Therapeutic Counseling

Areas of Focus

Grief Counseling — Support for both death and non-death losses, life transitions, identity shifts, and meaning-making in the aftermath of change. Grief is a powerful and natural response to loss. Whether you're mourning a death, a relationship, or a dream, our sessions provide a space to honor your unique journey. I will listen, hold, and gently encourage your grief experience without trying to ‘fix’ your pain.

End-of-Life Counseling — For individuals and families facing serious illness, death, and anticipatory grief. A terminal diagnosis brings a unique set of emotional and spiritual questions. I provide compassionate counseling for individuals and families to help navigate this profound time, explore hopes and fears, and find meaning in the final chapter of life.

Trauma Therapy — Trauma can leave you feeling disconnected from your body and the world. A felt-sense from attachment wounds & childhood trauma, the intergenerational transfer of ancestral and historical trauma, or any traumatic event across your lifespan. Using a somatic (body-based) approach we will gently work to understand your body’s cues that help to calm your nervous system in hopes to restore a sense of safety. In addition to a somatic lens, we will use a trauma-based narrative therapy approach to help externalize, re-organize, and transform your trauma story.

Somatic — attuning to the body and nervous system as a guide in healing.

Narrative & Storytelling — re-authoring stories of loss and identity to create meaning and find empowerment and resilience.

Relational & Humanistic — therapy as an authentic, compassionate relationship.

Parts & Shadow Work — integrating the many inner voices and wounds into wholeness. Working with the parts of ourselves that we would rather stay buried. Finding ways to love all of your parts instead of casting them into the shadows. 

Decolonial Framework — honoring lineage, cultural memory, and empowerment after oppression. Depathologizing the therapy experience.

Grief-Informed & Trauma-Aware Lens — By deeply understanding the needs of those with grief in their hearts and/or trauma in their bodies, I make sure to approach each interaction with conscious intention. I will not bright-side your grief, as grief is meant to be felt and not fixed. I will always ask you to go with the pace of your nervous system and never push you past that.

My Approach

Therapeutic Services

Individual Counseling

I work with adults (18+) who are navigating grief, trauma, end-of-life, and life transitions. Many of my clients are creatives/artists, spiritual seekers, fellow healers, immigrants, BIPOC, LQBTQ+, or anyone needing to be witnessed in their grief, held in the stories of their wounds, make meaning when life doesn’t make sense, find calm within an activated nervous system, or contemplate the existential anxieties of life.

Family Counseling

I work with families specifically seeking support for grief & end-of-life counseling to help navigate life’s most tender transitions together. I help families to find common ground and mutual support when life turns to loss and communication has broken down.

Therapeutic Support Circles

I have been facilitating support groups for grief & trauma since 2008 and this powerful collective experience is at the very heart of my career. I believe in the strength of community to hold us in times of grief and existential crisis. We aren’t meant to grieve alone. While attending a therapeutic support circle, we can feel more seen, more understood, and a little less alone in our journey.

Gather together in a community of other grievers, other survivors, other humans navigating life’s most tender thresholds.


Current Circles:
Grieving Together: Community support after a death. THURSDAYS (Bi-weekly) 6pm-7:30pm

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION

  • Initial 15-30 minute phone/virtual consultation: Free
    Initial Intake Sessions: $200
    Individual Sessions (55 min.): $175

    Individual Sessions (45 min.): $125
    Family Sessions (55 min.): $185
    Case Management: $35 per 15 minute increment

    I am committed to making care accessible. I provide several sliding scale spots for folks in need. Please reach out to discuss sliding scale options.

  • I am currently working through the credentialing process to become In-Network with the following insurance companies: (please note this process takes a couple of months. We can discuss payment options in the meantime if you wish to get started before the credentialing process is complete)

    • Aetna

    • Blue Cross Blue Shield (Anthem/ Regence)

    • MODA

    • Providence

    Please note that when using insurance I will need to assign a diagnosis (if and when appropriate). This diagnosis can be part of one’s permanent medical record. I can talk with you more in depth about diagnosis options that stay committed to depathologizing your experience.

    If planning on using insurance, please call your plan ahead of time, and confirm co-payment (if applicable) and confirm coverage for mental health services with Valenca Valenzuela, LCSW.

  • If I am not in-network with your insurance company. I can provide you with a Superbill for sessions and you can submit them to your insurance company. Please call your insurance company and ask how much they reimburse for mental health services with a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). Also ask how many sessions they will reimburse you for. This allows you to make an informed decision about the cost of the services.

  • Oregon law requires that health care providers offer a Good Faith Estimate about how much medical care will cost. Find out more about Good Faith Estimates. 

    Under Section 2799B-6 of the Public Health Service Act, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using their insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services.

    • You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes fees for mental health services when seeing an out-of-network provider

    • Make sure your health care provider gives you a Good Faith Estimate in writing at least 1 business day before your medical service or item. You can also ask your healthcare provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule an item or service.

    • If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill.

    • Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate.

    For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call HHS at (800) 368-1019.

Therapeutic Counseling services are offered in Oregon as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

License #: L16627