Katie Playfair (she/her)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT is a "third-wave" behavior therapy that my clients and I agree, is much more tolerable approach to treating many diagnoses. I love ACT for a few reasons: 1. We emphasize CLIENT values in choosing which symptoms we're treating and how we're approaching the treatment. 2. It's transdiagnostic. The same skill can benefit multiple people with different diagnoses. ACT skills can benefit someone with depression, anxiety, OCD, or other symptoms. 3. It's neurodiversity-affirming.

Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)

CBT is a very evidence-based approach to changing your behavior, thereby changing your thoughts, and finally, changing your feelings. I rarely use CBT in isolation (I like to combine it with ACT) but CBT techniques are still my go-to approach for many common anxiety challenges.

Coaching

Some of my clients need support in exploring their values, career directions, or simply making progress in a part of their life they feel stuck on. I use an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approach to coaching, whether it's career coaching, ADHD coaching, or partner coaching for the loved ones of people with OCD, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorders, etc.

OCD

OCD includes Illness Anxiety Disorder/Health Anxiety/hypochondriasis, obsessions, compulsions, skin and hair picking, and some other types of more severe anxiety you might not know are in the OCD cluster. This is one area where I've done a lot of specialized training. I use neurodiversity-affirming Acceptance and Commitment Therapy + Exposure and Response Prevention for most clients with OCD and related disorders. e

Personal Growth

My first career was in management consulting for technology teams. This experience has given me a lot of insight into career counseling subjects beyond the material we're required to know as counselors. I know about the workplace cultures of many major employers in Oregon and Washington and clients tell me that this experiences has been helpful in discussing their work-related stressors with me. I also have a career counseling guide and framework for helping clients with career change.

Women's Issues

I've been through multiple pregnancies, difficult deliveries, pregnancy loss, and perimenopause and have helped clients navigate these life experiences as well. I help clients with anxiety histories plan for possible pregnancy-related anxiety, depression, or OCD and provide support for those who were completely surprised by the arrival of these symptoms.

ADHD

While I understand the benevolent aims of the "ADHD is a superpower" crowd, it's also a disability for many people. Living with a brain with a bit too much power and a little too little control is exhausting and demoralizing. I help clients with ADHD better understand their brains, identify their strengths and experiences of success, and then develop customized approaches to living better with this neurodevelopmental disorder.

Autism

Like most clinicians of my generation, we weren't given much education about autism in school. As our understanding of it has expanded, it's become clear to me why some clients with "OCD" are less successful with traditional ERP. If "OCD" is better explained by Autism, we need a neurodiversity-affirming approach to treatment, not a one-size-fits-all protocol developed on neurotypical people in a lab. I work with Autistic clients' team to develop the right approach for them.