Therapy for Political Anxiety & Climate Grief in Portland
When YOu Feel Exhausted From Living Your Values…
Let me guess: You moved to the Pacific Northwest because it aligned with who you wanted to be. Progressive. Conscious. Connected to nature. Part of a community that cares about more than just profit margins.
Maybe you're in a Pearl District loft working remotely, trying to justify the rent while wondering if you should move somewhere with actual space. Or you chose Vancouver for the yards, the schools, the breathing room; still shopping at New Seasons, still hitting Saturday Market, but with a Washington address. Perhaps you're in Sellwood, Laurelhurst, or crossing the bridge daily from Fisher's Landing.
Wherever you are, you're on the verge of burnout from trying to be a good person in a broken world.
The Pacific Northwest Paradox
Here's what nobody admits: living consciously can become exhausting.
It's not just about making good choices anymore. Every decision carries moral weight. The food you buy at Fred Meyer or Whole Foods (organic? local? affordable?). The commute you take (MAX? bike? necessary evil on I-5?). The way you parent (gentle? boundaried? attachment-focused?). Even your anxiety feels political: are you worried about your kids' future or the planet's future or democracy's future, or all of it at once?
You came here to live differently, but different is expensive: financially, emotionally, mentally.
The Specific Exhaustion of Conscious Living
Climate grief that gets dismissed as overthinking but feels like a rock in your chest every smoky summer, watching the gorge burn again
Remote work isolation whether you're in a Hawthorne bungalow or a Cascade Park suburb
Parenting perfectionism in communities where every kid seems gifted and thriving
Healthcare burnout (OHSU, PeaceHealth, Providence, Unity, and Kaiser workers) from systems that preach wellness while burning out their staff
The eight months of gray that make everything heavier when you haven't seen sun since September
Values fatigue from trying to shop ethically, parent consciously, work meaningfully, and stay politically engaged without completely losing it.
You're not just anxious about your own life. You're anxious about supply chains, democracy, whether the Ross Island Bridge will survive the earthquake, your kids' screen time, microplastics, and where to buy groceries from when every company seems to be part of the problem.
Climate Grief & Political Anxiety Are Real…
Let's name what many therapists won't: you're not “overthinking” the state of the world. Climate anxiety isn't a disorder, it's a rational response to an irrational situation. Political exhaustion is what happens when you're paying attention to systems that are breaking.
This is grief work. You're grieving the future you thought your kids would have, the stable climate your parents had, the democracy that felt secure, and the planet that wasn't on fire every summer.
This grief may not be recognized by others as legitimate loss, but it's real and it deserves to be witnessed.
Your body is holding this collective trauma. Every wildfire season, every flood, every election, every Supreme Court decision, your nervous system responds as if you're personally under threat, because in a way, you are.
Through art therapy, you can express the rage and grief that have nowhere else to go. Through somatic work, we'll help your nervous system find regulation even while the world feels dysregulated.
Why Traditional Talk Therapy Often Falls Short…
Pacific Northwest folks love therapy. We've all been. We can name our attachment styles, identify our triggers, and explain our trauma with impressive clarity. Portland-area residents probably have the highest per-capita ownership of Brené Brown books in the nation.
But here's the thing: understanding your patterns through a social justice lens doesn’t actually change them. Knowing that your anxiety is "valid" and "totally understandable given the state of the world" still doesn’t allow you to sleep at night.
The therapy you need goes deeper than validation. It needs to help you live in this world without drowning in awareness of everything wrong with it.
you’re in the right spot.
Art Therapy & Body-Based Therapy: Beyond the Intellectual
Through art therapy, you get to express yourself when words fail you:
That rage about systems you can’t change
The grief about the world your kids are inheriting
The guilt about not doing “enough” when you’re already doing so much
Somatic therapy recognizes that your body is keeping score of every news cycle, every wildfire season, every school shooting you had to explain to your kids.
That chronic fatigue isn't just physical. That chest tightness isn't just stress.
Your body is responding to living in a world that feels increasingly unsafe, and no amount of meditation apps will change that until we address what your nervous system actually needs.
