of splitting assets and other challenges. Together we will build back your confidence and point you in the direction of a life with meaning, purpose and creative expression.

  • Coronavirus/COVID-19 External link

    Research indicates that 40% of people want to change their jobs in 2021. The top 3 motivations for change are lack of career development, work-life balance and manager behavior. Add to those factors a global pandemic, which has nearly everyone re-thinking professional habits. Most people prioritizing flexibility and autonomy and more time with family. I specialize in helping professionals successfully transition to careers that offer balance, challenge, compensation and contribution.

  • Self-Esteem External link

    Even if we're generally confident, we can still struggle with our self-esteem, leading to bad decisions, falling short of our expectations in social and professional situations, or stay in relationships and friendships that are unfulfilling or abusive. Women tend to struggle with confidence more than men -- research reveals that women will underrate the same performance on tests by as much as 15 percent! I offer tools and techniques to help bolster confidence and show up as your best self!

  • Anxiety External link

    We like to think as personal lives and careers as separate, distinct realms, but we all have times in which work or other pressures invade daily well-being. It shows up as mild dread, overwhelm from exhaustion, anxiety from juggling deadlines and shifting responsibilities, unresolved conflicts that build into insidious distractions, or complicated decisions that nag at us as we navigate future steps. I offer a safe space to unpack and minimize sources of anxiety that interfere with well-being.

Contact Kristin

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