Portland Therapy Center
Polly Gravely MS, LPC, MFT

Polly Gravely MS, LPC, MFT (she/her)

Licensed Professional Counselor

Licensed in OR and WA

Hi. I work as a relational therapist helping people sort through stuck patterns – either individual or couple – for a freer, better life.

Client Status

accepting clients

Contact

5033885710

5319 SW Westgate Dr.

Suite 246

Portland, 97221

Teletherapy/Remote

Email Website

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $180-$200

Provides free initial consultation

Provides telehealth services

Practicing Since: 2011

Languages: English, Français

Services

  • Individual
  • Relationship

Insurances Accepted

  • PacificSource

My Ideal Client

Life comes with difficult chapters—and you don’t have to face them alone. Maybe you’re feeling low and can’t shake it. Maybe anxious thoughts keep you up at night. Maybe you and your partner keep circling the same unresolved arguments. As a therapist with deep experience in relational dynamics, I help people make sense of the unconscious patterns that keep them stuck. Together, we’ll build your awareness and agency—so you can move through life with more freedom, clarity, and connection.

My Background and Approach

I’m trained in relational dynamics with a specialty in attachment and differentiation. These skills help me track how people get stuck in rigid ways of relating, either with themselves -- such as stuck in loops of anxiety or depression -- or in how they relate with someone else – perhaps reactive patterns of criticism and defensiveness. We are all constantly in relationship, either with people around us, or with ourselves. We learn our patterns from our first family and typically repeat variations of the same pattern. I help by increasing your awareness of these dynamics – internal and the external - to notice where there’s constriction and limitation, and why. When we have awareness, we can create change. Common issues I treat: Individuals: a self-critical voice that creates defeat or low self-esteem; a fearful inner voice that undermines confidence. Couples: codependency, disconnection, reactivity, unhealthy conflict or avoidance of it, discrepancy of sexual desire.

Why I Became a Therapist

Twenty years ago, I was a reporter covering the U.S. Senate—chronicling daily conflict and dysfunction. It was a grind. Eventually, I left Washington, moved to Portland, and retrained as a therapist. Now, instead of reporting on conflict, I help people understand and resolve it. I support clients in getting unstuck—listening for what’s beneath the words, below the reactive emotions—and helping them grow into a more integrated, empowered life. Because there is a way through. And it starts with understanding.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Couples Counseling External link

    I have a lot of experience helping people sort through conflict or disconnection, working to help you understand how you got here and find the path out. I have years of training in Emotion Focused Therapy, the Gottman Method, and other approaches so that I bring a strong set of skills, perception, and experience to help you recover and repair your relationship and connection.

  • Attachment Theory External link

    Attachment theory explains how early relationships shape our ability to connect, trust, and feel secure with others. In therapy, I help clients understand their attachment patterns and what informs them: are you on the avoidant or anxious ends of the spectrum and how does it affect you and your relationships? With me you can learn how to be in better balance, heal relational wounds, and build stronger, more fulfilling connections in the present.

  • Emotionally Focused External link

    Emotion-Focused Therapy is my primary modality. It's an approach that guides people underneath words, actions, and reactive secondary emotions, to underlying primary emotions, which are frequently out of awareness. I know how to listen to these underlying feelings and help people tune in so they understand what's really the problem and what they really need.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Self-Esteem External link

    Most of us have an inner critical voice that keeps us in line, but for some of us that voice is punishing. Maybe your inner voice tells you that you're not good enough, that you look bad, and flings other criticisms at you. It's hard to live with a voice like that. I work to listen, to understand, and gradually shift this voice so that it trusts you, takes its right place, and works in support of you.

  • Relationship / Marriage Issues External link

    My foundation as a therapist is all relational. When we are stuck in ourselves, we are stuck in our relationships, and vice versa. I have a lot of specific trainings in couples' work to help open up emotional dynamics so that places that feel tight, restricted and even hopeless, can begin to open and change.

  • Anxiety External link

    Life can feel like it's coming at us nonstop—and that overwhelm can feed anxiety. We often try to gain control, but when that doesn’t work, the anxiety only grows. I help people not only reduce the symptoms, but also develop awareness of what’s driving the anxiety. Gradually, it softens—and you gain more clarity, choice, and freedom in your life.

  • Depression External link

    Life is full of ups and downs, we live that all the time, but sometimes life can feel too much and hopeless. I can assist you using a combination of symptom relief and self-exploration so that gradually the sadness can lift, and you are better able to cope.

Contact Polly

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