Our Providers
Trauma Healing Northwest practitioners are licensed mental health professionals trained in specialized treatments for trauma and stress related disorders.
Therapists
Lynae Nelson, M.Ed., LPC, LCPC
Personally:
My name is Lynae and my roots run deep in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. I care deeply for my community and love being able to do my part to help those with whom I share this beautiful place we call home. When I am not working, I am kept busy with four children, all teenagers and older, our four pets (we have two sassy Siamese cats and two small dogs). I enjoy spending time with my family, especially when we can do outdoor activities and travel together. My other hobbies include drawing, routine exercise, keeping my mind active with leaning, and my heart active with community service. I am currently in the process of achieving my Ph.D. in Psychology with a concentration in research and afterwards plan to become certified in scuba diving and plan to learn sign language. I engage in community service mostly with Pacific Northwest Adult and Teen Challenge and with other opportunities through my local church.
Professionally:
I believe that we all experience struggles in life and that these can contribute to stress, anxiety, depression, and trauma, and otherwise limit us. So often, these struggles can impact our relationships, career, and long-term well-being in ways that are sometimes difficult to manage. When this is our experience, I believe that it is beneficial to engage in therapy to work through the symptoms and impacts of trauma and stress and to heal from them. I take a positive approach to therapy and utilize proven strategies to help clients achieve their goals in a way and at a pace that works best for them. I commonly utilize EMDR, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approaches, like exposure therapy in conjunction with traditional and systemic psychotherapies like Solution Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Gestalt Therapy, and Person Centered Therapy. If you are considering therapy for the first time or are wondering if is time to reengage in therapy, I would love the opportunity to connect with you see how I can support you in accomplishing your goals.
Area of Interest
I am drawn to working with those who work in helping or high stress/executive positions. Research demonstrates these roles have a high correlation with trauma and/or stress related disorders and often are the least likely to seek out therapeutic support. As a result, some of the highest levels of stress, depression, and untreated trauma are seen in those who are helpers and or leaders. I believe that in order to help and lead well, we must be well. Therefore, I focus my work to serve:
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Veterans and active duty military
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Psychologists, counselors, social workers, and other clinical professional helpers
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Pastors, pastoral staff members, and other clergy
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Medical providers including surgeons, doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals
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First responders including police officers, fire fighters, EMT, and others
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Professionals with other high stress positions such as professional athletes, small business owners, and executive team members
Lisa Gascho, MSW, LCSW
Personally:
My name is Lisa and I grew up in Oregon and lived here into early adulthood. I’ve recently returned with my husband and two children, and am enjoying being near extended family again as well as being back in our beautiful state. In my free time I can be found having dance parties with my kids, hiking, baking, or wandering in a bookstore or library. When able, I love to travel as a way to broaden my understanding of the world and of the people who inhabit the places I visit.
I decided to become a therapist when I was still in high school with no more than the thought of “Well, I like helping people.” Though there are many careers and paths to helping others, the decision to be a therapist stuck with me, and I’ve now been a licensed psychotherapist since 2010.
Professionally:
I’ve learned that whatever a person’s life experiences have been, they can be experienced as a crisis or a traumatic event when it exceeds the person’s capacity to cope. It is there where I like to come alongside and help the person sort out what is needed in order to heal and move forward in their life.
As a therapist, I take a strengths-based approach with clients by not only working to address the issues they are seeking treatment for, but also helping them to recognize and access their own resilience, abilities, and resources; using these to address present-day challenges that they face.
I utilize various therapeutic modalities depending on the person’s needs and goals for treatment, which can include EMDR, Narrative Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and others. My goal is to help people work through whatever pain they’re experiencing so that they can live in a manner that better supports their well-being and aligns with their values. This can look like helping a person process difficult life experiences in a more effective way in order to reduce the impact to them, teaching skills to grow the person’s ability to soothe and center themselves when feeling emotionally dysregulated or disconnected, and empathically challenging negative beliefs about themselves that do not reflect the full reality of who they are and their worth.
Area of Interest
I commonly work with people who have had trauma and losses in early life, sexual trauma, and those who struggle with codependent dynamics in relationships in which healthy boundaries are not maintained. I treat adults across the lifespan, but most often work with young adults, women, and those in the helping professions such as teachers and social workers.
Current areas of further interest and learning for me are the impacts of intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, and racialized trauma on a person. I’m also drawn to therapies in addition to EMDR that address the impact of trauma to both mind and body such as Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems Therapy, and Polyvagal Theory.
Natalie Harper, MA, LPC
Personally:
My name is Natalie, and I was born and raised in Northern California. I have always loved the Pacific Northwest and decided to come here for graduate school. While attending my master’s program at Pacific University I met my husband and have been in the Portland area ever since. I love to travel, and we had the opportunity to move to Italy for a year following graduation. We now have two wonderful children who I love to spend my time with. We explore parks, nature trails, and make art. For self-care I love to read, garden, and socialize with friends. Joining two of these activities has me involved with a monthly book club that I love.
