Norah Zaharakis
MA
I am passionate about working with adults and adolescents (LGBTQIA2S+, women, men) who are experiencing trauma and grief related to major life transitions (breakups, divorce, moves, death), gender identity/expression, religious affiliation, addiction, and more.
I come from a background in theater, massage therapy, and energy healing. These creative and somatic disciplines inform my approach to working with clients that encompasses mind and body. I help clients learn to attend to and release trauma and pain that is stored in the body. And, I help them use Narrative Therapy to reframe their stories of self-identity and map out a plan for the future.
My therapeutic approach is person-centered and strengths based. I am informed by feminist theory and believe that all people want the same thing: to experience love and connection. I help clients see and reframe maladaptive behavioral patterns/habits as life-affirming strengths/coping strategies developed in conjunction with traumas. I have a special interest in deconstructing masculinity and gender norms, and in neurodivergence and hypersensitivity.
Areas of Focus:
• Trauma/Grief
• Anxiety
• Neurodivergence
• Major Life Transitions
• Coaching/organization/goal-setting
• Teens, adults, couples
Approach & Style:
• Humanistic
• Bowenian Family Systems
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy-DBT
• Attachment Theory
Credentials:
• Associate Marriage and Family Therapist #
• Supervised by Allison Chu, LCSW #L10218
• B.A. in Social Sciences from Portland State University
• M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University
