When: 6 Weeks, starting in February (exact date TBD) 

Time: TBD

Where: Online

Suggested donation: $10 per session (or what you can afford). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

To RSVP or learn more: Email laylaf@liberationinstitute.org

This virtual caregiver support group is designed to help caregivers develop practical skills to manage stress, prevent burnout, and navigate the emotional challenges of caregiving. Participants will learn evidence-based coping strategies, communication tools, and boundary-setting techniques to support both their caregiving role and personal well-being. Through guided discussion, psychoeducation, and skill-building exercises, caregivers will strengthen problem-solving abilities, increase emotional regulation, and enhance self-care practices. This group offers a structured, supportive environment where caregivers can build confidence, resilience, and sustainable caregiving strategies from the comfort of home.

About the Facilitator: Layla Field is a graduate student at Pepperdine University and a member of a small rural community in Oregon, where she resides with her family. As a mother, stepmother, and pet parent, Layla values connection, empathy, and growth—principles that guide her work in group therapy settings. She is passionate about creating a supportive and inclusive space where participants feel safe to share their experiences, build meaningful connections, and develop practical skills to enhance self-awareness, insight, and effective communication. Layla approaches group facilitation with warmth and intention, empowering individuals to learn from both personal reflection and shared group experiences. Supervised by Shelly Stratton LCSW #7252.

When: Thursdays, starting February 10th 

Time: 7-8 pm 

Where: Online

Suggested donation: $10 per session (or what you can afford). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Time: 4-5:30 pm 

To RSVP or learn more: Email destinee@liberationinstitute.org

This book club is a supportive and reflective space for adults reading Adult Survivors of Emotionally Abusive Parents by Sherrie Campbell. Together, we will explore the lasting impact of emotionally abusive and neglectful parenting, while gently unpacking themes of shame, boundaries, self-worth, and healing.

Our discussions will center on personal insight, emotional safety, and compassion—for ourselves and others. Members are encouraged to share reflections at their own pace, connect the material to lived experiences, and learn practical tools for breaking unhealthy patterns and fostering self-trust.

This group is ideal for anyone seeking understanding, validation, and growth in their healing journey. You are welcome exactly as you are.

About the Facilitator: Destinee Vaughn is a graduate student at the University of the Cumberlands with a deep commitment to cultivating community and fostering meaningful integration. Guided by open curiosity, she seeks opportunities to connect people, ideas, and practices in ways that encourage collaboration, inclusivity, and mutual growth. Her academic journey is grounded in a passion for understanding diverse perspectives and creating spaces where everyone feels seen, heard, and valued. Supervised by Elizabeth Hoke LMFT #T1440

When: Tuesdays, starting March 3rd 2026

Time: Tuesday’s from 6:30 to 8pm

Where: In person, address provided with RSVP.

Suggested donation: $10 per session, or what you can afford.  No one turned away for lack of funds. Money given helps people receive mental health services at Liberation Institute one turned away for lack of funds. 

To join contact: jean-paul@liberationinstitute.org or lizab@liberationinstitute.org

Meditation is the practice of being present with our experience and becoming familiar with our essential clarity and well-being. With many responsibilities in our lives, our thoughts and emotions often move very quickly. Through meditation, we can cultivate stability in our attention and begin to notice moments where we can pause and choose, rather than react automatically out of habit. This awareness opens new possibilities in our inner life, our relationships, and our work.

Meditation practice directly supports counseling by helping us recognize thoughts and emotions as they arise, notice patterns over time, and remain present during challenging moments. By strengthening our ability to pause and reflect, meditation makes it easier to make intentional choices and carry insights from counseling into everyday life.

In these 4-week groups, we will meet once a week to learn about meditation and to practice together. These groups will be ongoing; participants may come for one 4-week period or may continue through multiple group series. The first 4-week group will begin on February 17, 2026. Please commit to attending all four sessions. 