What Changes Through Our Work Together…
You stay informed, but with limits. You might still feel your chest tightening when you check the news, but now you know how to move through it instead of carrying it all day. You can tell the difference between taking real action (calling your senator, volunteering twice a month) and anxiety spirals (reading 47 articles about collapse at 2am). You do what you can, then you stop.
You still feel the rage of other shoppers’ choices at Fred Meyer sometimes, but now you recognize it as grief and can release it in session instead of snapping at your kids later. You can attend family dinners without lecturing about carbon footprints or spiraling (too much) about your uncle's politics. Work meetings don't require two hours of decompression afterward. You stop apologizing for being human in a flawed system.
You engage with the world differently. Instead of signing up for every action alert then feeling guilty when you can't follow through, you choose two causes and show up sustainably. You close your news app without feeling like you’re abandoning the revolution. You can watch your kids play without mentally catastrophizing about their future. You stop parenting from fear and start parenting from presence.
Your relationships transform. Date nights become actual connection instead of processing world trauma together. You can disagree with your partner about something in the news without it feeling like a betrayal. You attract people who can hold joy and grief simultaneously, not just crisis-bond over how terrible everything is.
The biggest shift: You catch yourself pre-grieving apocalyptic futures and can redirect to the present moment. You plant the garden even though the world might end. You take the flight to Mexico without a sustainability guilt hangover. You enjoy your coffee without calculating its true cost. You’re still conscious and caring, but you're not suffering twice: once for what’s happening and once for how you think you should feel about it.
Practical Details About WOrking Together…
Completely online. No fighting for parking in the Pearl, no bridge traffic from Vancouver, no getting soaked walking from the MAX. Therapy from your Portland apartment, your Vancouver home, your car during lunch, wherever works — anywhere in Oregon or Washington.
$250 per session. I don’t bill insurance directly, but I provide Superbills.
OR/WA licensure. Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon (License #C3022) and Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Washington (License #MHC.LH.61685622). One therapist who serves the whole metro, no matter which side of the river you're on.
let’s start working together toward a life you love, In Spite of What’s On the news.
If you're waiting for permission to not be okay despite your privilege, here it is.
If you need someone to say that having resources doesn’t mean you can’t struggle, I’m saying it.
If you want validation that trying to live ethically in an unethical world is legitimately exhausting, you have it.
Your anxiety is real. Your exhaustion is valid. And you deserve adequate support.
Jeniffer Duncan, LPC, LMHC
I combine art therapy and somatic approaches because the patterns you're trying to change aren't stored in the logical part of your brain. They’re held in your nervous system, your body, and parts of your psyche that words alone can’t reach.
While you can intellectually understand why you feel anxious, or why your grief hasn’t resolved, lasting change requires working with the whole person.
That’s where I come in.
Oregon LPC, License C3022 · Verify with OR State Board
Washington LMHC, License MHC.LH.61685622 · Verify with WA State BoardLet’s Get Started
Contact Me
Contact me to schedule your first therapy appointment.
Complete this form and I’ll be back in touch via email, text, or phone within 1-2 business days.
Call or Text
503-974-4140
jduncanlpc@gmail.com
MAILING ADDRESS (Services are conducted 100% online)
4207 SE Woodstock Blvd. #398 Portland, OR 97206
frequently asked questions
-
Yes, I am currently accepting new clients. I generally work Monday through Wednesday. I have limited afternoon availability, so please contact me to inquire about hours.
-
No, I only see clients online.
-
My fee is $250 for 55-minutes. If you prefer to work more intensively, I offer 90-minute sessions for $375. If you’d like to schedule a half-day or a multi-day therapy intensive, please see my rates page for more information about package options.
-
No, I am not in-network with any insurance company. I would be happy to provide a Superbill (an itemized receipt) for you to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement.
-
I primarily use art therapy (also called expressive art therapy, or creative art therapy) and somatic therapy.
-
Yes, but only when it will be helpful and effective for you. If you’ve already had a lot of talk therapy, it’s likely time to try a more body-based approach.
-
I offer complimentary 30-minute consultations to prospective clients so that you and I can get a feel for what it will be like to work together. However, if that doesn’t work for you, I’d be happy to schedule your intake appointment.
Please scroll down to my contact form, or send me a message on my contact page and I will respond within 48 business hours with my availability.