katya’s story

Hello! I’m Katya (they/she).

Although most of my clients and colleagues know me as Kat. It takes courage and vulnerability, to ask for help and to pursue therapy for yourself. I know it can often be an overwhelming task, and I want to first honor you for taking this important step towards healing and post-traumatic growth.  I am so happy that you exist.

I was born in Juneau, Alaska where I lived until age 13, overlooking the pacific ocean/tongass national forest, attended high school in Ashland, Oregon and later moved to New York City (Manhattan and Brooklyn) for graduate school where I remained for five years.  I moved back to Portland right before the pandemic hit, and I am so at peace to finally be in closer proximity to the evergreen forests, mountain ranges, coastal oceans and lakes I love so much.

I recognize that I am practicing on colonized indigenous lands. I hold deep reverence for the wisdom these lands provide to us and for the diverse ancestral wisdoms of my clients.  I do not take lightly the responsibility I have in upholding cultural humility and competence as a white clinician practicing within the field of social work/counseling.

I am a queer and neurodivergent identified clinician (AuDHD and Sensory Processing Disorder) and live with an invisible disability/chronic pain and therefore I know firsthand the suffering and esteem issues that occur from feeling misunderstood and from experiencing social-isolation and stigma.  I am committed to providing a brave and non-judgmental space for my clients to process and heal from such experiences.   

As a therapist, I practice both from a “here and now” and ‘mind-body’ approach and an existential and psychodynamic lens. This means that I am committed to meeting you exactly where you are at in your journey, in whatever form that takes.  

With both nurturing, direct communication and humor, I hope to guide you further in your identity development and quality of life improvement. Together we will discover the various patterns that exist in your life, the origin of your behaviors, where you draw your strength from, areas that no longer serve you and what triggers undesirable thoughts, feelings and behaviors.

In our collaborative work, I will assist you in learning more adaptive coping skills, expanding your language/understanding around emotions and building somatic/embodiment based practices to aid you in developing a better relationship with your body and whole self. Uncovering your authentic voice, learning to unmask, setting boundaries, building confidence, learning your yes' and no's, implementing change, and practicing self-acceptance is powerful- I am committed to holding that space with you.

 I currently share my home with two elderly cats—Olive and Amaretto—and two young scruffy rescue terriers named Frida (from OTAT PDX) and Meeko (from NW Dog Project). They provide me much-needed structure/routine, entertainment/child-like wonder, and are a constant reminder to live in the present moment and pay attention to life’s glimmers.  There's also lots of color, mugs for tea, plants and art on the walls that you may come in virtual/visual contact with, should we share space via teleheatlh sessions. 

Outside of the office I enjoy reading fiction/poetry preferably in a park with sunshine, singing, seeing live music, hosting a dinner party, catching up on my favorite shows, exploring nature with my dogs in tow, swimming in bodies of water, attending movement classes (yoga, breathwork, dance), getting creative, and baking something sweet for loved ones. I collect hot sauce + put it on everything, have a major sweet tooth, love to travel and learn new languages, am a huge animal lover + activist (I volunteer and foster in my spare time), could eat passion fruits every day and connect to my emotions most through music + film.

I have been through my own mental health journey, and know firsthand that post-traumatic growth and becoming acquainted with your authentic self and life force is possible and that the body holds all the information for deep healing to occur. 

Now for the professional stuff:

I hold a Masters of Social Work degree from New York University, with a focus in psychodynamic therapies and child and family studies. Prior to that,   I graduated with my Bachelors of Arts in Social Work from the University of Portland, which had a social justice focus. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Approved Clinical Supervisor in the State of Oregon.  

As a therapist and social worker, I’ve worked with individual children (age 1+), adolescents/teens and adults, couples and families experiencing depression, anxiety, shame/guilt, low self-worth, academic stressors, early intervention/ late diagnosed neurodivergence, sexuality/intimacy/communication issues and relational ruptures, loss of identity, adjustment issues, active and recovery from substance use, co-dependency and eating disorders, grief/loss, and chronic/complex and acute traumas, creative blocks, existential concerns, hiv, diabetes and other chronic health conditions, oppresion/systemic violence and those experiencing suicidal ideation and self-harm, among other concerns. I have experience working in a variety of settings, including community mental health, child/adolescent day treatment programs, residential/transitional living programs, supportive housing, harm reduction/substance use programs, foster-care/adoption and prevention, primary care, drop-in centers, outpatient counseling, and home-based structural-strategic and multi-systemic family treatment programs. I have also held many roles; case manager, mental health and addiction counselor, program coordinator of a harm reduction program, supportive housing specialist, residential/milieu counselor, therapist, clinical supervisor etc. All of these roles have expanded my knowledge and experience of power dynamics and have shaped me as both a clinician and human. I believe proper access to quality mental health care and housing is a human right. 

I also believe that therapy is political and that my work with clients exists outside the one hour we share together every week. I strive daily to work against pathology, colonization and stigmatization within the neurodiversity and mental health paradigm and am open to honest dialogue around difficult subjects from a place of curiosity, humility, non-judgment and support. 

 I identify as queer/gender fluid and I love working with clients on the LGBTQ2SISA+ spectrum. I also love working with couples in monogamous and non-monogamous relationships and people engaged in kink or other non-conventional sexual explorations.

I am currently entering my second year of a 3 year certification program in Somatic Experiencing (SE), an evidenced-based practice that facilitates the completion of self-protective motor responses and the release of thwarted survival energy bound in the body, thus addressing the root cause of chronic stress/trauma symptoms. This is approached by gently guiding clients to develop increasing tolerance for difficult bodily sensations and suppressed emotions. When we are stuck in patterns of fight, flight, freeze/collapse or fawn, SE helps us release, recover,  integrate and build greater capacity for all life brings. 

I practice from a bio-psycho-social, existential, feminist, anti-racist/anti-oppressive, systemic, somatic and attachment-based framework, and my therapeutic style is warm, relational, trauma-informed, strength-based and community-oriented. I love walking alongside my clients, human-to-human. I am so excited to go on this journey with you, should you decide to enter a therapeutic relationship with me in the future.

I am also an approved supervisor for the Oregon Board Licensed Clinical Social Workers (OBLSW) and the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists (OBLPCT). I have received training to provide clinical supervision for clinical social work associates, marriage and family therapist associates, and professional counselor associates seeking licensure. As a clinical supervisor, I utilize a relational, integrative developmental, multi-systemic, and social justice framework. I work to strengthen clinical skills, and also work on issues of systemic dysfunction in institutions; emotion/nervous system regulation and self of the therapist issues, countertransference, compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma and moral injury; associates’ areas of privilege, biases, oppression and cultural awareness. I also believe clinicians need supportive, brave and engaging spaces to address their own mental health/lived experience and intersectionality/identities in supervision. 

In addition to keeping a caseload of my own, I currently supervise many of our associate clinicians here at Sprout as a Clinical Supervisor.

Currently, I am not taking on new clients or supervisees. To be connected with a clinician, please book a screener with our Intake Coordinator.

See our fees and insurance page to determine if Katya is in network with your insurance plan.

You can reach Katya directly at katya@sprouttherapypdx.com