Tagged: trauma

Why African Immigrants and Refugees Struggle to Access Mental Health Care in Oregon — And What We're Doing About It

By Hussein Idow, CSWA, MSW, QMHP, CADC-II-R | Healing Power Therapy, LLC | Portland, Oregon If you've ever sat across from a Somali mother who hasn't slept in months, a Congolese father who can't explain why he feels numb, or an Ethiopian young adult who is told by their family that therapy is "for crazy people" — you understand why culturally responsive mental health care is not a luxury

Complex PTSD in adults: why the standard depression playbook often misses it

A lot of people arrive in my practice with a folder of failed antidepressant trials and a working theory that they are treatment-resistant. Sometimes that is exactly right. Often what is actually going on is that the…

Growing Together: Updates, New Programs & Ways to Get Involved (July 2026 Newsletter)

Welcome to the very first Facing Giants newsletter! First, thank you. Whether you've toured the space, attended an event, seen us at a community event, brought your child to play, partnered with us, sponsored our mission, facilitated a program, begun using the space to serve your own clients or grow your practice, shared our mission with someone else, or simply encouraged what we're building.

How to tell your therapist about a psychedelic experience

People ask me this more than almost anything else, and usually in a lowered voice: should I tell my therapist, and what happens if I do. It is a fair question. The person asking has often spent years building a…

What We Lose When We're Not Believed

There's a kind of tired I want to talk about, because I don't think it gets named enough, and because I've lived inside of it, and because the people who walk into my office almost always know exactly what I mean before I finish the sentence. It's the tired that comes from being the one who notices. It's exhausting being the one who feels the shift in the room, who registers the tightness in som

Why I practice integrative psychiatry

I did not arrive at this way of working through a conference or a continuing education requirement. I arrived at it in my early forties, looking honestly at my own life and not being especially pleased with what I…

The Queer Body Remembers: Somatic-Focused Trauma Healing

For many LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning) people growing up was distressing due to homophobia and transphobia. Schools felt like a scary place for those who were scapegoated as queer. LGBTQ people of color reported even worse experiences due to the additional stress of racism and racial bullying. Many of the gay men’s personal narratives that I have he

What Is Psychedelic Integration Therapy? (And Do You Need It?)