Professionally:
In my career I have worked in residential settings, outpatient, and Partial Hospitalization/Intensive Outpatient levels of care. I take a Person-Centered approach to therapy, so I act as a support and guide through the healing process. To work through unresolved trauma, I utilize Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Mindfulness practices. These are evidenced-based tools that will allow you to become un-stuck and move forward with your goals. I also have a CADC-I and specialize in substance use disorders or co-occurring disorders. If you use alcohol or substances to cope with trauma or uncomfortable feelings, I will provide additional coping skills for relapse prevention.
Area of Interest
I have a passion for this work and supporting people who have motivation to heal. Some areas that I am drawn to are pregnancy/birth trauma, childhood trauma, co-occurring disorders, depression, and stress related disorders. Some areas of focus are working with mothers, or those struggling with infertility, because I understand the isolation and loneliness that come with trauma/loss during this time. There are many resources and supports out there! I also am an LGBTQIA+ ally and create a safe place to be open and share.
The choice to start therapy and sit with the emotions that come with it is a very brave act. You have already taken your first step toward healing by researching possible providers and treatment. I see therapy as a collaborative process and will always work alongside you. Whether you have engaged in therapy in the past or if this is your first time, I would love the opportunity to speak with you and answer any questions.
Candyce Monteleone, M.A., LPC, PMH-C
Personally:
I’m grateful that beautiful Oregon has been home for most of my life. I grew up near Portland, eventually moving to the city for undergraduate studies at Portland State University and graduate school at Western Seminary. I enjoy traveling when I’m able to, and lived for a time in Argentina (study abroad) and Peru (teaching English to elementary school students).
I became a mom during the pandemic, and the past few years have really kept me on my toes! I love getting to see the world through my daughter’s eyes, and her enjoyment of life helps me keep my sense of wonder active. A highlight of my week is when my husband and I get to take her for hikes or nature walks. A few other things that bring me joy are spending quality time with friends and family, reading, swimming, running, doing art projects, and reflecting/writing. I try to read a wide range of books, and have a particular fondness for young adult science fiction and Mary Oliver’s poetry.
Professionally:
Healing happens in the context of safe and secure relationships. For this reason, I seek to create an atmosphere of warmth, empathy, and acceptance that allows clients to improve their personal insight, grow in understanding of their relationships, identify personal needs and values, and “be with” their emotions, especially the ones that are experientially difficult. I’ve seen that building a strong therapeutic relationship can help people, often rather quickly, start to identify what changes they want for themselves; it’s such an honor for me to get to come alongside to assist and collaborate in this process.
Area of Interest
I provide holistic and trauma-informed counseling to adults struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, traumatic experiences, life transitions, and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders. Some evidence-based modalities I may use in therapy include Strengths-Based Therapy, Interpersonal Psychotherapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and attachment-focused EMDR.
I’m trained and certified in Perinatal Mental Health through Postpartum Support International (that’s what the PMH-C after my name refers to). Some examples of issues that can arise during the process of becoming a parent or growing one’s family include perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, difficulty with isolation or role changes, grief and loss, and birthing trauma. This is often a uniquely vulnerable time in someone’s life, and accessing needed support and help can make a huge difference!
Chera Sheets, M. A., Professional Counselor Associate
Personally:
I grew up in the Midwest, but I have also called northern California, Seattle, Denver, and now Portland home. I love the Pacific Northwest and I’m proud to be a part of a great community here. When I’m not working, I enjoy reading, writing, art, hiking, cross-country skiing, volunteering, and spending time with friends and my husband and two daughters.
Professionally:
I returned to school in my early 40s to pursue a Master’s in Counseling. My undergraduate degree was in journalism. Both careers gave me the unique privilege of hearing the stories of people from all walks of life. As a therapist, I strive to be warm, authentic, collaborative, and approachable. I help clients navigate past experiences and current relationships, transitions, and other challenges. I also try to help clients cultivate a sense of hope while imagining the possibilities for the future. I enjoy incorporating ideas, tools, creativity, and even humor into the counseling process. I use EMDR, CBT, positive psychology, and ACT styles of therapy.
Area of Interest
I like working with a wide variety of individuals by providing support and encouragement while empowering them to live to their full potential. My background helps me to provide insight into the relationships between my clients and those in their lives. I commonly work with those who have experienced relational trauma. I also enjoy helping people develop and understand themselves and their strengths. I am currently pursuing more training in IFS and ego-state work.
Kate Burns, M.A., LPC
Personally:
My life’s path has taken many twists and turns. I came up in north-central Montana and originally made my way to Oregon to attend undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon where I eventually earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography. My ambitions led me to New York City and New Jersey, then New Mexico, and eventually back to Oregon. Along the way, I have worked in many, varied capacities, the highlights of which include wildland firefighting, digital archiving, product photography, and yoga instruction.
I have a deep reverence for earth-based wisdom and healing practices imparted to me from studying North American and European tribal cultures. Sustainability and social justice issues fire me up. My favorite ways to recharge include but are not limited to reading classic literature, philosophical debate, bookbinding, figure drawing, dancing, roller-skating, and curating my record collection.
