Portland Therapy Center
Dasia Star

Dasia Star (she/they)

Marriage and Family Therapist Associate

Master of Arts in Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy

Supervisor: Sharon Chatkupt-Lee, PsyD; Pilar Hernandez-Wolfe, PHD, LPC, LMFT.

Find hope, empathy, and care for yourself and your relationship(s)

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

503 974 0120

97212

Email Website

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $145-$225

Provides free initial consultation

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual
  • Relationship

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket
  • OHP CareOregon/HealthShare

My Ideal Client

I focus on relationships (including your relationship with yourself!). I am passionate about bringing empathy and care to individuals, couples, and alternative partnerships as they navigate transitions, cultivate more trust with in themselves and their relationships, discover greater intimacy, improve communication, practice boundary setting, explore their attachment styles, and find greater relational security. I am here to join you and support you in your personal growth and/or partnership(s).

My Background and Approach

My relationship with counseling began when I entered therapy for an addiction that shaped my early adulthood. Therapy offered me a space where I felt genuinely grounded, supported, and seen for the first time in my life. My inspiration for becoming a therapist was rooted in the love and safety I found in the therapeutic relationship. My theoretical foundation is trauma informed, attachment based, and draws from Emotionally Focused, Person Centered, and Somatic therapies. Additionally, I have completed professional training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, am currently a Teaching Assistant and am in ongoing consultation for this modality. In session I use mindfulness as an instrument to help clients increase self-awareness and self-compassion, move through painful and immobilizing places, and journey within to regain access to concealed or restrained inner magic.

Social Justice Issues I Care About

My Identity: In terms of my own identity, I am a white, queer, polyamorous, non-binary femme. I love working with everyone from monogamous and cis/het folx to people with diverse and fluid relationship styles and identities. As an activist and systemic thinker, issues of equity and justice are always on my mind. Given our current cultural and political landscape, many of us are in real need of de-stigmatizing and non-shaming therapeutic spaces where we can fully be ourselves. My hope as a therapist is to give folx a space where they don’t have to edit or disown any of their parts. I am body positive, sex positive, kink positive, LQBTQIA+ affirming, anti-racist, and spiritually open. I value working with couples and relationships of all kinds, including with non-traditional and non-monogamous relational orientations. Everyone is welcome here!

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Emotionally Focused External link

    We all get into patterns based on our attachment histories. Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) supports folx (individuals, couples, nonmonogamous partners, friends) in getting to the heart of what is causing ongoing conflicts or difficult stuck points. Using EFT, we can slow down and uncover our attachment dance, find more authentic connection, and move toward deeper connection with ourselves and others.

  • Mindfulness-based External link

    Mindfulness can mean a lot of different things. In therapy, I will invite you to slow down and notice different parts of your experience: thoughts, emotions, body sensations, impulses, etc. Cultivating mindfulness will help us to explore and welcome all parts of you. Mindfulness-based care will work to increase self-awareness, self-compassion, resiliency, and strength.

  • Hakomi External link

    Using this mindful, somatic approach, we will connect with conscious and unconscious parts of your experience. As we explore your experience, I may invite you to experiment with different approaches to connecting with yourself and your emotions. This method of care can help you connect to deeper core material and change limiting beliefs.

  • Nonviolent Communication External link

    When we discover and learn to honor our needs, we are able to bring more authenticity into our relationships. When we discover the needs of our partners, we are able to be in true collaboration with them. I will use tools from NVC in order to support you in finding your relational autonomy, communicating your needs, and learning how to collaborate around your stuck points.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Relationship / Marriage Issues External link

    When stuck in a challenging pattern of conflict, it can be hard to maintain hope. I am passionate about supporting monogamous and ethically non-monogamous partners in rediscovering connection, trust, communication, and care. Let's together cultivate compassion for the places you get stuck and learn new ways of relating that better serve your relationship. I truly believe that intimate relationships can be life-affirming and hope to help you foster more love and authenticity in your partnership.

  • Gender Identity External link

    As a nonbinary therapist, supporting folx in exploring their gender identity is some of the most rewarding work that I do. I want you to feel empowered to show up as your whole self, regardless of the context. Let's work together to unpack the blocks to expressing yourself more fully. For NB, trans, and gender fluid folx seeking gender affirming surgery, I am happy to offer you a letter writing session. Gender affirming care should be a human right.

  • Anxiety External link

    If you find yourself getting stuck in anxiety that prevents you from sharing your authentic thoughts, feelings, boundaries, needs, etc., I am interested in working with you! Let's slow down and gently examine the fear that makes it feel impossible to voice your concerns from an empowered place of confidence. I want to study the origins of your anxiety and work together to cultivate the skills to ground you through it. Let's better understand what your anxiety is needing to feel soothed!

  • Body Image Issues External link

    Is your kiddo struggling with feelings of insecurity about their body? Are you a pissed off femme, wondering why all of the years of unpacking/unlearning patriarchy still have not left you feeling secure in your body? Are you NB/GNC and needing a space to process what it is like to simply live in your body? I never want you to feel shamed of your body again. I want to support you in finding peace, safety, and ease in your body. I genuinely believe that is everyone's birthright.

  • Polyamorous and Open Relationships External link

    Are you intellectually on board with ethical non-monogamy, but find yourself experiencing anxiety, conflict, or emotional exhaustion in your polyamory? Perhaps you've never experimented with polyamory and are wondering if it is the right relationship style for you. I am enthusiastic about non-traditional relationships. Regardless of where you are at in your ENM journey, I want to support you in finding the clarity and ease you need continue healing and growing in your radical relationships.

Contact Dasia

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