Welcome I am glad you are here!
Thank you for visiting my site.
Here you will learn about me.
First a little about me personally
My name is Palma, I am originally from Mexico. I immigrated to the United States when I was five years old, and have lived in Oregon most of my adult life. I am bilingual in English and Spanish, and currently I am working on learning Sanskrit. I am a mother and in a committed relationship, and maintain an active visual art practice. I enjoy caring for house plants, cooking, sharing meals with others, and having authentic conversations about what matters to people.
I will share a little about myself that I think is important for you to know about me.
Philosophy and Approach to Therapy
I believe that the challenges life presents us with are the fertile soil we can use to grow the depth and character of our being. As a mental health therapist, I work with an integrative, relational, multi-cultural and transpersonal approach in my counseling practice. In my approach, I am seeking to help you explore all aspects of your life that you identify as challenging, problematic, traumatic, or obstructing your growth and actualization of your powers. I seek to help you identify your strengths and cultivate new skills. I believe that by using an integrative, relational, multi-cultural and transpersonal approach I can intentionally incorporate components from a variety of theoretical orientations including human developmental theories and attachment theories among others, and therapeutic interventions that will be the most helpful to you in your current circumstances.
In practice I work collaboratively with you to explore your past experiences, present situations, and future aspirations, depending on what timespan or area of your life you want to focus on. Our work together begins and is sustained by a foundation of respect and trust. I work at cultivating a therapeutic presence that is heart centered and expressed through openness, curiosity, empathy, authenticity, creativity, and cultural humility. I believe all cultures and people possess wisdom and that includes you.
I am influenced by the works of Ken Wilber and his transpersonal integral Four Quadrant framework, and Karen McLaren’s approach to emotions, as well theories on attachment, developmental, existential, feminist, humanistic, multicultural, neurobiological and experiential approaches such as, relational, somatic, and expressive therapies. I am also influenced by my worldview, which includes my belief in evolution, my understanding of human history and linguistics, my belief in the practice of the scientific methods in its broadest expression or praxis, as well as my art and spiritual practices. I am motivated by my own search for human wisdom.
Formal Education and Training
I hold a Master’s degree in Professional Mental Health Counseling from Lewis & Clark College, Graduate School of Education and Counseling. My training included a theoretical foundation as well as treatment interventions for anxiety, depression, diagnosis, ethics of counseling, human development, multicultural counseling, trauma, and other mental health concerns. Most recently I completed a training in Attachment and Somatic Therapies through Embodied Lab.
In addition, I have received two Bachelor degrees, a Bachelor of Art in Psychology from Marylhurst University, and a Bachelor of Fine Art in Photography from the Pacific Northwest College of Art. I am ASIST certified by the Lines for Life where I worked as an Emotional Support and Crisis Counselor.
