Individual and Couples Therapist in Multnomah County OR

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Couples Therapy in Multnomah County OR

Today’s couples in Multnomah County face ongoing challenges in their relationships. While all relationships have hurdles, many couples make the choice to face these problems on their own. Often couples struggle on their own for far too long before reaching out for help. Couples therapy works to help couples understand where and why they are stuck. Couples counseling also provides insights and teaches skills to help couples find new a more healthy ways to relate.

Common Problems Couples Are Facing Today

Common issues couples in Multnomah County face include the following:

• Lack of connection
• Stress from parenting
• Intimacy issues
• Difficulty finding balance in life
• Not feeling heard and understood
• Infidelity
• Uncertainty about getting married.

How Couples Therapy Can Help

Couples therapy addresses a wide range of issues. Areas couples often deal with includes the following:

• Educating couples about their pattern – Many couples become trapped in a cycle of conflict surrounding their unmet needs and couples counseling illuminates the pattern and teaches couples how to operate differently.
• Negotiating agreements and expectations – Couples often fail to make their expectations known in clear ways. Couples counseling can help each partner become clearer on their expectations/needs and then helps partners to speak out about these issues.
• Increasing intimacy – Many couples have reached a place in their relationship that feels disconnected and lacking in intimacy. Couples counseling provides a safe place to address this delicate issue and gives insights and instructions to forge a new path forward.
• Building in safety and trust – Couples counseling teaches partners how to build a sense of safety and trust, both key ingredients to a happy and long-term relationship.
• Gaining clarity – Some couples aren’t sure about which path forward to take in their relationships. Speaking with an experienced couple’s counselor allows couples to gain understanding and become more clear on whether to stay or leave their relationship.

Individual Therapy for Men in Multnomah County OR

Men and therapy are not two words put together on a regular basis. The truth is that many men avoid therapy thinking that it won’t help and attempt to grapple with problems on their own. While being self-sufficient is a positive trait in many ways, men often take this too far and avoid reaching out for help they desperately need. Individual therapy for men allows men the chance to speak out about their challenges, find solutions, and feel supported. Often individual therapy for men becomes a transformational experience teaching men to be more open about their inner lives and opens up pathways for men to have better relationships with themselves and deeper bonds with their partners.

Common Issues Addressed in Individual Therapy

Some common issues we are discuss in therapy sessions include:

• Mood issues and Self-Esteem: Men often conceal how they really feel about themselves and hold a much more negative image that most realize. With help from individual therapy men can rework their sense of self-esteem and live a life with a more consistent mood and improved self-image.
• Dealing with anger: Most men use anger as the only emotion they show. Men don’t often know why they are angry and individual therapy helps to uncover the real feelings behind the anger and teaches new ways to show emotion.
• Parenting Challenges: Many men didn’t have the best role model for being an involved and loving parent or father. Individual therapy for men can shed new light on what it means to be a connected, loving, and supportive parent.
• Work-life balance: Traditionally men focus on work and often allow other areas of their life to suffer. Therapy for men takes on some of the old scripts and beliefs that keep men stuck in their roles of workaholic and disconnected partner and allows for new ideas on how to balance the self, relationships, and work.
• Communication: Men are historically not the best communicators in relationships, but there is no reason why they can’t do better. Individual therapy for men addresses this issue and teaches practical skills for men to be more aware of their own experiences as well as learning how to speak out to those around them.

Benefits of Individual Therapy

In our experience at Douglas Counseling, there are many benefits to individual therapy. They include:

• Managing emotions – not allowing feelings to overtake you.
• Improving self-esteem – to Improve the relationship with yourself and others.
• New ways of communication – to share your own thoughts and feelings.
• Reworked boundaries – taking on less stress and shedding unneeded burdens..
• Developing empathy – to foster understanding and compassion for those around you
• Improved and more predictable mood- fewer highs and
• Improved and more predictable mood – fewer highs and lows.

