stephanie Spak, LPC

I graduated from Lewis and Clark College with a Master of Arts degree  in Counseling Psychology and Addictions in 1999. I have worked as a dual diagnosis counselor in an outpatient mental health and addictions agency,  as a community college counselor and as a supervisor in a graduate counseling psychology program.

In my previous career, I taught English as a Second/Foreign Language at several universities and colleges in Oregon and for 4 years at Tokai University in Japan. I worked in international education for nearly 20 years as a teacher, teacher trainer, curriculum developer and advisor.

I now devote myself entirely to my private psychotherapy practice and continually upgrade my skills with training in current methodologies.

I am a fully qualified EMDR practitioner, having completed Parts 1, 2, and 3 of EMDR training with Dr. Laurel Parnell. 

I have completed advanced training in the Flash Technique with Dr. Philip Manfield.

In 2003, I was in the Vanguard class of Dr. Martin Seligman's Authentic Happiness Coaching training. We learned how to help people build positive emotions, identify personal strengths and focus on what is "right" in their lives, instead of only focusing on what is wrong.

I have completed advanced training in  Emotionally-Focused Therapy for Couples, an empirically-validated couples therapy approach that was developed by Dr. Sue Johnson.

Post-graduate training has also included completion of a 2-year Gestalt training with Gestalt Therapy Training NW, and participation in an Existential-Humanistic case consultation group supervised by Bob Edelstein, LMFT. 

Years of working with international students, my own experiences living and working abroad, and studies in Cultural Transitions at the Summer Institute of Intercultural Communication have fueled additional interest and expertise in cultural issues, including intercultural relationships and cultural adjustment.

I currently hold licensure in Oregon as a Licensed Professional Counselor.

I am a member of the following organizations:

International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally-Focused Therapy

Oregon Counseling Association

Existential-Humanistic NorthWest