Autism Therapists in Portland, OR

My areas of expertise include diagnosis and therapy for autistic adults, relational therapy for individuals and couples, and therapy for individuals with histories of trauma and abuse, especially emotional abuse. My perspective is neurodiversity-affirming, attachment based, and emotionally focused. I support people in living their most authentic and connected lives through self-compassion, nervous system regulation, awareness and validation. I love helping clients experience authentic connection with themselves and with their loved ones.

Dr. Caedy Young Hildebrandt is a licensed psychologist specializing in neuropsychological assessment. Clinically, Dr. Hildebrandt works with adults aged eighteen and older. She works exclusively in assessment, and offers evaluations for neurodevelopmental, neurocognitive, and neurodegenerative conditions, as well as evaluations for gender affirming surgery. Caedy specializes in the assessment of memory impairment, ADHD and executive dysfunction, complex learning disorders, and subjective cognitive decline, and has over ten years of advanced training in working with neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative concerns.

I specialize in working with neurodivergent adults- so folks who, for diverse reasons feel like their brains work different from most i.e. Autistic, ADHD, complex PTSD, HSP, queer, BIPOC, etc.; and those differences have limited their access to community or feeling like they're living a full life. Some common difficulties for neurodivergent adults include: chronic anxiety, feeling lonely or isolated, recurrent depression, communication difficulties, low self esteem, and general difficulty with "people-ing".

We tend to work with people who have tried many different therapies which failed to adequately improve their brain-related challenges or the benefits of such therapies have plateaued. Thus, this means our clients tend to have fairly complex symptomologies and diagnoses, sometimes they don't even have formal diagnoses due to the unique mixof symptoms. Maybe the client has physical symptoms that their physician cannot explain and possibly says is psychosomatic or due to a history of complex trauma. We also work with children for both neurofeedback and neurobehavioral counseling, which is behavioral counseling based on neurobiology.

As a therapist, I believe in equality between myself and my clients. This means I believe you are the expert in your lived experience and can teach me as much as I teach you. I have expertise that may help you learn and change in your own healing path. Equality also means that I am open to sharing about my life if it is helpful to building your attachment, empathy, understanding, and healing.

What is most important to you in your life today? What is working for you and what would you like to change? We will work collaboratively to identify and achieve the goals that are most meaningful to you, using an individualized and integrative approach that treats the whole person. You are an individual and there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach!

Do you constantly feel like you’re slightly out of sync with most people? Maybe you frequently take things too literally. Maybe you constantly make movie reference quotes, but no one ever knows what you’re talking about. You shut down when you’re overwhelmed and you’ve been told that means you have depression—but you aren’t quite sure that’s right. One minute you’re in control of your emotions, and the next minute you’re lashing out at others. You don’t understand why you’re so overwhelmed this time, when you have previously handled situations like this with ease? Do you find yourself often anxious and avoidant of people and places?

Holistic and collaborative therapist with immediate openings. Now accepting OHP and other major insurance. Offering individual, family, and couples therapy for mental health, addiction concerns, identity-affirming care and entheogen integration support. Specialties: LGBTQIA2S, neurodiversity, gentle parenting, early childhood, transition-age youth, I/DD, anxious states, body-mind connection, creativity, non-conformist and alternative spirituality, clients with significant trauma history (complex PTSD, survivors of domestic violence and childhood abuse), bipolar disorder, and dual diagnosis (addictions and mental health).

Our group practice was founded with shared passion for helping folks who have experienced trauma and/or difficult childhood experiences to heal, reconnect to a sense of safety within themselves, and find the freedom to pursue a meaningful life without being stuck in the past. We are also interested and passionate about helping folks navigate trauma, OCD, anxiety disorders, and attachment difficulties that often show up in our closest relationships.

