Meet the Team
JENNIFER D. SAMSOM, MA, LPC, LMHC (SHE/HER)
Clinic Founder and Director
Clinical Supervisor
Jennifer is a Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in individual and couples therapy based in mindfulness, and she has maintained a private practice in SW Portland, Oregon for over 12 years.
Her formal training includes a Master's degree in Couples, Marriage, Family Therapy from Portland State University; M.E.T.A.‘s two-year Comprehensive Training in Hakomi, applied mindfulness, somatic approaches, experiential and trauma-focused therapy approaches; she is also formally trained in EMDR and Flash Technique.
In 2020, she harnessed her therapeutic skills and experience and broadened her practice by providing Clinical Supervision to developing therapists. She maintains her own practice and heads the Clinic by providing clinical supervision and training to all MTPNW Practitioners.
When she isn't working she enjoys being a mom to her three teenage kids, traveling, touring Multnomah Village on her Segway, camping trips chasing Bigfoot, bowling badly, riding her motorcycle and caring for her cats and chickens.
Jennifer accepts the following insurance: Regence, MODA, OHP, Cigna, United and Providence. Her cash rate is $215 per hour.
Jennifer is not currently accepting new clients.
VERONICA VALENZUELA, LPC
(SHE/HER)
Clinic co-Director & Clinical Supervisor
Veronica is a mindful therapist practicing in Portland, Oregon. She enjoys working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, including adults and teens. Her specialities include: anxiety, depression, stage of life transitions, identity and spiritual/existential exploration.
She grew up in the Willamette Valley, in the Oregon capital city and moved to Portland to start her professional education and training.
When Veronica isn't working her passions include photography, art, reading, yoga, meditation, travel, writing and animals. Whenever possible she integrates all of these into her daily life. You can see the beginning of her collections and inspirations here.
Veronica's cash rate is $150 per 50 minutes and she is only offering therapy via Telehealth or phone at this time.
MEGAN LILAH MARTIN, MA, CADC 1
(SHE/HER)
Professional Counselor Associate
Megan works with individuals from age 15 to end of life. She specializes in body acceptance, life transitions, addiction recovery, issues related to aging, LGBTQIA+ issues, depression, and anxiety. Megan supports people to channel desire, frustration, and creativity into wholeness, resilience, and thriving.
She offers a compassionate, integrative counseling approach that is rooted in Humanistic and Existential theories that value the essential worth and wisdom of each person as they seek to form meaningful perspectives on their unique experiences and make nourishing connections. Megan encourages clients to question their social conditioning and re-author their life narratives and choices to be more empowering. She welcomes somatic and emotional awareness and integration in the here-and-now, inspired by her 20-year career as a bodyworker and ecstatic dance facilitator.
Megan’s training includes a Master’s degree in Professional Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in addictions from Lewis & Clark College; M.E.T.A.‘s two-year Comprehensive Training in Hakomi, applied mindfulness, somatic approaches, and experiential and trauma-focused therapy approaches; Integrative Somatic Parts Work; expressive arts approaches; Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and studies in gender and sexualities at Portland State University.
When she isn't working, Megan enjoys water aerobics, spending time with loved ones, photographing flowers, writing, and dancing.
At this time Megan offers therapy by Telehealth only. She accepts OHP, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, Providence insurance and her cash rate is $115 per hour.
CHRISTOPHER BOOTHBY, MS, LPC (HE/HIM)
Affiliated Provider
Chris maintained a private practice in Portland, Oregon for over 10 years. In 2017 he moved to Thailand where he was first a counselor, and later the clinical supervisor at a wellness retreat center, New Life Foundation, serving an international clientele until it’s closure due to COVID-19. Chris is now offering teletherapy to Oregon residents.
As a therapist, he draws on his first career as an award-winning architect, his background in massage therapy, a passion for lifelong learning and his extensive training in Hakomi, a mindfulness-based, body-centered psychotherapy technique, to create a nurturing, flexible style of care that attends to the client as a living, upwardly evolving system of mind, body and spirit. Chris works relationally from an Attachment Lens. For more about his approach click here.
When Chris is not engaged in Therapy, he enjoys outdoor activities and nature, specifically, cycling, hiking, gardening, hot springs and waterfalls. In addition, he’s drawn to curvy mountain roads and motorbikes. Exploring SE Asia has been a latter-day opportunity for all these activities primarily in northern Thailand where the coffee is delicious and the people are friendly.
Chris is only offering therapy via Telehealth at this time. He accepts OHP and his cash rate is $185 for 60-minute individual session and $200 for 75-minute couples session.
