Portland Therapy Center
Nova (Stephenie) Knutson

Nova (Stephenie) Knutson (she/her)

Professional Counselor Associate

MA, CHT

Supervisor: Deborah Lee Thornby, LMFT; Stephen Keeley, LPC

Therapy is a place where we can be accepted in our entirety-understood in our struggles & reflected in our innate worthiness & dignity.

Client Status

waitlist

Contact

503 358 5263

NE 47th and Prescott St

Portland, 97218

Email

At a Glance

Me

Rate: $110-$150

Provides free initial consultation

Provides telehealth services

Practicing Since: 2019

Languages: English

Services

  • Individual

Insurances Accepted

  • Out of Pocket

My Ideal Client

Many of the people I work with have experienced childhood, sexual, cultural or attachment trauma. Many come reporting difficulty in the arenas of connection, community and belonging; struggling with anxiety, isolation, self-doubt or the sense that something is holding them back from living as their fullest self. My clients report that our work together leads to decreased physical and mental symptoms of trauma & stress and increased satisfaction in relationships, work & creativity.

My Approach to Helping

My work uses mindfulness and a body oriented approach to foster palpable positive changes in the quality of the experiences you are having day to day. As your experience of life changes for the better, behavior, feelings and actions naturally change with it. My clients say that I am kind, warm and gentle but also willing to be direct. Therapy with me is effective and deep and also frequently joyful and filled with laughter.

My Personal Beliefs and Interests

As a certified Hakomi Therapist and Teacher, I have more than a decade of experience and the skills to promote lasting change. I have extensive training and experience helping clients regain access to a sense of safety and possibility through somatic trauma resolution work. I also specialize in attachment oriented work including training and experience in both CIMBS and AEDP. Attachment therapy operates on the understanding that, because infants need their caregivers for survival, very young children learn at an implicit, unspoken level which aspects of self will be welcomed, tolerated or rejected by our caregivers. We carry that unspoken "rulebook" forward into future relationships, often with painful results. These painful templates remain in play until we have experiences that help them change. Working directly with the attachment system, challenging the unspoken rules, can free us up to create fuller and more authentic relationships with others and within ourselves.

Techniques I Use

Specialties

  • Attachment Theory External link

    Attachment therapy uses principles of modern neuroscience and research about the ways humans form inner relationship models based on our early relationships. Unless they are interrupted, we carry these forward into current relationships, for better or for worse. I work with a client's present moment relational experiences to unravel old relationship patterns and foster new, more satisfying ones.

  • Somatic Therapy (Body Centered) External link

    Somatic therapies operate on the principle that body and mind are co-arising and co-influencing and that attending to the body is integral to the healing process. Untended emotional challenges often manifest in physical pain and dis-ease. As a certified Hakomi Therapist I have specialized training and over 16 years of experience in counseling with a somatic/body centered orientation.

  • Mindfulness-based External link

    As a certified Hakomi Therapist and teacher for the International Hakomi Institute, my work is mindfulness-based, experiential and humanistic. This means that I foster and respect my clients' self awareness and use the client's own present moment experience to inform us about what is needed. Mindfulness helps you get more connected to your own inner strength, resilience and wisdom.

Issues I Treat

Specialties

  • Abuse External link

    The impacts of childhood or ongoing sexual, physical or emotional abuse can deeply impact one's ongoing level of safety, belonging, freedom, self-respect/esteem, spontaneity, joy and ease. Some of my deepest satisfaction comes from supporting abuse survivors in reclaiming their access to their aliveness and power.

  • Loss or Grief External link

    Although we are all impacted by loss and grief, contemporary dominant culture lacks tools and rituals to process and move through our grief. Grief and loss are a normal part of the human condition which, when processed have the potential to offer us depth, meaning and richness. I am honored to support clients through transformative grief processes.

  • PTSD External link

    Trauma impacts our minds and our bodies, often leaving survivors feeling alone, out of control and disrupting sleep, digestion, physical comfort, social contact and the sense of basic safety. My work focuses on the impacts to mind and body, to reestablish a sense of basic safety that allows a return to feeling equilibrium. My clients report reduced symptoms and greater freedom to engage in life.

  • Anxiety External link

    The pervasive impacts of anxiety can be deeply disruptive to living an engaged and satisfying life. Latent emotions and unmet needs often underly and intensify anxiety. I work with anxiety from a both somatic (physical) and emotional perspective to support making the kinds of changes that lead to reduction of anxiety and its accompanying symptoms.

Contact Nova (Stephenie)

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