Professionally:
I learned that I not only enjoy but also have a knack for helping people while teaching yoga. I decided to combine this insight with my skills in the arts by seeking out training in art therapy at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, New Mexico where I earned a dual degree in art therapy and counseling. I am credentialed in the state of Oregon as a licensed professional counselor. My post-graduate training and clinical experience has focused on the treatment of trauma. I also have specialized experience working with altered states of consciousness and non-shared realities in residential and outpatient settings.
I approach the healing process from a creative lens that often appeals to imagination and metaphor, and therapy with me can include art making when it enhances the therapeutic journey. My theoretical underpinnings include existentialism, post-modernism, and feminism, and they manifest in my delivery of services through privileging the discovery of meaning and purpose, multiple perspectives, and equity. I value collaboration in therapy, and I always start by honoring the dignity of each person I work with by reminding them that they are the experts on their own lives. I view my role as a therapist as walking along side them on their path to offer support and guidance through the rough patches. Guidance can come in the form of offering mindful and somatic skills for regulating the nervous system, cognitive behavioral strategies for managing the intensity of thoughts and feelings that in turn impact actions, corrective emotional experiences through exploring internal family systems and reprocessing trauma through bilateral stimulation (EMDR), and building momentum for change with solution-focused questions and motivational interviewing techniques.
Area of Interest
I find that I work best with people who come to therapy with a curiosity for exploring how they want to go about living their best lives, despite whatever baggage might burden them. By people, I mean human beings of all shapes, colors, sizes, and orientations to various sociopolitical constructs and the multiple intersections of all of the above. I tend to embrace the human experience as a vast and infinitely meaningful kaleidoscope rather than focus on pathologizing it, and I find I am best able to do this by knowing where I am situated within that kaleidoscope. That being said, standardized categories for treatment I have skill in addressing include anxiety, depression, developmental trauma, acute trauma, gender identity, and severe and persistent mental illness.
Jessica Blodget, M.A., LPC
Personally:
My name is Jess and I lived in Nebraska, Iowa and eventually, my family settled down in Oklahoma. It had always been my dream to live in the Pacific Northwest. I graduated with my master’s in counseling from Oklahoma State University and moved to Oregon in the summer of 2020. When not at work, I’m outside hiking, paddle boarding, or trying new restaurants/ food carts with friends or family. My other hobbies include reading, knitting, crocheting and embroidery. I’m an animal lover and I’ve had cats, dogs, a bird, goats, chickens, ducks, and even lived on an alpaca farm. Right now, I only have one cat (Zelda) and she keeps me quite busy. She loves sitting out on the balcony watching the birds during the day and catching moths at night.
Professionally:
I view therapy as a collaborative process and that the client is the expert in their own life. I work with the client to create an individualized treatment plan to help them achieve their goals. I believe everyone experiences stressors in life that contribute to anxiety, depression, and PTSD. I take a Person-Centered approach to therapy to help support and guide the client through the process of healing through their unresolved trauma. To work through unresolved trauma, I utilize Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Interpersonal Therapy. I am an adoption-competent therapist who graduated from the accredited Training for Adoption Competency.
Area of Interest
As an adoptee, I have a passion for working with individuals within the adoption kinship network (e.g., adoptees, birth parents, adopted parents, and extended family). While most adoptive parents are successful in parenting their children, there are complex emotional issues that are primary contributors to family stressors in post-adoption. Parents may not be prepared or understand the implications of children’s adverse experiences or that adoption is not an event; it is a lifelong process with an intergenerational impact. Growing up, I observed mental health services providers typically receive very limited, if any, training on adoption issues. I believe access to adoption-competent mental health services is a critical factor in the promotion of child and family well-being and the success of their adoption.
Neurofeedback Tech
John Elliott, BCN
Personally:
Hello, I’m John. Though I was born in Arizona, I grew up on a dairy farm in the Willamette Valley region. I joined the Army a few years after high school and had many fortunate opportunities around the world. I have been drawn back to the place where I grew up and am currently working on building my own family farm.
In my spare time I enjoy traveling, hiking and camping with my family, playing the guitar, listening to blues and classic rock deep dives, self-sufficient living and strategy games.
Professionally:
I enlisted in the army in 2000 and served as a combat medic and mental health specialist. I first learned about neurofeedback early in my military career and it quickly became my area of focus. I am board certified through the BCIA and have spent the last 10 years working with soldiers, professional atheletes, and those working through attention deficits, PTSD, traumatic brain injury and addictions. For me, the possibilities of neurofeedback, and where it may lead us in our understanding of ourselves, is endless.
Area of Interest
PTSD, TBI and ADD/ADHD have been where I have honed most of my focus. In the idea of Neurofeedback, all of these revolve around your brains ability to adapt and grow new neural pathways. This is also known as neuroplasticity. Through time and training, using our brains natural instinct to learn and grow, we can train the brain to regulate and improve concentration and promote general relaxation which can help us to better regulate when coping with stressful events.