rachel’s story

Hi there! I’m Rachel (she/her/hers). I’m so glad you’re here taking the next step on your journey towards personal growth and healing. Finding the right therapist can be difficult, so I hope this information about me will help determine if I would be a good fit for you. My approach is rooted in empathy, collaboration, and my strong belief in the inherent resilience of every individual. I’m dedicated to a therapeutic relationship co-created with my clients that relieves suffering by focusing on shared goals of connection and growth. I seek to provide a safe, judgment-free space to share stories, learn new skills, and find hope for change. A significant part of my practice involves gaining awareness of ongoing patterns, and discovering together how to shift thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to create more helpful ones. I also believe in using humor in therapy sessions, as it fosters a sense of warmth and lightness and can allow clients to feel more comfortable exploring difficult topics. 

In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my friends, family, and my cat Wesley. Lately, I’ve spent a lot of time learning how to crochet. I’ve made some hats, bags, headbands, and my pride and joy, a sweater! When I’m not crocheting, I’m often found cooking or playing video games. I also find a lot of joy spending time outside hiking, floating the river, and gardening. Additionally, I love to travel. My favorite place I’ve ever traveled to is Cinque Terre in Italy. It was absolutely beautiful and I even did some cliff jumping while I was there!

The professional stuff:

My work utilizes several different therapeutic models. The first is internal family systems therapy (IFS) in which I help clients explore and reconcile the various parts of themselves. By identifying and understanding the roles of these internal "parts," clients gain insight into their inner conflicts and discover paths towards integration and healing. I also use techniques from narrative therapy, which helps clients to rewrite the narratives of their lives by deconstructing and replacing unhelpful narratives with empowering ones. The goal of narrative therapy is to help clients regain authorship over their own stories. Additionally, I have training in sensorimotor therapy, a body-centered approach to therapy that focuses on how the body holds and processes emotions and trauma. By exploring physical sensations and movement, it helps clients increase self-awareness, regulate emotions, and heal from past experiences. Finally, I employ techniques and strategies from cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which focuses on exploring the connection between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors; challenging unhelpful patterns and changing them to be more helpful and adaptive. 

I graduated with my Master’s degree in Professional Mental Health Counseling from Lewis & Clark College in 2020. Prior to that, I received my undergraduate degree in Psychology from Oregon State University in 2016. I am an associate clinician under the supervision of Sarah Poulisse, LCSW.

My clinical experience has included experience with young adults and adolescents experiencing first episode psychosis at Peacehealth Behavioral Health, as well as outpatient work with adults at the Lewis & Clark Community Counseling Center. Most of my clinical experience is with outpatient services with adults at Washington County Counseling & Victims’ Services, where I worked with individuals from the community from a wide variety of backgrounds. This experience also led me to working with individuals at the Community Corrections Center. 

See our fees and insurance page to determine if Rachel is in network with your insurance plan.

You can reach Rachel directly at rachel@sprouttherapypdx.com