Hi, I’m Riva.
A third-generation therapist and clinical educator, I tackle clinical challenges with curiosity, daring, and resolve.
So what is it like to have me as your therapist?
You can expect me to:
Get down to business quickly
Go deep
Ask you questions you’ve never been asked before
We’ll probably spend a lot more time laughing than you’d expect from trauma therapy - but I’m dead serious about the work, and about the results I want for you.
While I’m deeply empathetic, I harbor no illusions that empathy alone will get the job done, and I won’t run down the clock of the therapy hour validating everything you say.
Processing trauma requires courage. When you’ve decided you’re ready to go there, you need a therapist who is active, engaged, and willing to get down in the muck with you - without losing sight of where it is you’re trying to go. My intention is to do focused, ambitious work that helps my clients arrive somewhere.
As therapist and client, we are also two real people having a real relationship with each other. I have a reputation for authenticity, and keeping it real with you helps build the trust we’ll need to do good work. I invite you to keep it real with me, too.
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 be challenged - and challenge themselves - and get real about themselves, their relationships, and their lives.
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 assessment and treatment of acute mental health crisis. I have practiced through Into the Woods Counseling since 2017. My professional activities now include supervision of associates, consulting for licensed clinicians, and curriculum development and continuing education training for therapists at all career stages through the school I co-founded with Dr. Kae Hixson, The Kiln.
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I have extensive postgraduate training in multiple therapeutic modalities for treating trauma and PTSD. I now exclusively use Mentalization-Based Narrative Exposure Therapy for Complex Interpersonal Trauma (MBNET), a modality I developed in collaboration with Dr. Kae Hixson and train other clinicians in through The Kiln. Learn more about MBNET here.
