Portland Therapy Center
Elizabeth Sokolowski, PhD

Elizabeth Sokolowski, PhD (She/They)

Clinical Psychologist

PhD

Hi! I'm Soko, a queer psychologist with experience helping clients heal trauma, regulate emotions, and improve their trust in themselves.

Client Status

not accepting clients

Contact

503-427-1885

Email

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $185-$210

Provides free initial consultation

Practicing Since: 2014

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket
  • OHP CareOregon/HealthShare

My Ideal Client

I provide telehealth therapy for adults (18+) who may be struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, grief, chronic illness, or identity. I may be a good fit for you if you want to explore your lived experiences, learn more about your mental health symptoms, reinforce and adapt strengths to your advantage, and try out new coping skills, like self-compassionate alternative perspectives or mindfulness. I can work with you to collaboratively develop a treatment plan that empowers your needs.

My Background

I am licensed as a Psychologist in the State of Oregon (#3490) by the Oregon Board of Psychology. My interest in mental health started in undergrad during a philosophy class exploring the mind and early psychology. Due to experiences with chronic illness, I learned the importance of caring for both mind and body. I graduated with a PhD in Psychology from Colorado State University. I was trained as a generalist clinician to treat a wide variety of presenting concerns. I often saw clients for anxiety, depression, PTSD, trauma, grief, loss, and other life stressors. I focused my dissertation to benefit the LGBTQ+ graduate student population by identifying climate concerns (e.g., microaggressions, harassment, mental health impacts, efforts to cope) and generating a list of recommendations to improve campus climate. I became a psychologist because I wanted to provide the same safety, validation, understanding, and support for others, just like my first therapist provided for me.

My Approach to Helping

I work from trauma-informed, humanistic, and cognitive-behavioral lenses, which together recognize the influence that past and present traumatic experiences can have upon our mental health, our relationship with ourselves, and our relationships with others. I believe that change can occur for you through exploring your stories, learning about yourself, building skills, challenging your doubts, and recognizing your strength and resiliency. I recognize that our personal and cultural identities often influence our mental health and social interactions, leading to both strengths and traumatic experiences within our lives. I identify as white, genderfluid, queer, a dog mom, an aunt, and living with chronic health conditions. I invite you to discuss how your identities and lived experiences have influenced your mental health. I approach therapy with warmth, empathy, openness, and light-hearted humor to foster spaces for these conversations and identities to grow.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Humanistic  External link

    From a humanistic lens, I believe that people are fundamentally good and doing the best they can to live happy and healthy lives. Reducing distress often includes building awareness about yourself, your identity, and who you want to be. It is important to restore your trust in yourself, your wisdom, and your ability to heal from within.

  • Cognitive Behavioral (CBT) External link

    I use CBT to help clients understand the relationships between their thoughts, emotions, and actions. This work begins with an intake to gain clarity of symptoms, diagnosis, impairments, and treatment goals. CBT helps to create change by treating the unhelpful maintenance factors (e.g., low motivation) through alternative thoughts or behaviors. When change is unhelpful, I help clients find balance through acceptance skills (e.g., mindfulness) and processing stressors.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • PTSD External link

    I treat PTSD through a three-phased approach: 1) building coping skills to reduce severity of current symptoms, 2) processing traumas through narrative methods, and 3) re-establishing thriving (e.g., setting and achieving goals, connecting interpersonally).

  • Depression External link

    Utilizing CBT, I help clients explore unhelpful belief systems and treat the psychological maintenance factors of depression, such as low motivation, poor sleep, ongoing stressors, or past trauma.

  • Social Phobia External link

    I help clients reduce the intensity of their social anxiety and gain confidence through CBT, mindfulness skills and exposure activities. Sessions may focus upon identifying unhelpful belief systems, exploring originating traumas, learning mindfulness skills, and developing alternative thoughts to try-out during the week as homework.

  • Gender Identity External link

    I am a genderfluid and queer identified psychologist with lived experiences of being queer within multiple climates within the United States. I completed the WPATH Global Education Institute's Foundations Course training online in 2021. I have experience providing assessments and letters of support for gender-affirming medical care.

  • ADHD External link

    I have experience learning about the cognitive components of ADHD while I provided neuropsychological assessments for three years, with one year focused solely upon assessing ADHD. Please note: I do not currently provide neuropsychological assessment or diagnosis for ADHD. However, in individual therapy, I help clients differentiate their attention and working memory difficulties from their mental health symptoms. I also help clients build skills and fine tune routines.

Contact Elizabeth

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