Counseling

Meeting you where you are

JFCS’ Counseling program provides compassionate, person-centered, trauma-informed mental-health services to adults, children, teens, couples and families facing life’s challenges. Our priority is to provide support based on trust, empathy and understanding to ensure that our clients feel safe, empowered and able to make progress toward their goals.

Meet Our Counseling Team

 

Douglass Ruth
Douglass Ruth, LCSW

Clinical Director

Specialties: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Solution Focused Therapy (SFBT)
In collaboration with his clients, Doug helps them: identify and tap into their core values and goals; gain a deeper understanding of their motivations and symptoms; and engage in reflection and behavior change. Learn more about Doug here.

 

Missy Fry
Missy Fry, LCSW

Lead Aging & Adult Services Clinician

Specialties: Grief processing, transitions due to aging
Missy supports clients through the challenges and joys of the aging process, including the various transitions that occur during this phase of life and available services available to older adults. Learn more about Missy here.

 

Chaviva Greenberg, MSW, CSWA

Child and Family Therapist

Specialties: Behavioral and mental health, including for those with disabilities
Chaviva helps parents manage anxiety via reducing accommodation behaviors. She supports youth with social-skills training and CBT for acceptance-based interventions around pain management. Learn more about Chaviva here. Click here to schedule an appointment with Chaviva.

 

Zoe MullerZoe Muller, MSW, CSWA

Intake Manager + Child and Family Therapist

Specialties: Families and children, providing support in English, Russian, and Hebrew
Zoe assists children and their parents – using behavior and talk therapy and directive and non-directive approaches – focusing on childhood development and behavior support. Learn more about Zoe here. Click here to schedule an appointment with Zoe.

 

Sima Borsuk, MSW, CSWA

Aging and Adult Services Clinician

Specialties: Older adults, including Holocaust Survivors and others who have experienced trauma
Sima’s focus on a person-centered trauma-informed (PCTI) approach helps clients manage aging-related challenges, and she brings a vast network of necessary services to which to connect those in need. Learn more about Sima here.

 

Nicole WaltersNicole Walters

Aging and Adult Services MSW Intern

Specialties: Older adults
Nicole, with extensive knowledge of the healthcare system, is uniquely equipped to understand the challenges that clients may face in this area. She is an excellent resource for clients and other providers. Learn more about Nicole here.

Our Counseling team – with combined 50 years’ experience – and program:

  • Includes licensed and master’s level providers (MSWs and LCSWs)
  • Provides culturally competent, confidential and effective services
  • Offers our clients as many treatment options as possible
  • Accepts private pay, sliding scale, Medicare and secondary insurance, as well as commercial insurance according to plan provision
  • Meets clients where they are

What does the phrase “meeting you where you are” really mean? 

  • Our clinicians work with clients in the physical space that works best for them and also in their most comfortable emotional space. “It has to do with a person’s right to self-determination that we always honor,” says Missy Fry, LCSW, Lead Aging & Adult Services Clinician.
  • We see clients by appointment-only at our downtown offices and in our space at the Eastside Jewish Commons (EJC); in their home when warranted; and online thanks to the advantages of telehealth.

JFCS offers counseling services that focus on wellness and the development of coping strategies via a strengths-based approach for a variety of mental health issues.

Our counseling services include:

  • Psychotherapy for adults across the lifespan
  • Specialized geriatric psychotherapy
  • Counseling for children, teens and families
  • Short-term solution-focused therapy
  • Processing and support groups
  • Staff training and development

For more information, click here to contact the Counseling department.

Mental Health SpotlightMental Health Spotlight

In addition to one-on-one psychotherapy, JFCS offers Mental Health Spotlight to shine a light on areas where all people – children through older adults, including self-identified disabled members of our community – struggle and can seek help. Mental Health Spotlight’s goal is community outreach and providing pertinent information about topics our clinicians are tuned in to through their client work.  

Mental Health Spotlight is not one-on-one therapy. It offers groups, workshops and presentations — spaces for anyone in the community to connect with others and share what’s on their mind.

Click here to learn more about this important program or check out our group sessions currently being offered below. 

Our ongoing, drop-in groups:

Community Connection

Join JFCS for weekly conversations on Zoom: It is a space for anyone in the community to connect with others and share what’s on their mind.

Grief Connection

Grief affects every part of our lives and can be a lonely road to travel. Join us for our monthly grief-processing group for adults. In our virtual sessions, we will have the opportunity to share our own experiences with grief, connect with others, and learn strategies for moving through loss. Click here to learn more.

All groups meet on Zoom. Zoom links provided below.

2024 CALENDAR

MARCH

Friday, March 1, 10am-11am
Grief Connection
Click here for Zoom link

Friday, March 8, 10am-11am
Community Connection
Click here for Zoom link

Wednesday, March 13, 6pm
Cancer Support Group
Click here to learn more and get Zoom link

Friday, March 15, 10am-11am via Zoom
Next Generations Group (NGG) & JFCS Community Connection support group:
Navigating Challenging Times through Reflective Resilience
This zoom is for NGG members only and registration is required as space is limited. If you are a member of NGG, you can register via email here.

Friday, March 22, 10am-11am
Community Connection
Click here for Zoom link

Thursday, March 28, 10:30am-11:45am
Walking Beside You: A Grief Processing Group
March 28 is the first day of this 8-week grief processing group. Pre-registration is required and there is cost to attend. Learn more here.

Walking Beside You - Spring 2024

Friday, March 29, 10am-11am
Community Connection
Click here for Zoom link

Watch this short video above featuring JFCS’ clinicians discussing community need and their role in supporting clients’ mental health.

Learn more about our Counseling program:

 

JFCS: the community’s go-to agency for mental health services

Learn more about our mental health services and PCTI approach to care

 

Click here for a list of Behavioral Health Community Resources

Welcome to JFCS’ Counseling program! Here are a few easy steps to follow to receive mental-health support:  

Contact Intake Manager Zoe Muller by:

Zoe will help determine the best clinician with whom to meet. Please contact the selected therapist to schedule an initial visit.

We look forward to meeting and working with you! 

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Click the video above to watch a Legal and Financial planning presentation with Elder-law expert Michael Rose and learn about important concepts that are relevant to you and your loved ones.

Missy Fry wins Rogoway Award

Congratulations to Missy Fry, Aging & Adult Services Clinician, who was the 2022 recipient of the Laurie Rogoway Outstanding Jewish Professional Award, which recognizes a current Jewish communal professional in greater Portland. 

With JFCS for 11 years, Missy is the first therapist to win this award in its eight-year history.