LEIGH VARLEY, MA (SHE/HER)
Professional Counselor Associate
Leigh specializes in working with individuals and couples navigating life transitions, relationship challenges, depression, anxiety, chronic illness, and low self-esteem.
In therapy, Leigh offers a safe and supportive environment for exploration and healing while encouraging self-compassion and present-moment awareness. Her approach is warm, collaborative, and relational. She draws from mindfulness-based, somatic, humanistic, and emotionally focused therapies.
Leigh received her master's degree in marriage, couple, and family counseling from Portland State University. She is committed to practicing with cultural humility and creating a welcoming and equitable space for all clients.
Outside of therapy, Leigh enjoys spending time with friends and family and exploring Oregon’s natural beauty.
Leigh accepts OHP, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, Providence insurance and her cash rate is $115 per 50-minute session. A limited number of sliding-scale spaces are available based on financial need. At this time, Leigh offers therapy via telehealth only.
EDEN SWARTZ (SHE/HER)
Graduate Student Intern, Naropa University, Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling
Eden has been practicing mindfulness for many years. Going to school and doing a deep dive into studying mindfulness-based counseling feels like a natural progression. She is extremely compassionate and enjoys working with individuals and couples of all ages and backgrounds.
She uses practices like yoga, breathing exercises, and somatic therapy to support people going through life's many challenges – transitions, anxiety, depression, parenting, divorce, insecurities, etc. She has a special place in her heart for the perinatal community; she has been teaching yoga and supporting new families for over 15 years.
When Eden is not working, you can find her doing her favorite things. She loves to spend time with her husband and two teenagers, as well as gardening, hiking, traveling, reading, yoga, knitting, having coffee with friends, talking to her sisters on the phone, napping with her three cats, and walking her exceptionally empathetic therapy dog, (certification in progress). Eden is also a professional photographer.
Eden's cash rate is $50 per 50 minute session and she accepts Providence insurance. She offers therapy via Telehealth only.
NICOLE DOVE, BSN, RNC (SHE/HER)
Graduate Student Intern, University of Providence, Master of Science in Counseling
Nicole is enrolled in the University of Providence Master of Science in Counseling. She enters her internship this year (2023). She focuses on women’s health, pregnancy and postpartum, and other various issues including anxiety, depression, eating disorders, stress management, grief and loss, and marriage/relationship. Nicole is also working towards a certificate in ADHD Clinical Services Provider (ADHD-CCSP) Certification Course.
She is preparing to work in the field of Women’s Health and utilized her education and experience to assist women. Nicole has been working for 14 years as a registered nurse in a high-risk labor and delivery unit. She will also focus on working with clients who are diagnosed with ADHD and support clients of the LGBTQIA+ and BiPoC communities.
When Nicole is not working and studying, she enjoys reading, exercising, spending time with her two girls and husband of over 18 years.
Nicole's cash rate is $50 per 50 minute session and she accepts Providence insurance. She offers therapy via Telehealth only.
LUNA PEREIRA, LMT (SHE/HER)
Graduate Student Intern, Adams State University, Clinical Mental Health Master's Program
Luna is enrolled in Adams State University Clinical Mental Health Master's Program, and her experience as a bodyworker for over 20 years, has guided her towards working in the field of trauma, attachment, anxiety, depression and life transitions.
Luna's training includes M.E.T.A.'s two year Comprehensive Training in Hakomi and M.E.T.A.'s Attachment Training.
Luna applies an integrative approach with her clients, advocating for their wholeness through mindfulness, self-awareness, empowerment and authenticity. Along with inviting clients to explore their life experiences, she also invites a client's somatic experience to be a part of their therapeutic journey and discovery.
When Luna is not working, she enjoys spending time with her family, adventuring to new places, and finding new ways to listen to nature.
Luna's cash rate is $50 per 50 minute session and she accepts Providence insurance. She offers therapy via Telehealth only.
Lindsey Neilson, MA
Professional Counselor Associate
Lindsey welcomes working with individuals and couples with diverse backgrounds, cultures and experiences. She specializes in helping clients navigate life transitions, explore relationship dynamics and attachment needs, deal with grief, anxiety and depression, explore dreamwork and existential states, mindfulness, spiritual growth and music therapy. Lindsey also has experience in navigating the complexities of family businesses and dealing with high-performing career stress.
Lindsey obtained her Master’s degree at the California Institute of Integral Studies in Integral Counseling Psychology. Some of her favorite subjects continue to be Transpersonal, Gestalt and Jungian Psychotherapies, Psychodynamics, Psychoanalysis, Attachment Theory, Trauma-informed care, Humanistic and client-centered modalities as well as Somatic and Experiential therapies.
