An up-close, hands-on internship
Direct experience with providing somatic therapy, fully supported by a community who gets it. It’s sort of like therapy for being a therapist.
Step into the
rhythm of
somatic work
As an intern clinician, you'll play, practice, and learn somatic techniques firsthand by helping clients return to their full humanity. We'll be there with guidance and care to make sure you're feeling good with this work, too.
In case you’re curious
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We accept applications in October, conduct interviews, and make decisions in early December. Stay tuned!
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We’re looking for someone flexible, curious, and committed to building community. Someone who wants to be fully present and explore what naturally arises between two or more people. Someone open to reflecting on the impact of colonization and white supremacy in their life, and how it informs their work toward decolonization. In supervision, we often pay attention to what you notice in your own body, helping you gain a deeper understanding of the client. OHP is constantly evolving, so adaptability and creativity are essential.
We accept interns from LPC and MFT programs. Most clients are individuals, so we can’t guarantee significant couples work. Some schools, like Lewis & Clark, do not allow MFT interns with us, but we can accept interns from PSU.
Interns typically work about 5–6 hours a day for 3 days per week. -
Decolonizing therapy starts with us and looks like a human-first approach to work/life balance. We like our intern clinicians to see no more than four clients a day to prevent burnout and maintain a manageable workload. Our goal is to help clinicians find a healthy balance, since this work is deeply rewarding but can also be exhausting. There is more paperwork at the start, as service plans and assessments need to be completed, but once you get the hang of things, notes typically take about 30 minutes to complete. Clinicians also have access to weekly supervision, monthly group supervision, monthly race affinity groups, and monthly somatic trainings.
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Nope, you’ll learn on the job! The only requirement to start exploring somatics is simply being human. (Sound like you?)
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"Racial trauma in white people today is not the same as the trauma of the global majority, who live under the daily violence of racism, xenophobia, and colonial extraction. But it is real. White people carry trauma too: the trauma of disconnection, silence, shame, and complicity. They experience it as fragility, as defensive outrage, as loneliness, as addiction. This trauma often gets weaponized against others, but at its core it is grief." - Christian Ortiz
This is the lens I look through as a white-bodied person. Everybody who joins Portland Therapy Project will be asked to explore this within themselves through the very same lens.
BIPOC clinicians will meet monthly with a BIPOC supervisor in a dedicated space to discuss race and its impact on themselves and their clients. This space is exclusively for BIPOC clinicians, with the supervisor supporting reflection and growth while addressing ways to navigate and challenge systems of oppression. White clinicians will meet in their own group to explore the effects of white supremacy and work toward creating a culture of support and care—something that can be challenging for white people to develop on their own.
We focus on
queer and BIPOC communities
We love welcoming interns who are members of these communities or share our commitment to decolonizing therapy and making it accessible to all.
We're excited that you're excited.
Fill out the form and we’ll get back to you ASAP as possible. If invited to interview, you can expect relaxed group and one-on-one conversations where we simply gather as humans and see what unfolds.
Start as an intern,
leave as part of something bigger
We say see you later, not goodbye. After your internship wraps, you can count on the support of Portland Therapy Project and our intern alumni community as you navigate your career.