Portland Therapy Center
Vickey Giap Thistlethwaite

Vickey Giap Thistlethwaite (she/her)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

MA, LMFT Associate

Supervisor: Lynn Fontana, LMFT, PHD Oregon Lic. #T0209

I see you and me as fellow travelers on a sacred life journey. Together we walk, explore, reflect, grow, and make meaning as you transform.

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

5032183885

155 B Avenue

Suite 100

Lake Oswego, 97034

Email Website Schedule Now

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $150-$170

Provides free initial consultation

Practicing Since: 2022

Languages: English, 中文 (普通话)

Services

  • Individual
  • Family
  • Child
  • Relationship
  • Teen

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Network

My Ideal Client

If you are experiencing relational challenges related to parenting, partnership, or life transition, I would love to collaborate and walk with you through your challenges. Being a first-generation immigrant myself and raising children across borders as a BIPOC, I am familiar with the tension that comes from the differences in cultural/generational values/experiences. I would love to travel with those of you who identify as children of immigrants, people of color, or multi-racial/cultural.

My Approach to Helping

I approach our work with you with a systemic and holistic perspective honoring your worldview and experiences and walk with you from a curiosity stance without judgment. Being part of the interconnected, natural world, we thrive in connection, and without connection, we wither. In our work together, we will collaborate in understanding what makes you come alive and wilt, to look for ways to get unstuck and make meaning of your emotions, pain, reactivity, and suffering. We will explore the stories that you tell yourself with the intention of how they shape your relationships with you and the people in your life, but respectfully and authentically that honors your complexity of you. Collaboration and trust are the foundation of our therapeutic relationship. My style is direct and humorous with warmth and respect. My goals are to understand what makes you, you and support you in your journey to self-acceptance and becoming your fullest expression.

More About the People I Treat

I witnessed the power of resiliency working with individuals and families as a teacher in the classroom. As a family therapist, I view people in the context of their family, social, cultural, and spiritual environment. I enjoy facilitating changes and empowering them to break free from anything that holds them back. My work is to restore balance, build communication, and open space in creating an optimal environment for new connections and perspectives. I approach my work from a narrative lens believing that change can happen as we actively rewrite our own preferred narratives. I am a trauma-informed DBT therapist experienced working with children, adolescents, young adults, and families from diverse cultural settings and across different life stages. I also work with trauma using somatic therapy and EMDR to acknowledge, process, and heal the pain that our bodies carry. Additionally, I have over 20 years of classroom teaching experience working with K-12 students to tap into.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • EMDR External link

    I am a trained Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist. EMDR is an evidence-based modality that has been effective with trauma-related disorders across a diverse population. It uses bilateral stimulation to reduce distressing symptoms & beliefs of trauma and develop positive adaptive beliefs. Maybe you find yourself stuck or feeling unhelpful as you tell your trauma stories over and over. Consider EMDR as your brain to access & process trauma and heal through integration.

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) External link

    Dialectical Behavior Therapy is an evidence-based modality that has shown to work with diverse populations. DBT skills are useful in slowing us down so that we can self-soothe to decrease reactivity & enhance communication to increase our relational effectiveness so we can connect with loved ones. I utilize DBT skills and practice with you in sessions so that you are ready when you find yourself in tough situations that require you to stick to your values in ways that honor you and others.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Loss or Grief External link

    Our human experience is an ongoing process of loss, grief, and renewal. Loss comes in various forms and shapes impacting us on multiple levels and shaking us to our core. Are you mourning for a loved one or someone you can't allow yourself to mourn? Do you struggle with intense sadness and a sense of loss? For many of us, the pandemic has taken so much from us, many of us are in this process of grief, knowing we lost something. Let me offer you my companionship as you grieve.

Contact Vickey

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