Our Approach to Individual and Couples Therapy

Douglas Counseling seeks to meet each individual or couple where they are without judgement. We seek to understand the challenges being faced and what is keeping the person or couple stuck. Our therapists at Douglas Counseling collaborate with the client to build a detailed plan to address the current issues and make strides towards finding solutions.

What to Expect in Therapy Sessions

Your first therapy session will include 3 main phases.

First, your therapist will learn more about you and your background. Your therapist will ask questions to learn more about personal history, current struggles, and what you have done to work on them yourself.

Next, your therapist will help you to explore what you would want to happen at the end of the counseling process. Your goals will be processed, and you and your therapist will gain clarity on what you consider a successful outcome.

Then, at the end of your therapy session your therapist will give you feedback on why you are getting/staying stuck and will propose a plan to help you work towards successful completion of your goals. Your therapist will make recommendations including what will be worked on, how often you should attend sessions, and their estimation of what a course of therapy entails.

Our approach at Douglas Counseling is always to collaborate with the client. The client’s input and insights are critical to putting together a successful plan for therapy. At Douglas Counseling you are not a passive bystander with therapy but rather are at the heart of the healing process.

Client Testimonials and Success Stories from Multnomah County

Fred and Naomi: “We had tried couples counseling several years ago but had mixed results.” “I was skeptical to try again, but I’m glad we did.” “The process for getting started was super smooth and we were able to schedule our first session within the week.” “Greg pinpointed our relationship pattern in the first session and gave us practical things to work on right from the start.” “If you are on the fence about getting started go ahead and give Douglas Counseling a call.” “I know I’m glad we did.”

Ben and Adriana: “Looking for a couple’s therapist to work with was challenging.” “We had a hard time admitting that we couldn’t fix the issues on our own.” “I was worried about talking to a stranger and telling them intimate details of my life.” “It didn’t take long for me to feel more at ease.” “Working with Greg was a totally different experience than what I had pictured.” “He was a normal guy just like me and being a man I think it helped him to understand my perspective.” “The tools and strategies we worked on really made a difference and I have recommended Douglas Counseling to several of my friends.”

Marshall: “I started working with Greg at a real low point in my life.” “My partner had just found out about my cheating and our relationship was hanging in the balance.” “I felt better after making the call and setting up the appointment, but I really felt better after my first meeting.” “We talked about a plan for me to work on individual issues then turn the focus to saving my marriage.” “We worked on the plan for several weeks and I felt better and stronger as the therapy went on.” “I was able to get healthy myself and saved my relationship.”

Client Success Stories

Story #1: Blake and Cynthia:

This Multnomah County couple came to counseling dealing with the aftermath of a recent betrayal. Both Blake and Cynthia questioned whether they could hold their relationship together. This couple had temporarily separated and had barely communicated with each other during the weeks leading up to their first appointment. The couple outlined goals for therapy including deciding whether or not to stay together, figuring out what led to the betrayal, and working towards re-building trust.

Counseling for this couple started with gaining an understanding of how the recovery process works. Their couple’s therapist walked them through the stages of healing from a betrayal, gave them realistic expectations, and talked about expected timetables for recovery. Both partners were helped to focus on their own individual recovery before looking deeper and starting to rebuild the relationship.

Working to rebuild trust is not easy and Cynthia had this to say early on: “I just don’t know how I am supposed to let him back in and give him even an ounce of trust.” “I have so many questions and nothing Blake has told me so far gives me any real answers.” This couple’s therapist helped them to mine the meaning of the betrayal. Step-by-step the couple started to piece together an understanding of what led to their disconnection in the relationship and ultimately the choice to be unfaithful. Blake reported: “I didn’t realize that I had closed myself off so much to Cynthia.” “The way I was seeing our marriage left me feeling like I had no good options to seek change, but now I’m seeing that wasn’t really true.”

This couple worked for weeks to uncover how each partner was feeling about themselves, the relationship, and how all of this played into their actions. After making sense of why the betrayal happened the counseling shifted to help the couple decide if they see a future together, and if so, what does it look like. Cynthia reported: “Going through the exercise of creating a new relationship agreement was so helpful.” “We outlined what we were looking for from a partner and got to compare our visions.” “This exercise was really a crucial part of our decision to stay together and create a new a better marriage.”

