Tristan Adrian (He/Him)

I am licensed in Oregon and Pennsylvania as a LCSW. This is an independent practice license. Therefore, nothing we discuss needs to leave the session. I have additional post graduate training in emotionally focused therapy (EFT) and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). I use these modalities to help my clients to identify links between automatic thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and values. I will also teach you practical, research-based skills that can be used to manage anxiety, depression, and intrusive thoughts. Previous practice settings/populations have included outpatient private practice, community mental health, hospital, corrections, and intensive outpatient program. My experiences in these settings has allowed me to work with and advocate for members of historically marginalized populations. Mental health issues are not limited to the confines of our brain; our unique backgrounds, life experiences, families, communities, and society as a whole all play an important role.

I have a strong belief that everyone has the ability to change. I spent the beginning of my career working in the corrections field with a strong focus on preparing inmates to reenter their communities of origin. In regard to mental health, my belief is that these issues are just as influenced by the chemistry of our brains as by our lived experiences. Throughout, our lives most of us would meet some of the criteria of a mental health disorder. Some of the most common mental health symptoms are not only logical but adaptive, in the right environment. Anxiety, for example, is an overactive amygdala response that can cause activation of our fight, flight, or freeze system. If we lived in an environment with daily physical threats, anxiety would help keep us alive. However, anxiety in contemporary situations often relates to certain people, places, situations, or intrusive thoughts. My belief is that we must first understand the function of our symptoms before treating them.