Without therapists we are very unreliable narrators of our own stories”. – Ruth from Russian Dolls, 2019.
Neurons that Wire Together Fire Together” – Donald HebbI am Caroline Kobin, a Jewish American woman originally from Portland Oregon who lived in New York City for 10 years. I am intimately familiar with the confusion of learning to be Jewish in a very small community of a predominantly Christian society in Oregon. I was somewhat in a secular Jewish bubble in Oregon, until I moved to New York and learned to be integrated in a more diverse and accepting community. My father was an attorney who was predominant in the Jewish community in Portland and held many immigrant values of always excelling and being a perfectionist at everything This experience molded me in a number of ways. 1. It taught me perseverance (and some levels of anxiety in performance), but it also taught me to always advocate and use my voice to defend others who couldn’t. When I entered the workforce, I began working as a support provider for individuals with Autism and ADHD as well as other intellectual disability. Most of these clients were adults. I went back to school in New York and did my field study in substance abuse in the North Central Bronx addiction clinic as well as worked in a psychiatric lock down. My approach has always been very humanistic as I feel the medical model is inadequately equipped to manage neurodiversity, oppressed communities and uses stereotypes for treatment rather than individualized methods. When I arrived back to Portland, I went back to some organization psychology with OHA and Care Oregon as a disability specialist and BSP (Behavioral Specialist) under the Disability umbrella. I noticed the lack of mental health tailored to the Autism and IDD community and decided to start my mental health practice in this field. I was trained in DBT, CADC I, IFS, Autism and ADHD, Mindfulness Teacher training and MBSR. With each of these methodologies, I work to tailor them to assist clients with neurodiversity in understanding and applying them. I often provide visual learning charts to assist clients in remembering both concrete and more social emotional tasks.Due to my lived experience of being Jewish an relating to the Yiddish expressions, traditions, neuroses and our inherited generational trauma, about 35% of my clients identify as being Jewish or seeking out a Jewish therapist. In addition, 80% of my clients identify as ADHD, Sensory Diverse or on the Autism Spectrum. I primarily accept OHP, while I prefer private pay, especially when it comes to families. I can provide a super bill for you to present to your insurance company for reimbursement.
