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.
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
For more information, click here to contact the Counseling department.
Meet Our Counseling Team
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.
Doug accepts Medicare, OPTUM, OHP, and other insurance OON. He also offers a sliding-scale option for uninsured or underinsured clients.
Learn more about Doug here.
Missy Fry, LCSW
Lead Aging & Adult Services Clinician
Specialties: Older adults, grief, loss, trauma, anxiety, depression, life transitions
Missy has extensive knowledge of the supports and services available to older adults and specializes in helping individuals and their loved ones process experiences around transitions that occur in this phase of life. Recognizing the far-reaching impact of trauma, she approaches every aspect of her work through a person-centered, trauma-informed (PCTI) perspective.
Missy accepts Medicare, Optum, OHP, Providence and other insurance OON. She also offers a sliding-scale option for uninsured or underinsured clients.
Learn more about Missy here.
Chaviva Greenberg, MSW, CSWA
Mental Health Technician
Specialties: Behavioral and mental health, including for those with disabilities
Chaviva helps parents and children tackle mental-health issues like anxiety by reducing accommodation behaviors. She has training in evidence-based solution-oriented therapy for youth and social-skills interventions. She also integrates CBT and mindfulness techniques to support pain management and women’s health.
Chaviva accepts OHP and will begin accepting Moda in December 2024. She also offers a sliding scale option.
Learn more about Chaviva here. Click here to schedule an appointment with Chaviva.
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.
Sima is available to see clients on a sliding scale.
Learn more about Sima here.
Nicole Walters, MSW, CSWA
Mental Health Technician
Specialties: Adults across the lifespan, grief, loss, anxiety, depression, life transitions
Nicole works with adults across the lifespan, supporting clients through issues related to depression, anxiety, grief, loss, and life transitions, including aging-related challenges. She approaches this work through a person-centered, trauma-informed (PCTI) lens.
Nicole offers sliding scale options for clients and will begin accepting OHP and Moda insurance plans in early 2025.
Learn more about Nicole here.
Mental 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 conversations on Zoom: It is a space for anyone in the community to connect with others and share what’s on their mind. This group meets many Fridays at 10am on Zoom. No registration required.
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
December
Friday, December 6, 10am-11am
Grief Connection
No registration required
Click here for Zoom link
Friday, December 13, 10am-11am
Community Connection
No registration required
Click here for Zoom link
Friday, December 20, 10am-11am via Zoom
Next Generations Group (NGG) & JFCS Community Connection Support Group
This group is open to Holocaust survivors and Next Generation Group members. To register and to receive Zoom link, please email Missy Fry.
January
Tuesday, January 7, 7pm-8pm via Zoom
Promoting Wellbeing in the Digital Lives of Jewish Teens
Join us for the first of two free and informative webinars for parents on teen well-being, in partnership with JFCS, Moving Traditions and Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.Gain expert insights on mental health, managing stress, building resilience, and supporting your teen’s growth. Don’t miss out on practical strategies to help your teen thrive during these challenging years! Click here to register and receive the zoom link.
Friday, January 10, 10am-11am
Community Connection
No registration required
Click here for Zoom link
Meeting ID: 928 7447 9617
Passcode: 796857
February
Tuesday, February 11, 7pm-8pm via Zoom
Helping Teens Thrive
Join us for the second of two free and informative webinars for parents on teen well-being, in partnership with JFCS, Moving Traditions and Jewish Federation of Greater Portland.Gain expert insights on mental health, managing stress, building resilience, and supporting your teen’s growth. Don’t miss out on practical strategies to help your teen thrive during these challenging years! Click here to register and receive the zoom link.
Friday, February 14, 10am-11am
Community Connection
No registration required
Click here for Zoom link
Meeting ID: 928 7447 9617
Passcode: 796857
Friday, February 28, 10am-11am
Exploring Providence ElderPlace’s PACE Program
No registration required
Click here for Zoom link
Meeting ID: 893 1000 3751
Passcode: 221852
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 our Intake Manager by:
- calling (503) 226-7079, ext. 100; or
- sending an email; or
- filling out our online intake form
We 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!
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.
