Breakdown the Jargon for Me!

Therapy Styles/Orientations 

Everything here will be very broad generalizations of therapy styles/orientations you may see utilized in this practice. We encourage you to do your own digging as well! 

• Psychodynamic- Primarily, bridging the gap between the unconscious and the conscious. We will work together to identify common thoughts, feelings, and patterns throughout your life that could be impacting your daily living experience. 

• Narrative/Meaning Co-Construction- Working together to identify core meanings within your experiences. 

• Existential- philosophical identification of core universal human existence themes within the universe to promote authenticity and purpose. 

• Feminist & Multiculturalism- Examining from an equal-footing perspective the power dynamics within your life, and the systems with which we navigate. 

• Emotion-Focused - Looking at our emotions, how we interact with others or ourselves, and what it could mean. 

• Queer Theory- Challenging what our systems label as "norms" and honoring the subjective fluidity of social constructs such as gender and sexuality. 

The "positives"

Any time a therapist lists something like "xyz-positive", it essentially means they are in support of a particular identity and/or offer a safe and comfortable space to talk about it. A lot of the times, they directly oppose the "isms" such as racism, sexism, fat phobia, homophobia, sizeism, etc. Sometimes these are also listed as "allied". They're pretty straight forward, but here is a list of some common ones! 

• Sex Positive

• Kink Positive 

• LGBTGEQIAP+ Positive 

• CNM/ENM/Poly/Alternative Relationship Positive

• Social Justice Allied

• Sex Worker Allied

• All Sizes Allied 

• Immune disorders Allied 

National/International Association Acronyms

• ACA- American Counseling Association

  • Subdivisions of the ACA:

    • SAIGE- Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities

    • CSJ- Counselors for Social Justice 

    • ACSSW- Association of Counseling Sexology & Sexual Wellness

• ACES- Association for Counseling Education and Supervision

  • Subdivisions of ACES:

    • WACES- Western Association for Counseling Education and Supervision

    • NARACES- North Atlantic Region Association for Counseling Education and Supervision

• CSI- Chi Sigma Iota 

  • CSI-NUO- Chi Sigma Iota Nu Upsilon Omega chapter

• IBOSP- International Board of Sexuality Professionals 

• CACREP- Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. 

Title Clarifications

• NBCC- National Board of Certified Counselors

  • Having this means a counselor is certified to practice nationally 

• Registered Professional Counselor Associate - Registered with the state of Oregon to practice counseling. More specifically, this designation means a practitioner is in the process of completing their full LPC license and currently under supervision, but have completed other prerequisites such as completion of exams and a master's degree. 

• PFA- Psychological First Aid

  • This means a counselor (or first responder) is certified to assist in the immediate aftermath of a disaster providing psychological support and assisting with short and long-term services. 

• CITI- Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI Program). 

  • This institute certifies researchers for human subjects research, IRB, HIPPA, cybersecurity, and many more trainings pertinent to specific professions like counseling. Typically if a counselor or researcher says they are "up to date with CITI" or something of the sort, it means they are likely qualified to conduct research involving human subjects.