When Lindsey isn’t working, she enjoys exploring the beauty of Oregon from the Ocean to the Mountains and Desert. She loves music, the arts, meditation, Tai Chi, sports and spending time with her little cat.
Lindsey accepts OHP, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, Providence insurance and her cash rate is $115 per 50-minute session. A limited number of sliding-scale spaces are available based on financial need. At this time, Lindsey offers therapy via telehealth only.
April Erdos, MA
Professional Counselor Associate
April completed the two-year Comprehensive Training in Hakomi with M.E.T.A. in 2021, and continue to have ongoing consultation, mentorship, and training in Hakomi.
April is passionate about working with folks who have complex/developmental trauma, folks navigating end of life, and folks on the autism spectrum. April has worked with clients from a diverse range of ages and backgrounds, and has experience living in a country outside of the one you were raised in. Their therapeutic style is relaxed with a solid grounding in creating safety for the nervous system.
April lives and sees clients currently in Salem, Oregon and online.
When not working, April can be found dancing bachata, hiking/camping, cooking, with their kiddo, or trying some new thing they want to learn!
April accepts OHP, Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield, Providence insurance and their cash rate is $115 per 50-minute session. A limited number of sliding-scale spaces are available based on financial need. At this time, April offers therapy via telehealth only.
Hadas Moalem
Graduate Student Intern, Naropa University, Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling
I am pursuing an MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Naropa University with a concentration in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Psychology. I use she/her pronouns and I also hold a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in English Literature.
My therapeutic approach is unhurried, warm, nonjudgmental, and spacious. I like to remind my clients that there is not necessarily a place we are trying to get to, and I invite fluidity to the therapeutic process. In addition to talk therapy, I offer a space for clients to open up to other aspects of their experience that may be difficult to put into words, such as spirituality or existential issues. I strongly believe in the mind-body connection and will offer mindfulness and other body-based practices that may have an impact on your awareness of thoughts, emotions, or body sensations and how they relate to your everyday life.
I am interested in working with people who may be struggling with relationship dynamics (familial or otherwise), emotional regulation, attachment style, self-limiting beliefs/stories especially related to the inner critic, or caregiver burnout. I am also interested in working with the elderly population as I am passionate about giving this age group more voice and representation. I believe therapy is a collaborative process, and especially in the role of an intern, I welcome any feedback you may have throughout our time together.
Hadas's cash rate is $50 per 50 minute session and she accepts Providence insurance. She offers therapy via Telehealth only.
Audra Duran
Graduate Student Intern, Walden University, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Audra is a patient and helpful therapist who holds the belief that everyone contains within them all that is necessary to achieve a full and joyful life. She comes to therapy with over 20 years of teaching yoga and working with individuals one-on-one to return to a place of wholeness.
She is enrolled in the two-year Hakomi professional training, focusing on mindfulness and inclusivity of the individual's body, mind, and spirit experience. Audra brings a spirit of curiosity and creativity, leading to deep and lighthearted sessions.
Audra moved to Portland from Brooklyn, NY, and spent many years of her 20s in India. She is endlessly fascinated by the experience of being human in a body that moves, laughs, and always expresses itself. In her free time, Audra enjoys traveling and engaging in movement modalities of all kinds. She brings this freshness and new perspective into her sessions.
Audra's cash rate is $50 per 50 minute session and she accepts Providence insurance. She offers therapy via Telehealth only.
Garon Nemyre
Graduate Student Intern, Naropa University, Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling
Garon has worked in coaching and development for the past 10+ years, working to help people deepen their connection with their authentic self and expand their relationship to life. He’s currently completing his Master’s in Mindfulness-Based Transpersonal Counseling at Naropa University, while simultaneously completing a 4-year practitioner training in Core Energetics somatic-based therapy. His work is primarily informed by contemplative practices and Core Energetics, but he includes other modalities to best meet the needs of his clients.
Garon utilizes a holistic, present-centered approach, working with clients to bring awareness to all aspects of their energy system – bodily, emotional, mental, will, and spirit. He enjoys working with the full spectrum of development from personal and relational issues to transpersonal and spiritual growth issues.
Beyond counseling and coaching, Garon loves to be active climbing, surfing, and exploring new places with his partner. He is also an avid music collector and twilights as a house DJ.
Garon's cash rate is $50 per 50 minute session and he accepts Providence insurance. He offers therapy via Telehealth only.