Mindfulness Therapy

in Portland, OR

What Is Mindfulness Therapy?

Mindfulness-based therapy offers a way to step out of the mental struggle and reconnect with the present moment.

Getting Unstuck from Worry and Rumination

These evidence-based approaches help you cultivate awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences without judgment. Rather than trying to eliminate difficult emotions or suppress unwanted thoughts, mindfulness practices teach you to observe your inner experience with openness and curiosity. This shift in perspective can fundamentally change how you relate to stress, anxiety, depression, and other psychological challenges.

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Mindfulness Means Changing Your Relationship to Thoughts and Feelings

Mindfulness practice can also do more than reduce suffering. It can also actively cultivate a richer, more vibrant relationship with life itself. As you become more present and less entangled in mental noise, you may find yourself more able to notice and savor moments of beauty, connection, and meaning that previously passed by unnoticed. Research suggests that mindfulness practice is associated with increased positive emotions, and greater sense of joy and vitality, and an enhanced overall sense of well-being. Rather than simply turning down the volume on pain, mindfulness can turn up the volume on what makes life worth living.

Evidence-Based and Widely Studied

The foundations of mindfulness-based therapy have been studied for over 30 years, with mindfulness psychology researchers consistently demonstrating its effectiveness for treating stress, chronic pain, depression, anxiety, addiction, and numerous other concerns. What began as a practice rooted in ancient meditation traditions has evolved into a scientifically validated therapeutic approach, backed by rigorous research and integrated into several evidence-based treatment models.

At Portland Psychotherapy, we integrate mindfulness practices within our broader clinical approach, particularly through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Our therapists are trained to help you develop mindfulness skills that fit your life and goals, whether through formal meditation practices or more informal, accessible techniques that can be woven into your daily routine.

How Mindfulness Therapy Can Help You

Mindfulness-based therapy is grounded in a simple but powerful principle: bringing focused attention to the present moment with an attitude of openness provides rich information about what’s happening right now. This awareness allows you to respond more intentionally and flexibly to life’s challenges rather than reacting automatically based on old patterns.

Mindfulness-Based Counseling: What We Do in Sessions

In our mindfulness-based counseling sessions, you’ll learn to relate to your thoughts and feelings more effectively. Although we often can’t control what thoughts or emotions arise in any given moment, cultivating mindfulness allows you to change your relationship with those experiences. Instead of being caught up in your thinking or overwhelmed by difficult emotions, you can learn to observe them, acknowledge them, and choose how to respond.

Meditation Isn’t Required (But It’s Available If You Want It)

Our clinicians draw on mindfulness techniques from a variety of traditions to help you develop these skills in a way that is practical and also tailored to you. Many of them are experienced meditation practitioners, often having practiced for many years or even decades. While some therapies emphasize formal mindfulness meditation as the primary path to mindfulness, we take a more flexible approach. Some clients find value in developing a traditional meditation practice. If that’s the case for you, we can guide you through the steps of establishing a sustainable practice, from choosing the right form of meditation for your temperament and lifestyle, to working through the common obstacles and frustrations that arise along the way. Whether you are brand new to meditation or looking to deepen an existing practice, we can help you build the skills and habits that allow mindfulness to take root in your daily life.

For those less interested in meditation, we can help you benefit from brief, informal exercises that take just a minute or two. We work collaboratively with you to find mindfulness practices that resonate and fit into your life.

Core Skills We Teach in Mindfulness-Based Therapy

Our approach often focuses on three core skills:

Defusion is the practice of learning to observe your thinking rather than getting swept up in it. It’s the difference between being fused with a thought like “I’m a failure” and simply noticing “I’m having the thought that I’m a failure.” That subtle shift creates space between you and your thoughts, reducing their power to run your life.
Present moment awareness means learning to be more fully engaged in the here and now rather than being pulled into the past or anxious about the future. This doesn’t mean ignoring important concerns; it means choosing when and how you engage with them, rather than being controlled by them.
Acceptance is when you are able to stop struggling to avoid, change, or suppress difficult emotions and instead you are able to make room for your full range of experiences. This doesn’t mean resignation or giving up; it means reducing the exhausting fight against your own internal experience so you can direct that energy toward what matters most to you.

What Mindfulness Therapy Can Support

Mindfulness-based therapy has been shown to be effective for a wide range of concerns, including:

Anxiety
Depression
Chronic stress
Relationship difficulties
Trauma
Addiction
Chronic pain
feeling disconnected from what gives your life meaning and vitality.

Our therapists use mindfulness practices to help you develop greater psychological flexibility, that is, the ability to stay present, open, and engaged with life even when difficult thoughts or feelings show up.

Why Choose Portland Psychotherapy for Mindfulness Therapy?

Specialized Training Across Our Team
All therapists and counselors at Portland Psychotherapy receive specialized training in mindfulness-based approaches. This training ensures that our team can skillfully apply these approaches in ways that are tailored to your unique needs and goals.
Mindfulness Integrated With ACT
We offer Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an evidence-based approach that integrates mindfulness meditation with cognitive-behavioral principles to help you build psychological flexibility and live according to your values. Many of our clinicians have also trained in other mindfulness-based modalities and bring this expertise to their work with clients. We emphasize mindfulness in our clinical work because the research consistently shows its effectiveness, and because we’ve seen firsthand how it helps people reduce struggle and engage more fully with their lives. Mindfulness isn’t about achieving a perfectly calm state or eliminating all negative thoughts; it’s about learning to be present with whatever arises and making conscious choices about how to respond. This approach aligns with our broader commitment to evidence-based, compassionate care that honors each person’s unique path to well-being.
Guided Mindfulness Resources You Can Use Between Sessions
Our team also creates and shares mindfulness mindfulness resources with the broader community, including guided audio exercises available on our website. These practices range from brief acceptance exercises to longer body scans and meditations, offering tools you can use both in and outside of therapy sessions.

Our Unique Scientist Practitioner Approach

What sets Portland Psychotherapy apart is our commitment to the scientist-practitioner model. Our unique business model means that the revenue from our clinical services funds ongoing research, keeping us at the forefront of evidence-based treatment. When you work with us, you benefit from clinicians who are exceptionally well-trained and who stay current on what research says actually works, including mindfulness-based interventions.

At Portland Psychotherapy, we provide mindfulness-based therapy that is:

Evidence-Based

Grounded in over 30 years of research demonstrating its effectiveness for a wide range of concerns.

Personalized

Tailored to your unique concerns, values, and background.

Compassionate

Delivered by therapists who understand struggling doesn’t mean you’re broken; it means you’re human.

Inclusive

Affirming and welcoming to all identities, including LGBTQIA2S+ individuals and those in our BIPOC communities.

Portland Psychotherapy

Begin Your Mindfulness Practice Today

If you’re interested in learning how mindfulness therapy can help you reduce struggle, increase well-being, and live more fully, we invite you to reach out. We offer free phone consultations where you can ask questions about our approach and discuss whether mindfulness counseling might be a good fit for your needs. You can reach our confidential voicemail at 503-281-4852, and we’ll return your call shortly. You may also contact us through our website. We look forward to hearing from you.

3719 N Williams Ave,
Portland, OR 97227