Chelsea Mier Harrington

About Chelsea

I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor seeing clients in Oregon and the director of Bridges Therapy.

I believe in the intrinsic power held by all individuals to achieve self-awareness, healing, and balance in their lives and honor this process when working with adults and children (ages 10-18).

You can expect me to be warm, thoughtful, and gentle in my approach to therapy. I provide in my sessions opportunities to learn how our brains perceive and process the world around us, tools for better understanding and managing feelings, and a safe and reflective space to deepen your understanding and appreciation of you.

Specializations

I specialize in treating anxiety, OCD, perfectionism, rejection sensitivity, and overthinking. Additionally I am particularly passionate about supporting children and adults to develop strategies and understanding for both appreciating the strengths and managing the challenges often associated with ADHD.

My Approach

My approach includes helping clients build awareness of the thoughts, sensations, and feelings that contribute to emotional distress, guide them in developing an internal sense of safety, help strengthen the connection to their inner wisdom, and support them in identifying and attending to their needs for living a self-led life with authenticity, perspective, and presence.

I have experience working with neurodivergent clients, LGBTQIA+ community members, those recovering from big "T" and little "t" traumas, individuals from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds, foster and adopted children, and current and former members of spiritual and religious communities. I've received advanced training through Portland State University for supporting adopted and foster children and families.

Therapeutic Approaches

The evidenced based therapeutic approaches I utilize in treatment as needed include:

• Parts work inspired by IFS - Internal Family Systems
• ERP - Exposure and Response Prevention
• EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
• Mindfulness Based Interventions
• CBT - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
• RAIN - Mindfulness approach by Tara Brach

Education & Experience

I received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Psychology from University of New Orleans. I relocated to the Pacific Northwest to pursue my Master's of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology from Pacific University with a specialization in Child and Adolescent Psychology.

My experience as a therapist has included over 10 years working in community mental health programs, psychiatric day treatment for adolescents, school based services for families, providing trainings for healthcare providers on best clinical practices and care, and establishing my private practice located in the Woodstock neighborhood of southeast Portland, OR.

Outside of Work

I deeply enjoy the rewarding and inspiring work that I do. When I'm not meeting with clients I'm spending time with my partner and our pets, skiing on Mt. Hood, crafting, traveling, and watching all things sci-fi.