When: Starting Thursday, February 27, 2025 – May 15, 2025

Time: 6:30 pm – 8pm

Where: GoogleMeet

Suggested donation: $10-$20 per session, no one turned away for lack of funds

Part of you would really like to break free and do things completely on your own, but can’t because another part of you is too worried it would cost you your closest relationships? Or maybe you veer the other way and have a strong autonomous part who refuses to get tied down, too afraid of losing your freedom, and all the while another part longs for a chance to dive into deep intimacy with another…

If you have felt a tension inside between one part of you who values connection and closeness with others and another part who longs for greater self-definition or freedom of expression, this is the group for you! In what will likely be an ongoing series on The Dance of Intimacy, we will spend the first 12 weeks working through Harriet Lerner’s brilliant book The Dance of Intimacy: A Woman’s Guide to Courageous Acts of Change in Key Relationships.

This group is for women, and female-identified persons – individuals only please, no couples.

We will use Lerner’s book to begin to wonder about how one goes about being fully who they are within relationships, and we will also use Voice Dialogue (a form of parts work) to explore the parts of ourselves that get activated as we go along.

Bio: Tamara Yates has been dancing the tension of the opposites within since she discovered Voice Dialogue, a therapeutic modality that works with inner selves or parts, in 2011.  Having worked for over a decade as a Voice Dialogue facilitator, she is currently pursuing a master’s in counseling psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute and is a professional counseling trainee at Liberation Institute. She loves to get her hands in the soil as a gardener and enjoys dancing (literally and metaphorically ). She lives in Corvallis with her husband and their sweet golden retriever, Finn. Tamara is supervised by Shelly Stratton, LCSW 7252

Bio: Lex Rafael is a professional counseling trainee at Liberation Institute who is currently pursuing a master’s in counseling at Pacifica Graduate Institute. She has been involved in depth psychology and mindfulness via the Diamond Approach for the last ten years. She has worn many hats, from yoga teacher and massage therapist to kindergarten teacher. Dance, creative writing, and romping with her dog are her go-tos for self-care. Lex is supervised by Brad Byrum, license #T2185.

Want to Sign Up or Ask Questions? Contact Tamara at tamara@liberationinstitute.org

RSVP to tamara@liberationinstitute.org

Z

When:  Sundays, starting Feb. 2, 2025

Time: 11 – 12:30pm

Where: GoogleMeet

Suggested donation: $20 per weekly session, or what you can afford. No one turned away for lack of funds. 

Join Us!
RSVP: estherb@liberationinstitute.org or call:  503-836-7350 ext. 705

Would you like to . . .
Learn about the nervous system?

Better understand your attachment

style?

Go on an adventure?

Enjoy a sense of community?

About Us
We are a new group of Oregonians who enjoy reading books, both fiction and nonfiction, that give us insight into ourselves, each other, and the world.

Bio:
Hello fellow humans!
My name is Esther and I’m a new intern with Libi. My heart is so excited to learn and grow with this truly special team and I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m in my final year of graduate school and really resonating with therapies such as parts work, focusing, brainspotting, EMDR, mindfulness, somatics, etc.! I love finding ways to incorporate the body into the therapeutic process since I believe that deep and profound healing can happen when we can come home to the body. This is easier said than done, especially for my fellow humans who also struggle with chronic illness and neurodivergence that can leave our nervous systems feeling fraught with exhaustion and overwhelm. I hope to create a co-regulating space where unmasking and connection can become antidotes to the shame and isolation that so often plague our sensitive souls.

My hope is that this group will be a heart-filling space to breathe deeply, laugh heartily, and feel less alone in our human experiences. 

Esther Bonds, Counseling Intern, Supervised by Elizabeth Hoke, License #T1440

When: Starting October 20, 2024 through January 19th, 2025

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Where: Liberation Institute office: 7831 SE Stark St #211, Portland, OR 97215

Suggested donation: $10 per weekly session, or what you can afford. No one turned away for lack of funds.  Money given helps people receive mental health services at Liberation Institute.

The darker months are coming, and that means you’ll be spending a whole lot of time inside with your kid(s). Take a breath this autumn, and step back to appreciate all the hard work you’ve done so far as a parent to young ones. Get some space each week that is just for you, a place to share the joys and the hardships of parenting. Each week, join other parents of kids one to five in laughter and commiseration, where we’ll collectively build our village and share resources for this journey of transformation that is parenting. This is a support group, led by skilled facilitators and fellow parents, to fill your cups and bond with other parents in the neighborhood.

Zach Holz is a father, a gardener, and a forager of wild things. He is currently a professional counselor trainee at Liberation Institute. He has past experience in facilitating groups of parents as they work to process and integrate their new identity as caregivers. He is perennially humbled by the deep personal transformation that parenting offers. He lives in Montavilla, with his wife and energetic toddler. Zach is supervised by Shelly Stratton, LCSW 7252. 

Melody McKee is a mother, educator, and life long learner. She is currently the assistant director at Liberation Institute. She has a degree in Child and Adolescent Development and a MA in Curriculum Development. Melody has built relationships and supported young people and families as a middle school teacher for over a decade. She lives in Montavilla, and is a mom to two busy toddlers who is just trying her best each day. 

How to sign up: 

Email Zach at zachh@liberationinstitute.org, or call 503-836-7350 ext. #723, to sign up. We look forward to sharing time with you!

When: Once a month on the Third Friday

Time: 515pm-645pm

Where: Tabor Space Library https://taborspace.org/library 

This community gathering invites people in recovery who are interested in, or currently integrating psychedelics into their healing practice. We will discuss how psychedelics impact addictive behaviors and risks of relapse.  We will explore relationships with altered states of consciousness, sobriety vs moderation, various recovery models, and systemic pressures leading to overconsumption and addictive tendencies.   The purpose of the gathering is to be in dialogue about these topics and how they impact our relationship to self, others, substances and altered states.

While we’re not requiring everyone to be sober or abstinent from all substances, we do ask that everyone attending the meeting not be engaging with whatever substance that triggers the addictive behavior.  Our intention for this monthly gathering is for everyone to have a confidential and safe space where people are able to self manage and discuss openly.  This group offers support for people who already have an active healing process around their addiction and are looking for a community to share it with and get support from.

This group is offered to the community in collaboration with Portland Psychedelic Society https://www.meetup.com/psychedelic/events/299239325/

RSVP to elizabeth@liberationinstitute.org

Facilitators:

Elizabeth Hoke is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California and Oregon who has over a decade of personal and professional experience with addiction recovery.  She is dedicated to helping people in need receive mental health services through Liberation Institute where therapy is provided for all on a sliding scale. Elizabeth also works with Dr. Rosonke at Rainfall Medicine, sitting with patients as they explore their relationship with addiction through the use of ketamine and psychotherapy. https://www.liberationinstitute.org/our-clinic/team/

Pryor Shade is a therapist trainee at Liberation Institute, veteran, educator, and artist who understands the struggles that we as humans can experience, trying to fit in, earn a living, access resources, develop relationships, and appreciate our own value as creative beings. Along the way he has learned a great deal about humility, about the need for curiosity and a desire to acquire new knowledge and skills. It’s not so much about having the right answer, but to help people share their story and feel heard, seen and valued. One of the greatest lessons he has acquired is to get out of his own way: to let go of his agenda, and be an active participant in the process. No matter what the task, a collaborative approach tends to be far better than a mission executed by an army of one.