Catherine Chapman | Therapy Specialty | Portland, Oregon Counselor

Even on the best of days, life can be challenging.

If you have experienced losses and trauma at any point in your life, your ability to manage the 'normal' stressors of life

can become greatly diminished. Physical health can deteriorate. Mental health issues can either show up, or flare up.

Life can go from challenging to unbearable fairly quickly. That's where therapy can be helpful.

Feeling stuck or hopeless means something needs to shift...something needs to be resolved.

Here's a few of the life stressors I specialize in helping adults work through.

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Loss and Grief

It happens to everyone at some point, but still there is no way to fully prepare for it. The unthinkable. The potential loss you never wanted to acknowledge. The loss that never even crossed your mind as a possibility. And you find yourself completely side-swiped by unrelenting grief. Waves of depression, shock, anger, and sheer pain wash over your life leaving you feeling unstable, out of control, and many times misunderstood by those closest to you. You need someone to talk to who really understands the impact of grief, and gives you permission to speak and feel anything and everything you are experiencing. You need to hear that what you are feeling is normal for the circumstance and that there is no expectation that you 'get over it', 'move on already', and 'be thankful for what you still have.' Grief doesn't resolve as quickly as we wish it would. If we are not healthy in how we approach grief it is easy to get stuck. Staying stuck in grief means that eventually all of life can become defined by that loss.

Whether you are experiencing grief from a recent loss, or a distant past loss that you can't seem to resolve, I can provide support for moving through grief so you can begin to find some solid ground for your life again. I look forward to hearing from you.

Family or Origin Issues

Whether we like it or not, our family of origin comes with us into adult life in the form of automatic thoughts, beliefs, worldview, behaviors, attitudes, political leanings, religious training, and how we view ourselves. Many people move through life without examining their inner world. Instead, they just go with everything they learned at home. The majority of people could benefit from taking a thoughtful look at the continuing influences from their early years. Some people get into adult life and realize they have no idea who they really are, what they like, what they want, what they hope for, and how to speak up for themselves. Somehow and for some reason, their true selves got buried along the way. Family of Origin work is not about blaming parents and/or caregivers. It is about getting a clear and full picture of who you are. You will learn your strengths and vulnerabilities. By examining your life, you will get to choose what beliefs you want to keep, and what needs to be replaced by truths congruent with who you are. In the process, you will discard the negative thinking and beliefs that came from others. You will find your voice. You will learn to set boundaries that align with your soul. You will be able to make decisions about your future based on your passions, strengths, and desires. You will approach relationships with a healthier mindset. You'll become comfortable in your own skin, and take care of yourself because you understand and honor your innate value. Interested? Contact me for an appointment and we will get started on your path of self-discovery.

Sexual Trauma

The physical, mental, sexual, emotional, and spiritual symptoms that follow a traumatic incident can leave survivors feeling completely out of their own control. Sexual abuse, rape, physical abuse, neglect, inappropriate and/or unwanted touch, and emotional abuse all leave tremendous scars and after-effects. The body can become overwhelmed rendering individuals too anxious to function effectively. Sleep can be elusive and/or fraught with nightmares. Memories of the incident replay and overwhelm the whole system. Beliefs about life, others, and relationships becomes jaded. And hope seems downright foolish. Panic can become the norm. Any faith and/or beliefs that were previously life-sustaining, now waver. Fear and self-preservation take over. Everyday chores, like going to a grocery store, can be unpredictable, scary, and exhausting experiences. Relationships become strained. Life is exhausting. All of these symptoms (and many more) are normal reactions to traumatic incidents. The frustrating reality is that the traumatic incident(s) may have happened many years ago...all the way back into childhood, and your body is still reeling from them. Your body remembers and stores every trauma that happens to it. If when trauma is experienced, there is no support system, no one to talk to, if there is any shame around what happened, if it was considered a "secret", then it is unlikely that the trauma could be processed soon enough to avoid the above symptoms. So years later you can experience symptoms that seem completely out of sync with your current life. Is healing possible? Well, let's put it this way... Working through trauma is difficult. Is it worth it? Based on my personal experience, I would answer a resounding YES, but ultimately this is something you will have to decide for yourself. Here are some things to keep in mind if you're questioning whether this work is for you or not. If you are experiencing symptoms of trauma from situations that occurred in the distant past, the symptoms will not just go away. You can't drink or drug them away. You can't replace your pain with new exciting relationships and/or sex. You can't cut your skin enough to find relief for any real amount of time. You cannot over-achieve, excessively exercise, over-eat, overwork, or in any other way distract yourself effectively enough to outrun what happened. Ask yourself a few questions: Is it worth it to you to try a healing path? Are you tired of your life as it is? Are you ready for the next step? If so, let's get together and talk about what it would look like to move through and resolve these issues, so you can create the life you want, instead of being driven by what happened to you. Feel free to contact me and set up an appointment.

Other Offerings

In addition to the above, I also have training in EMDR which is used to treat grief and trauma. I also utilize Internal Family Systems for healing.

I work with parents who have children with disabilities, individuals who have experienced religious/spiritual abuse, and patients with differing forms of dementia and their families.