Portland Therapy Center
Aaron Kelsay

Aaron Kelsay (he / him)

Licensed Professional Counselor

LPC, CADC I

I am a trauma recovery therapist with extensive experience in the healing and recovery field.

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

9712005789

9201 SE Foster Rd

207

Portland, OR 97266

Email Website

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $150-$200

Provides free initial consultation

Practicing Since: 2019

Services

  • Individual
  • Teen

Insurances Accepted

My Ideal Client

Healing is a journey. For some, "healing" means reversing years of trauma, and for others it means 'getting out of my own head' or 'getting un-stuck.' For everyone, the path to healing is a difficult one, and it is lighter, easier, more meaningful when others join in with you. To you who have tried to go it alone, I invite you to reach out. Connecting with a counselor is a way to get un-stuck in your journey towards health, to bring healing to those deeper places of hurt.

My Approach to Helping

My goal in working with a client is to help them develop the insight, skills, strengths, resources, and supports to work toward that state of being "healthy." I work with the best available, evidence-based modalities to support people on their journey towards health. This includes EMDR, trauma-based, and attachment-based modalities. What does all this mean? When you find yourself on your way towards healing, it will be because you have brought along with you many of the tools that we have developed and integrated in our sessions together. That may mean that the EMDR has re-wired your response to trauma memories. It may mean that you have developed new behavioral habits and routines, new boundaries, new ways of getting your needs met. As we help you on your journey, I will offer the best available skills, supports, resources for your healing, and my hope is that you will take away a few of the best fitting ones for you.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

When I was younger, I was constantly anxious. I would read everything all at once for school, get all my HW done as fast as possible, worry about and plan for every possible scenario. Through my own counseling work, I've managed to slow down and better adapt to that way of thinking and being. It was also over the course of that healing experience that I noticed a shift in who I was and how I wanted to be in the world. I've shed and deconstructed much of my religious, spiritual, political values, just as I shed much of the pressure, self-criticism, and anxiety of my youth. What I kept from my upbringing was the "good stuff." I still value the ideals of love, hope, peace. The "love your neighbor" way has a more holistic meaning for me now in my chosen role as a counselor. Outside of the counseling office, my family and I choose to be open and affirming with the LGBT community, support BLM, and to work towards improving the material and spiritual conditions of all people.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Addiction Therapy External link

    After years of working in intensive residential treatment, I have extensive experience working with groups, individuals using a number of modalities / interventions -- I am able to custom design a treatment plan for you, no matter where you are in your recovery journey, based on both my professional and personal, lived experience in mental health / substance use recovery.

  • Mindfulness-based External link

    I find that counseling very much lends itself to developing a regular practice of "being." Mindfulness-based interventions are just one of the ways that I support clients on their journey to healing, and I find that integrating DBT, meditation / mindfulness, and related practice are an excellent foundation for an ongoing healing and wellness program.

  • EMDR External link

    I have completed the required training in order to be certified as an EMDR therapist. I am able to implement the EMDR tools in session alongside the other theories and tools in order to address trauma and other related symptoms.

  • Attachment Theory External link

    The journey to healing is so much about relationship, and the "theory of attachment" is a wonderful way to put into words how we relate to everything in our world. I use the language of attachment alongside the other modalities in order for couples, individuals, groups to understand how and why they relate they way they do. This awareness allows us to adjust how we relate, and in doing so, move towards healing and health.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • PTSD External link

    Trauma is confusing, it's disconnecting, disorienting. Reversing trauma means re-developing and re-learning safety, trusting one's body cues, listening one's thoughts and feelings. It's a long journey, but it's well worth it. I have years of experience working with the most acute cases of PTSD, and I can say with confidence I have honed the skills to help clients move towards healing in this area.

  • Spirituality External link

    "Spirituality" hits at the core of the self, and can inspire everything from dread, shame, to joy and belonging. When this area is wounded, it is that much heavier and more difficult to ask for help. In this area, I have extensive training, background, and experience. My hope in that is to help you articulate the pain, the loss, the joys, the meaning, identity, and everything that is 'touched' by spirituality, in order that you may experience progress towards health and healing.

  • Anxiety External link

    "Anxiety" was something I experienced as "normal" until I started to put it into words. It was through my own healing journey that I realized there are other ways to be, think, and feel -- imagine if you could "let your guard down," enjoy every moment, and embrace what's coming. Through a combination of cognitive, somatic, and story-based interventions, you can move towards a more balanced, less anxious, more enjoyable way of being in the world.

Contact Aaron

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