Welcome! I’m glad you found your way here.

*I am working very limited hours during 2024 as I care for a young child at home, and am only taking clients for short-term therapy for pain and other body symptoms. Please see the Portland Therapy Center online therapist directory or this list of low-cost or free therapy resources to help you in your search. If you’re really getting stuck & have tried reaching out to many therapists only to hear that their practices are full, you can use me as a resource to help you find someone; email jeannie@jeanniesonger.com. I ask that you save this option only for after you’ve made a good effort yourself because it can take quite a bit of time (as you know!). Depending on my availability, I may be able to reach out to colleagues or post on a state-wide listserv to try to help.*

“Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening, and not the wisdom of our words, that we are able to effect the most profound changes in the people around us. When we listen, we offer with our attention an opportunity for wholeness. Our listening creates sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. That which has been denied, unloved, devalued by themselves and by others.  That which is hidden.  In this culture, the soul and the heart too often go homeless. Listening creates a holy silence. When you listen generously to people, they can hear truth in themselves, often for the first time. And in the silence of listening, you can know yourself in everyone. Eventually, you may be able to hear, in everyone and beyond everyone, the unseen singing softly to itself and to you.” -Rachel Naomi Remen

It is an honor to accompany another’s unfolding process and I am grateful to each person who entrusts me with their stories. When we truly begin to understand the many steps that led us to where we are now, we see that we are not broken, but have adapted to a world that hasn’t always seen, heard, or supported who we really are. I believe that healing from these experiences is possible, and that much of this work can be done in therapeutic relationships. I strive to cultivate a culture of presence, kindness, and responsiveness to each person who comes through my door.

My office is located in the Hosford-Abernethy neighborhood on SE 12th & Division.

In addition to my training as a counselor, I also draw from my background as a yoga instructor in working with clients, and the deepened understanding of the body and the nervous system that this experience has provided. (However, to maintain professional boundaries I prefer not to work with past or present students of The Bhakti Yoga Movement Center to minimize the potential for dual relationships). I am also committed to regular and ongoing anti-racism and anti-oppression work both personally and professionally.

I am a prolific reader and I attend many extended trainings each year. I am familiar with and have been influenced by the work of Dan Siegel’s Interpersonal Neurobiology, Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, Bessel van der Kolk’s work on trauma, Kristin Neff on self-compassion, Arny Mindell’s Process-Oriented Psychology, Peter Levine and Somatic Experiencing, Richard Schwartz’ Internal Family Systems model, Gabor Maté’s work on addiction, Irvin Yalom’s writing on existential psychotherapy and interpersonal process groups, Terrence Real’s approach to relationships and male psychology, Esther Perel’s work on sex and relationships, Brené Brown’s work on vulnerability and shame, Rick Hanson’s practices for cultivating wellbeing, and others. I include tools & techniques from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Psychodrama, and Process Work in my practice. I am a Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) clinician, trained in working with pain and other body symptoms through this mind-body model. My primary orientation is toward interpersonal neurobiology, with deep interest in other modalities and new learnings that are always emerging in this field. I am also trained in a treatment for insomnia called CBT-I and in administering Stephen Porges’ “Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP).”

I also take seriously a commitment to my own healing. I am indebted to the teachers and wonderful therapists I have known, and I aim to bring the wisdom and compassion they have shared with me into my work with clients.

I am an active member of several professional organizations, including the Oregon Psychological Association and the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA), and I do regular ongoing training through these and other groups. I am also a Certified Group Psychotherapist through the AGPA.

See My Approach for additional information about counseling services.

OR License # C4791, Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists 

CA License #11428, California Board of Behavioral Sciences

WA License #61244908, Washington State Department of Health

Certified Group Psychotherapist (CGP), American Group Psychotherapy Association