Services & Programs

Six-week Classes- not available right now, but drop us a note and we'll let you know about scheduing for the future.

Newly Single: Surviving Divorce or a Break-up

Learn to deal with the uncertainty, pain and disorganization of breaking up a relationship.

Isn't life too short to spend it unhappy?

Creating Lasting Love

This class is especially for men and women who would like to find a partner. Learn how to enjoy dating and handle relationships in a healthy way.

Relationship Intelligence for Young Adults

Teenagers can learn how to handle friendship, and attractions, with confidence and maturity. Skills for choosing trustworthy friends. Find partners for respectful and enjoyable dating. Improve your "interpersonal intelligence"!

Exploring Happiness

Is happiness an elusive,fleeting sensation based on a mood, or good circumstances? Or could it be a sustained inner state of a healthy mind? We will teach you proven strategies to support developing happiness in daily life.

We guarantee our classes.

We want these programs to work for you, and stand behind them completely. If you're not satisfied one year after completing a class, we completely refund your fee.

Class Fees

Payment plans available. Reserve your space for $50.

$50 early registration discount

$20 discount if a friend also signs up for the class

Class fee $300 for six weeks

Space limited to allow for plenty of small group interaction.

Individual Counseling Services

We provide in-office counseling services with flexible scheduling. We work in a way that draws on your strengths and encourages creative thinking about the changes you want to make. Along with our training in traditional outcome-oriented "talk therapy," we may suggest:

reading materials to supplement our sessions
journaling and writing
teaching you skills to control your breathing
demonstrating and teaching you movement activities
awareness of body sensations
using artwork or imagery
community activities and resources

Change in Motion

Many people find it helpful to walk during sessions. Because we provide holistic care and want to support you in all aspects of your life, we offer this form of coaching to encourage you in developing healthy habits. We meet at the downtown Park blocks or in the lovely SE Ladd's Addition neighborhood.

The rhythm of walking can create a reflective experience that stirs fresh thoughts and insights. Along with the physical benefits of movement, the opportunity to enjoy the natural world can be renewing. (Please note: This is not a service insurance companies allow us to bill; only office appointments are available through health insurance.)

Northwest Singles Events and Creating Lasting Love Class

We haven't currently scheduled, but will eventually resume monthly Northwest Singles and Creating Lasting Love class events, described on the www.NW-Singles.com page.

90 Minute Dating Coach Makeover

Are you discouraged about dating? Trying your best and not getting great results? How about meeting with one of our staff for an expert consultation? We can talk over what you've tried so far, and figure out what strategies best fit your style and personality. Whether you're using internet or personals ads, blind dates, or just the "if it's meant to be" approach, we offer you honest feedback on how you present yourself, and suggest resources and ideas to help you find the loving relationship you deserve.

Dating Coach Makeover Plus

Really stuck on why you're not finding the right match, or not getting second dates?

Consider the 90 Minute Makeover, plus one additional session with two options:

1. Role-play a "first date" with one of our staff in a realistic manner by meeting in a coffee shop, then review what happened for the second half of the meeting. [*Of course we keep clear boundaries and do not date our clients; we keep our relationship with you professional, so we have the objectivity we need in order to be of help.]

2. Meet at our office for the role-play, and use our video camera to record the meeting; then use the second half of the meeting time to review the tape and discuss how you might modify your style, in order to date, or for that matter just encounter new people in any situation, with greater effectiveness.

With either option, we give you caring and frank feedback on your appearance, body language, communication style and ways to improve your first impression. If you're into saving time, this is a great way to get ready for speed-dating!

Please get in touch with us today if you're ready to start making these improvements in your life! info@PortlandCoachingandCounseling.com

Couple or Marriage Counseling & Coaching

It can be tough to seek help for your relationship concerns. So much is at stake; often couples have suffered for a long time, hoping things would improve, before seeking outside help. It may have become very difficult to speak honestly to your partner because conflict has gotten so intense, or because you've had distance between you for so long. We work with you to break the tension or silence and start having the conversations you need to, in order to get close again and re-establish trust.

Course Correction

People wait too long to seek counseling for their relationship! Research indicates most people are unhappy for an average of 7 years before seeking help. This is very unfortunate and unnecessary, because there are so many ways we can help you improve your relationship patterns and get "un-stuck". It is also inarguably clear that living with an unhappy relationship is, quite literally, a health hazard. Under conditions of relationship stress, our bodies secrete unhealthy levels of certain hormones, and over time immune functioning is affected.