At the end of their counseling Blake and Cynthia had survived the betrayal and were well on their way to building a new and better relationship. This couple had the wisdom to seek out help from early on in their recovery journey and this early intervention was key to their success. It really is gratifying to see a couple save their relationship, and this couple is a great example of how reaching out for help is a key part of finding success.

Story #2: Brendan

Brendan wasn’t sure how or if counseling could help him, but he knew that something needed to change. Brendan, a small business owner in Multnomah County, said that despite his outward success with business he felt like his homelife was crumbling. He talked about working long hours at his business only to come home and have his partner criticize his parenting, his level of support, and then avoid him. Brendan needing something to change as he was getting closer to just ending his marriage and moving on.

Brendan worked with his therapist to see if the current pattern in his relationship felt familiar. After looking into his childhood Brendan started to make connections. “I always saw my dad just come home from work, do everything around the house, and he never complained even once.” Brendan’s therapist showed him that he was following a script laid out by his father’s actions.  By doing “his job” and not complaining Brendan thought he was “just being a good husband.” Individual counseling helped Brendan to see that he had the right to have needs, make requests, and be an equal partner in his marriage.

Through counseling Brendan gained the courage to speak out to his partner in a loving but firm way asking for change. It wasn’t easy at first, but Brendan committed to his new more assertive style of communicating. “I was almost sure that being proactive and asking for change would lead to more conflict, but it didn’t play out like that.” “My wife was actually more willing to make changes than I thought, and I also learned that she was in need of things from me that I had no idea about.”

Individual counseling is often aimed at helping the client learn to empower themselves in healthy ways. Through counseling Brendan learned to balance standing up for himself and being empathetic and understanding with his partner. Now armed with a new mindset and skills to match, Brendan is able to deal with conflict and disagreements in a healthy way.

FAQs

Where are you located?

Douglas Counseling is Located in Lake Oswego in the Lake Grove area. The address is 16325 Boones Ferry Rd. Suite 209, Lake Oswego OR, 97035

What are your hours?

Our Hours are Monday – Friday 9am to 5pm

How many sessions will I need to attend?

​The number of sessions needed varies and will be discussed with you by your therapist as part of your initial appointment. Most couples can expect a full course of therapy to last about 12 sessions. Individuals can usually expect to meet between 10-12 meetings.

How much do the sessions cost?

The cost depends on the therapist you work with.

Licensed therapist at the associate level: The initial 90-minute session cost is $220 and ongoing 60-minute sessions cost $180.

Do you take insurance?

We do not directly accept insurance. Most insurance companies will not reimburse for couples counseling as they don’t consider it a “medical necessity.” Individuals with “out of network” benefits for counseling are welcomed to submit a statement that Douglas Counseling can provide to be reimbursed for a portion of the therapy costs.

What’s the best way to schedule an appointment?

Yes, Douglas Counseling provides virtual/online appointments to all clients residing in Oregon. We use a secure telehealth platform for our online sessions.

About Multnomah County, OR

Multnomah County is a county in Oregon that is part of the greater Portland Metropolitan area. The county spans 466 square miles, is the smallest county in Oregon by area, and contains Oregon’s most populated city Portland. The county is Oregon’s most populous containing 815,428 residents (according to the 2020 Census). [source: https://www.multco.us].

Multnomah County has the most diverse population of any county in Oregon. Couples in Multnomah County face challenges including building careers, parenting, financial struggles, balancing their lives, and finding time for self-care.

Popular towns in Multnomah County include: Portland, Gresham, Troutdale, Wood City, Fairview, Maywood Park, and Dunthorpe

The Douglas Counseling Office is located just south of the Multnomah/Clackamas County line in the town of Lake Oswego. Our office is a 15-minute drive for many Portland residents, especially those living on the west side of town.

Important landmarks include Portland Japanese Garden, The Oregon Zoo, Washington Park, The Pittock Mansion, and the Columbia River Gorge.

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