Hi, I’m Riva.
I do trauma therapy that helps you break old cycles, get clarity, find your courage and start really showing up for yourself.
Years ago, when I was starting my practice, I told a friend of mine the name I had come up with: Into the Woods Counseling. His brow furrowed.
“Shouldn’t it be out of the woods, though?”
Nah. That’s not really what I’m about.
I was captivated by fairy tales as a kid: angry giants, talking crows, witches disguised as simple old ladies who will lead you to treasure if you offer them a drink of water, and turn you to stone if you snub them. I loved the sense of triumph that would emerge as the story unfolded, where a simple farm lass could – through cunning, strength, and endurance – end up holding the keys to a kingdom.
As adults, we know those fairy tale endings don’t quite match up to real life – we never really get out of the woods. There are always more foes to vanquish, riddles to solve, and thickets of thorns to make our way through.
That feeling of triumph, though? That is real. It comes when we meet the moment of a challenge with integrity, rise to the occasion, and leave feeling stronger, more empowered, and more whole than when we went in.
And that’s what my trauma therapy practice is about. Not about soothing or coping, but about leaving therapy feeling a deeper sense of peace in yourself, knowing you’ve shown the courage it takes to confront your own story.
The fairy tale journey may look like an outward trek across plains and mountains, through castles and forests, but the actual movement is inward, into the lands of the soul.
Terri Windling
Look, I know you’re not reading this page to find out what my favorite Netflix show is or what side I come down on in the pineapple-on-pizza debate.
You’re here to figure out what therapy with me will be like and whether I’ll be able to help you get where you’re trying to go.
It might help to tell you that I’m not a worksheets therapist – I won’t be sending you stacks of fill-in-the-blank forms or taking you through a book of manualized skills. I also won’t sit passively in session, nodding my head at everything you say.
When you’re ready to process trauma, you need a therapist who is engaged, involved and invested in you. My intention is to do focused work that helps my clients arrive somewhere.
I live what I practice. I’ll ask you to work hard in therapy – and behind the scenes, I’m working hard on myself, too. To be good therapists, we need to confront our own shit, and I’m committed to both my growth and yours.
The clients I work best with tend to have a few things in common:
They’re tired of carrying around the same old baggage and are ready to do the work it takes to make real change (even if they’re not sure exactly what that will look like yet.)
They’re willing to push the bounds of their comfort zones for the sake of their future happiness.
They’re willing to challenge their own assumptions and get real about themselves, their relationships, and their life.
What I help with:
Looking for the nitty gritty of my credentials?
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I graduated from Lewis and Clark College with a Master’s in Professional Mental Health Counseling in 2014, and am a licensed professional counselor (license #C5243) in the state of Oregon.
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My professional background includes experience in domestic violence advocacy and the management of acute mental health crisis.
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I have extensive postgraduate training in multiple therapeutic modalities for treating trauma and PTSD, including Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Crucible Neurobiological Therapy (CNT). Learn more about my approach here.