We offer a four session assessment based on research by the Gottman Institute in Seattle, consisting of a couple interview, individual sessions with both partners, and a hefty set of questionnaires; the material is carefully reviewed by your counselor and then presented to you at the fourth meeting with both partners present. We give you a forecast on where the relationship is headed; we identify your strengths, and if there are concerns, how we recommend you proceed to make needed changes.

Are We Compatible? Premarital Assessment

Using the format of two couple sessions and one individual session with each partner, combined with written questionnaires, we provide you with an objective, comprehensive picture of your relationship strengths and challenges. We give you feedback on your communication styles, your methods for addressing conflict, and how events from the past may influence your relationship in the future. Then you can proceed with shared understanding and a common language for talking about your life together.

Teen Services and Programs

Individual Counseling Services

Sessions are scheduled at your convenience, with evening and weekend appointments often available. We have numerous ways we connect with teens, including artwork, music, even talking about movies and other media. We believe in using whatever methods work for teaching kids the specific skills they need to deal with problems in peer relationships, with school issues, and to cope with their own emotions as they move through the transformative experience of adolescence.

Change in Motion

Walking sessions are especially favored by our teen clients. We walk together in the downtown Park Blocks neighborhood, or the attractive Ladds Addition area in SE. Walking helps kids to treat our sessions as just another part of their day-to-day life, and to feel that they can make the time their own, to discuss what is relevant to them.

Services and Programs for Families

Shake Your Family Tree - Single Premium Session

Meet with our staff as a family to diagram family history and determine how the past may inform the present.

Avoid repeating old patterns, and break the generational cycles that may be holding you back
Take pride in your family's triumphs
Understand your partner more deeply
Inform your children of their legacy

Perfect for busy families who want to connect with their teens or young adult children through stories and precious memories. Together we create a take-home visual history of your family. Recording of this session is also available.

Services and Programs on Sexuality

A Sex-Positive Approach to Individual Counseling

Do you have to be in a relationship to learn more about your sexual self? Not at all. We work with individuals who want better sexual connection, in their relationship or with their feelings about their own sexuality. People come to us with concerns about orgasmic ability; lack of desire; questions about sexual fantasies or turn-ons; or abuse histories that get in the way of the expressiveness and joy they seek in their sexual relationship.

We work with a wide variety of people and are open to the multitude of ways people seek sexual satisfaction and pleasure.

We are sex-positive; sex is an especially precious and fun aspect of being human, and we believe everyone is entitled to enjoying a wonderful sex life.

Having a healthy attitude about sexuality means:

You are able to communicate with your partner about what each of you likes and doesn't like.
You act in ways that are authentic and true to yourself.
You are clear and respectful about boundaries, and seek partners who respect yours.
You have a positive sexual relationship with yourself and are able to give yourself sensations of pleasure.
You feel confident that you know how to please another, and are competent sexually.
You know how to obtain information about sexual questions or concerns you may have, and take responsibility for improving your sex life when desired.
Difficult relationships or experiences from the past may continue to influence you, but you still allow yourself to enjoy and take possession of your sexual self.
Your sexual behavior and relationships feel like a natural extension and expression of who you are, as a whole complex, emotional, sensual and imaginative person.

Couples Counseling for Sexual Concerns

Couples of all kinds and compositions get capable help and a welcoming attitude from our team. We have sought out extensive training in working effectively with couples on these concerns, which often involve a great deal of vulnerability. We can assist with disparities in desire between partners; lack of sexual energy or interest; orgasm or "performance" problems; generating energy and renewing sexual excitement; negotiating exploratory activities together, with cooperation and sensitivity; recreating trust after infidelity.

We help all kinds of couples find greater intimacy and emotional satisfaction, and rediscover or deepen the delight of their physical relationship. Many people lack the skills to create the kind of satisfaction they long for in relationship. They may believe it is wrong or selfish to want pleasure, or that it is impossible with their current partner. They may have difficulty talking intimately and explicitly, and so remain unsatisfied. They may feel lonely, even in a sexual relationship. But sex can serve to create a powerful sense of well-being and vitality, and we believe it is your birthright as a person to enjoy sexual feelings and share them with someone close to you.

Our counselors are kink-aware and poly-friendly. We assist all sorts of people because we believe many kinds of sexual expression are joyful, consensual and can contribute to growth and well-being. Please contact us if you are curious about how we may be of help to you.