Whitney Summerer

My style is relational, attachment-focused, and psychodynamic, with influences from parts work, trauma-informed therapy, and somatic awareness.

Insight matters, but therapy with me is not only about understanding yourself intellectually. We also pay attention to what happens in real time — how you protect yourself, how you respond when connection feels threatened, and how old relational patterns may still shape your choices.

I am warm and collaborative, but not passive. I will name patterns, ask difficult questions, and gently challenge avoidance or defensiveness when it is keeping you stuck.

With couples, I focus on the cycle between you rather than deciding who is right. We work toward greater honesty, accountability, differentiation, repair, and the ability to stay connected without either person losing themselves.

I hold a Master of Science in Professional Mental Health Counseling and am a Professional Counselor Associate licensed in Oregon and Washington.

My clinical work is grounded in attachment, couples therapy, relational psychotherapy, developmental trauma, neurodivergence, sexuality, and non-monogamous relationships.

Before becoming a therapist, I spent more than a decade working in government and previously lived abroad teaching English in South Korea. Now based in Paris, I bring an international perspective to my work with expats, intercultural relationships, and people navigating identity, belonging, and reinvention.

I earned a Master of Science in Professional Mental Health Counseling from Lewis & Clark College in 2022, with graduate training in attachment theory, developmental trauma, relational psychotherapy, and integrative approaches. I previously earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Portland State University.

My post-graduate training includes Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT), the Gottman Method, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), introductory EMDR training, and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). I continue to pursue advanced study in attachment-based, relational, couples, and somatic approaches.

I am a Professional Counselor Associate in Oregon and a Mental Health Counselor Associate in Washington, practicing under supervision in accordance with state requirements.