Portland Therapy Center
sandeep kumar

sandeep kumar

Licensed Professional Counselor

As a licensed psychotherapist that works with individual adults and children, I have witnessed therapy’s ability to transform a person’s life. I use mindfulness to cultivate presence of mind that facilitates this process. I specialize in serving children, adolescents, men, and people of color.

Client Status

waitlist

Contact

971-277-1027

325 NW 21st Ave.

Suite 104

Portland, OR 97209

3050 SE Division St.

#260

Portland, Oregon 97202

Email Website

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $135-$190

Provides free initial consultation

Provides telehealth services

Practicing Since: 2010

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual
  • Teen

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket
  • Out of Network
  • Kaiser
  • PacificSource

I use Compassion Focused Therapy, which is similar to Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Both focus on the inner thoughts that drive behaviors. The process uncovers thoughts, examines what motivations and questions their relevance to the current situation. While CBT seeks to change thoughts, I ask my clients to accept thoughts that had been useful in the past. Negative self-talk develops at a young age and can be detrimental for healthy thinking and perspective. My style of therapy brings greater awareness to self-talk. It’s difficult to sustain this process without an equal amount of compassion. I emphasize self-kindness and awareness when working with self-talk. I believe in the benefits of positive self-talk and positive thinking, but it works best when authentic. I ask my clients, “What do you want to create for yourself in the world? What do you want for and from your life?” A person who believes that one can get what one seeks, stands a better chance of attaining it.

I've practiced meditation and martial arts for over 20 years, and after teaching children’s classes in the Japanese martial art, Aikido, I became interested in the intersection of mental health and the learning process. I saw that the mind and body were at an optimal learning receptivity when one was calm. As I worked with more students, I realized that many students lacked the confidence to accomplish what they wanted. I entered private practice, as a way to provide dedicated, ongoing healing for adults and children who seek a better way to experience their lives through improving self-esteem, and examining belief systems. We are often unconscious of core, ingrained beliefs, the narratives we hold about our own lives and how events fall into a constructed narration. Therapy allows a person to step back and see the narrative as something one has created, and can be recreated to follow a new journey where one is at greater choice.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Mindfulness-based External link

    I've practiced mindfulness meditation for over 20 yrs, and I understand the frustrations that are part of the process of learning to focus the mind. Mindfulness is not just a side part of my therapy practice, but a primary component that I use to connect the insight and awareness into one's motivation, and the development of empathy and compassion for oneself and others.

  • Eclectic External link

    I draw on a number of modalities including: Narrative (looking at the story you tell yourself and how to reconstruct new ones), Jungian (art and dream work when appropriate), Eastern Psychology (yoga, Aikido, meditation and general Eastern philosophy), Body-centered (derived mostly from my work with Aikido), Holistic (as I try to look to weave various areas of life into a healthy whole).

  • Cognitive Behavioral (CBT) External link

    CBT focuses on inner thoughts that drive behaviors. The process involves uncovering thoughts, examining what motivations might inspire them, and questioning whether they are still relevant to the current situation. CBT seeks to then change these thoughts. I diverge from CBT in that I don’t ask my clients to directly change thoughts. I encourage clients accept how thoughts might have been helpful.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Cultural and Systemic Oppression External link

    As a person of color, I understand the reality of coping with systemic oppression when one is of a cultural, sexual, gender or other minority. I make efforts to be sensitive to how this appears in my clients’ life, including challenging therapeutic modalities that are often conceived by and for those of majority status. I offer a safe space within today’s political climate.

  • Spirituality External link

    Western culture tends to focus on the material world, not just commercialism, but also on things that we can see and believe to understand. When we step into the unknown and gain greater ease embracing the unknown, our life can open up in unexpected ways. I have an Eastern perspective and often bring in concepts of meditation, yoga, and martial arts into the here and now of one's life.

  • Men's Issues External link

    Feminism has rightly challenged women's oppression. However, patriarchy impacts men as well as women. Gender roles are shifting in our society, and I offer a space to unpack and examine what that might mean in your life and how you can live a more authentic life, free of social expectations.

  • Child or Adolescent Issues External link

    For 10 years, I've worked with children, teens and young adults at the K-5, middle, high school and college level. I help children age 8 & up with mental health and its impact on their scholastic and general self-esteem. I'm interested in working with children and adolescents coping with anxiety, bullying issues and children who perceive themselves to think and feel differently than others.

  • Anxiety External link

    If you suffer from general anxiety, social anxiety, or other anxiety, I can help through the use of mindfulness practices and assisting you in uncovering the root causes of the stress. As society becomes more fast paced, social media takes our attention, or our children become time-pressured, training the mind to respond in a way that effectively calms during stressful moments becomes essential.

Contact sandeep

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