Choosing Your Mental Health: Compassionate, Trauma-Informed Therapy

Maybe it’s another day of trying to manage anxiety or feelings of depression. Maybe you’re facing a family crisis, navigating a difficult transition, or unsure how to support your child through a change that also feels overwhelming to you. Whether you’re coping with a present challenge, healing from past trauma, or noticing recurring emotional patterns, you don’t have to navigate it alone.

I’m Mary, a licensed psychotherapist based in Portland, Oregon, and a certified Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist. I offer trauma-informed, attachment-based therapy for children, teens, young adults, families, and individuals seeking meaningful support and growth. With 12 years of experience, I specialize in working with:

  • Anxiety and depression
  • Trauma and PTSD
  • Relationship and family conflict
  • Life transitions
  • Grief and loss
  • Mood disorders
  • Artists and creatives facing burnout, loss of identity, or injury
  • Emotional or behavioral struggles/dysregulation in children and teens

I work through an attachment lens, incorporating Internal Family Systems, Developmental Repair, trauma-informed care, and somatic awareness. I am a relational therapist who will show up authentically for you through collaboration, compassion, humor, and support. I will hold space and accountability, and together we can work towards more safety, connectedness, and understanding.

My Approach

Through my work in hospitals, schools, residential treatment centers, shelters, day treatment programs, in-home care, and outpatient clinics, I’ve encountered a wide range of human experiences and emotional needs. These varied settings have shaped the way I show up as a therapist — adaptable, compassionate, and attentive to the uniqueness of each person I meet. I work to help people identify, navigate, and grow through developmental patterns that no longer serve them, as well as attend to life experiences that inform the beliefs they carry today. I have worked with clients to allow in all the parts that make them who they are, to connect more deeply to their voice and agency, and to discover and develop new ways to navigate life’s offerings. I also have a background in movement practices & treatments, which contributes to my integrated approach to healing. In sessions, I emphasize attunement towards the mind-body connection. Therapy that integrates both the physical and emotional experiences allows for a deeper sense of embodiment, healing, and being.

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy

Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy (BCST) is a gentle, light-touch modality that supports your body’s inherent blueprint for health. Over time, trauma, stress, or life experiences can create tension or blockages in the nervous system — manifesting as physical pain, emotional distress, or a feeling of disconnection. I partner with you to help your body reconnect to its wisdom, resources, and sense of wholeness, and to help restore nervous system regulation. To this treatment, I bring a trauma-informed approach. I work to create a safe container to hold what needs to be processed, and to allow your body to release at its chosen pace.

Services and Modalities

Therapy Services:

  • Individual Therapy (Adults and Young Adults)
  • Child and Adolescent Therapy
  • Family and Parenting Support
  • Trauma and PTSD Recovery
  • Grief and Loss Counseling
  • Life Transitions Support
  • Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy

Modalities I Use:

  • Internal Family Systems (IFS)
  • Attachment-Based Therapy
  • Developmental Repair
  • Somatic Therapy

Education and Professional Background

I received my BFA in Dance and a minor in Psychology from Dominican University of California in 2015. Interested in the intersection of mental health and bodywork, I continued on to receive my Master’s in Social Work from Hunter College, Silberman School of Social Work in New York City, in 2020. I received my LICSW in Minnesota and LCSW in Oregon in 2023, and my certification as a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist through Body Intelligence in 2025. My background is in working with trauma, mood disorders, and grief and loss with individuals, kids, adolescents, young adults, families, and parents.

Scheduling

To schedule an appointment, please call (503) 956-9396, or email [email protected].