About Katie

Hi! My name is Katie Emard (she/her)

I provide individual counseling services for adults residing in the state of Oregon. I am deeply committed to and passionate about working with my LGBTQIA++ community, and identify as Queer and Lesbian. I have primarily worked with the Queer community for the past three years. I also have a special heart for the Indigenous community and exploring and supporting our unique challenges and spiritual and ecological connections. I have experience working with: BDSM/KINK, polyamory/relationship anarchy, BIPOC, parenting, trauma, and disability. 

Services are provided via Simple Practice, a Telehealth platform, which is a HIPAA compliant counseling platform. Only Telehealth services are available at this time. 

In my free time, I enjoy: traveling and seeing the world, eating all the snacks, fixing up my 105 year old house, puttering in the garden, and doing art. I spend a lot of time reading, as I love the magic and escape of a good story. 

My Approach to Counseling

I believe every human being has the inherent potential for positive change and self-actualization. At times we can feel overwhelmed by the search for meaning and the daily struggles that are a part of life. We do not have to bear this burden alone. Support and guidance in a safe and comfortable, therapeutic setting can provide the space needed to explore pain, trauma, behaviors that no longer serve us, our strengths, our multiple identities, our own potential and the internal and external systems that greatly impact our well being, choices and perspective of ourselves, the world, and our place in it.

I see therapy as a collaborative process where we can access your own inner gold and uncover your truth and deep knowing. As a practitioner of feminist and Critical Race Theory modalities I understand that systems of oppression, such as: racism, transphobia, homophobia, sexism, and poverty contribute to mental health and impact the way we move through the world. We are all immersed in a culture that uplifts us, or steps down on us based on our identities. In therapy we can explore these aspects as well as your interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics to access healing and growth.

I am aware of the identities that I bring into the room as a counselor, and am deeply committed to addressing my own biases as a white passing person and around any and all other areas of privilege that I hold. I am committed to a process that is egalitarian and collaborative. You are the expert of your lived experience, it is my role to support and guide you through your personal exploration and to help you to access your wisdom, strengths and personal power to facilitate healing.

My Education and Experience

I completed the Master’s of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Major coursework included studies in Ethics, Social Justice, and Clinical Skills. My undergraduate degree is in Social Science from Portland State University.

During my counseling practicum, I worked at the Portland State University Community Counseling Clinic, providing weekly counseling services to clients with general mental health concerns, such as: depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, relationship conflict, and family trauma.  

I completed my counseling internship at Oregon Vocational Rehabilitation Services, where I provided counseling and guidance to iividuals with a variety of marginalized identities and physical, sensory, cognitive, and emotional disabilities. 

I am registered with the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors as an active Professional Counselor Associate and am bound by its code of ethics. I am under the clinical supervision of Sawyer Salameh, LPC MA.

As a Professional Counselor Associate working through the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists, I abide by its Code of Ethics. Please feel free to visit the OBLPCT’s website (http://www.oregon.gov/oblpct) for additional information regarding any Professional Counselor Associate or let me know if you’d like a hard copy of these professional standards.