I am here to support you finding your way through overwhelm, grief, trauma, and uncertainty. I am an art therapist and counselor who treats everyone with compassion, warmth, and respect, as I believe growth happens in safe relationships. I see therapy as a process of becoming a trusted ally to yourself so that you have a sense of groundedness, security, and wholeness. I work especially well with highly sensitive or neurodiverse adults experiencing anxiety, grief, burnout, attachment related trauma, and recovery from domestic violence or difficult relationships, by using a combination of art and talk therapy.

My work with people focuses on meeting you where you are. First time in therapy? No problem, let's take it slow and figure out what you want to get out of this experience. A seasoned therapy pro? Let's talk about your past therapy experiences and go from there. Where ever you land on the therapy experience spectrum, you are welcome here and I look forward to working with you! The over arching goal of my work with clients is for you to align and connect with who you are and how you want to live. Sometimes that is really easy to identify, but it can also be tremendously overwhelming. Come as you are and leave who you want to be!

Start. Restore. Heal. I would like to assist you with gaining control over your life through building positive coping strategies to help you address current psychosocial adaptations and poor coping skills. My focus will help you to reduce your mental health symptoms by developing healthy life choices, positive coping skills, and improved self image. I can assist you in building positive relationships and connections. I am currently providing Telehealth therapeutic services for individuals, couples and families, seeking therapeutic support.

Starting a healing journey is a big step, and I am excited to meet you here. I love working with folks who want to do deep healing work. I focus on attachment and relationships, healing from complex trauma, and discovering your sexual self. This work can be very meaningful for individuals and couples. You can visit my website to see more detail about this work and how I approach it. The most important variable in successful therapy is the individual's feelings of trust and safety with the therapist. My first goal is to create a space where you feel comfortable to be yourself.

“The wound is the place where the light enters you” – Rumi. Life stressors can contribute to feelings of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and even hopelessness. If you are feeling any of these, know that you are not alone. I trust in the power of therapy to re-examine stressful situations in a therapeutic environment. I am passionate about working with children, families, individuals, and couples to help identify barriers and dysfunctions; and to help facilitate positive changes to reinstate normal functions.

We all have desire to have a life filled with joy and feel like we can be our authentic self. Sometimes we feel lost in finding that joy and authenticity without the right support, so let's change that together. My practice is grounded in being non-judgmental, compassionate and empowering you to bring balance to your mental health.

I believe that we are all beings who ultimately desire to belong and that most of our traumas result from somewhere down the line not being accepted in some way, shape, or form. Frequently these wounds are in our subconscious and we have very little awareness of how much they can control our day-to-day interactions. What’s left unaddressed has a funny way of continuing to surface.

***NOT ACCEPTING NEW CLIENTS*** I work with adults and couples from diverse backgrounds. Using a collaborative, relational approach I help you with your struggles with anxiety, grief, depression, trauma, relationship difficulties, multicultural identity concerns, and life transitions. The foundation of my approach focuses on developing a shared understanding of your current struggles and how personal, relational, familial, and cultural experiences help shape your unique life circumstances. While doing this I help you expand and enrich your ability to cope so that you may be more empowered to generate change in your life.

My clients come with a variety of life experiences that have led them to therapy. Whether it is your first time in therapy, your fiftieth time, or you just stumbled upon this website, I encourage you to reach out. Life is hard, and there is strength in asking for help. I am a strong advocate to de-stigmatize mental health. I believe everyone has potential to reach their goals, and in my practice, I emphasize autonomy. Treatment will focus on what you want, while we work collaboratively on a plan to get there. I believe in letting you make your own decisions. Sometimes we just need a little help.

Neurodiverse clients I have worked with said they felt understood and supported and said that I genuinely care about them. I encourage neurodiverse communication styles, ways of thinking, and varieties of emotional expression. I will follow your lead on what you want out of therapy. The autistic community has a higher rate of trans and nonbinary gender identities which I celebrate. I also have a master’s degree in child development. I focused on sexual development and attachment theory. I support all sexualities and ethical relationship styles. I also studied healthy racial identity development in people of color and white people.