Hello, I am Megan (she/her)

I’m happy you’re here. Growing up I found that counseling was a space I always felt safe to be my authentic self, and I strive to provide this experience for my clients. I primarily work with those dealing with OCD, anxiety, eating disorders, and are navigating various life transitions. My approach may vary slightly depending on your presentation, but one thing that stays consistent is my belief that the relationship between client and therapist is a huge catalyst to healing and growth. Active listening, unconditional positive regard, and challenging/highlighting unhelpful patterns when necessary are a few ways I help my clients become aligned with themselves and heal.

During my free time I enjoy reading, spending time with my family/friends, and exploring different restaurants. Animals have always been a huge part of my life, and I love spending time with my basset hound, June.

Professional Disclosure Statement

I am supervised by 

Dr. Tara Sanderson, PsyD

I take a Humanistic/ Client-Centered approach with my clients. This means that I believe that everyone has the natural drive to reach their full potential. I work to highlight client's strengths, and help the client feel confident in relying on these strengths. I believe that the therapist/client relationship leads to new insights, and therefore lasting change for the client. This therapeutic approach looks to help clients become more self-aware, which in turn leads them to healthy change. I believe that the client is the expert of their own experiences, which I find important when seeing clients of various backgrounds that may or may not be similar to my own.

I also teach and use skills from Dialectical Behavior Therapy. DBT looks to change thinking patterns, and in turn leads to positive behavioral changes. The word dialectical means to bring together two opposites. In DBT’s case these two opposites are acceptance and change. Acceptance is a huge piece of DBT, and is thought to actually help change occur. 

Additionally, I offer Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) for my clients with OCD. This approach helps clients in confronting their feared obsessions through thoughts, images, objects, etc. Response Prevention helps the clients to not engage in compulsions after the triggered anxiety. This process is done at a pace that challenges the client, but not to a point that overwhelms them.

Before becoming a counselor I was a recovery coach at Clementine Portland, working with adolescents struggling with eating disorders. This experience taught me a lot about the recovery process along with other co-occurring diagnoses. The importance of having supportive relationships in order to heal was something I took away from this experience, and has carried over to the way I approach counseling today.

I graduated from Portland State University where I received my masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, and completed an internship at the group practice Dr. Sanderson and Associates. This is also where I had the privilege of starting off my career  as a registered associate. 

I offer a free 20 minute consultation to assess if we are a good fit.