Meet Michele Rainier, LPC, Integrative and EMDR therapist in Portland, Oregon
It’s time to get out of your own way
All of you is welcome here
Sometimes clients will hesitate to share something that they really need to get off of their chests. They’ll say: “too much information” or “I don’t want to burden you”. Possibly it is something wrapped in shame or something that seems too painful to talk about.
Here’s the thing: If you can experience it and still be alive, I can survive hearing about it. And beyond just surviving your story, I am absolutely lit up for the opportunity to dig deep with you. We store buried treasure in the darkest places of our psyches. It is an honor for me to hold space for another human to shed light on material that they have kept in the shadows up until now.
With 13 plus years of counseling experience behind me including 6 years of experience using EMDR, I have heard a lot of deeply personal stories, held space for a lot of intense emotions, and bore witness to many never before uttered words. None of it has ever felt like too much for me.
You are a multilayered, complex human being, and there is no part of you that is unacceptable. I’m here to help you to grasp that on an intrinsic level, beyond just intellectual understanding of the concept.
Right now you feel exhausted, overwhelmed and stuck.
Youre not alone.
You’ve decided to get help. You’re off to a great start because even making that one seemingly small decision is a powerful step forward. I believe that as humans, we have great capacity for healing and self-actualizing, but we’re not meant to do it all by ourselves.
I specialize in helping people to work through lingering effects of past aversive experiences, get out of their own way and find meaning. I will approach our work together with curiosity, warmth and respect. It is likely that in our work together I’ll be asking you to challenge yourself in ways that bring up strong feelings for you. You can be confident that I won’t judge you for having the thoughts and feelings that you do.
Because each one of us is unique, there is no one formula that works for everyone. The approach that I use draws on various schools of thought and treatment styles to personalize your therapy. My approach to counseling is also trauma informed. You don’t have to have trauma in your past to benefit from this approach. Essentially it means that you and I will work to understand how your life experiences have shaped the way that you think, feel and act. I find that this approach helps to promote self compassion.
Training & Education
Education & Licensure:
Oregon Licensed Professional Counselor #C3415
Registered Art Therapist #13-029
Masters of Arts in Teaching from Willamette University
Masters in Art Therapy Counseling from Marylhurst University
Training & Certifications
EMDR (Fully Trained by EMDRIA standards)
EMDR Flash Technique
Collaborative Problem Solving
Motivational interviewing
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Jungian Sandtray Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training
Neurosequential model of therapeutics
I am committed to ongoing education and am a student of the approaches that I engage in.