Facilitators:
Liza Baer is a Lama in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. She completed a traditional three-year, three-month retreat in the Shangpa Lineage of Tibetan Buddhism at a retreat center near Goldendale, WA, in 2018. She then taught as an Associate Lama in Ashland, OR, for 4 years, and served as the Executive Director of a center in NE Portland for 1.5 years. She is now a graduate student in counseling at Prescott College and a counseling intern at Liberation Institute. She has a background in ecology, botany, and multiple healing modalities. 

Jean-Paul is a long-time practitioner of yoga and meditation. He spent a year living and working at the Dhamma Dena meditation retreat center in Joshua Tree. His practice has been a central support in his recovery and a steady resource for presence and self-inquiry. He brings decades of experience as a musician and sound-based artist, with a focus on leading sound baths, collective improvisation, and deep listening practices. He is currently pursuing a graduate degree in counseling at the University of the Cumberlands and is an intern at Liberation Institute.

When: Starting FEB 22 7-9PM TH Meeting every other week for 6 Sundays

Time:  7 – 9 pm

Where: Address Provided with Reservation

Length of Each Session: 2 hours

Format: In person

Suggested donation: Suggested donation of $10 per session (or what you can afford). No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

To RSVP or learn more: Email: genevievel@liberationinstitute.org 

Group Description

This somatic support circle offers a grounded, relational space using the ZEG Forum format, where participants are invited to slow down and connect with their present-moment experience in the company of others. Participants choose what they would like to focus on, with the opportunity to receive support around any area of challenge they are experiencing. Through guided attention to the body, sensation, emotion, and impulse, the circle supports increased nervous system awareness and the capacity to stay with what is happening here and now. Participation is always by choice—each person is encouraged to engage in ways that feel safe, respectful, and supportive of their own boundaries and needs. The forum emphasizes the power of witnessing and being witnessed, allowing experiences to be met with presence rather than fixing or advice. Support emerges through shared attention and honest expression, fostering regulation, clarity, and a deeper sense of connection with oneself and others.

If you are wanting more connection with yourself, processing something significant, seeking support through a challenging life experience, or hoping to increase self-awareness, emotional regulation, and clarity around what you’re carrying, this circle offers a supportive space to do so. It can also be helpful if you’re wanting to feel less alone, build greater nervous system awareness, practice being present with your experience, or explore new ways of relating to yourself and others through embodied, relational support.

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 About the Facilitator:
Genevieve Layman is a therapist trainee supervised by Elizabeth Hoke, License #1440. She brings a multidisciplinary, heart-centered approach to her work, shaped by her background as a horticultural therapist, award-winning author, and longtime student of Nonviolent Communication. Genevieve is currently completing training in Somatic Experiencing, with a focus on nervous system awareness, embodiment, and trauma-informed care. Genevieve especially enjoys facilitating groups, where participants can experience belonging, connection, and relational healing in real time with real people. Her work is informed by a deep relationship with the natural world and a belief in the wisdom of the body, mutual empathy, and the healing potential of authentic human connection.

#peoplehelpeingpeople #love #impact #liberation #community #mentalhealth #portland #oregon #virtual #support #group #joy #purpose #resistance 


To RSVP or learn more: Email genevieve@liberationinstitute.org

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When: Once a month on the Third Friday

Time: 515pm-645pm

Where: Tabor Space Library https://taborspace.org/library 

This community gathering invites people in recovery who are interested in, or currently integrating psychedelics into their healing practice. We will discuss how psychedelics impact addictive behaviors and risks of relapse.  We will explore relationships with altered states of consciousness, sobriety vs moderation, various recovery models, and systemic pressures leading to overconsumption and addictive tendencies.   The purpose of the gathering is to be in dialogue about these topics and how they impact our relationship to self, others, substances and altered states.

While we’re not requiring everyone to be sober or abstinent from all substances, we do ask that everyone attending the meeting not be engaging with whatever substance that triggers the addictive behavior.  Our intention for this monthly gathering is for everyone to have a confidential and safe space where people are able to self manage and discuss openly.  This group offers support for people who already have an active healing process around their addiction and are looking for a community to share it with and get support from.

This group is offered to the community in collaboration with Portland Psychedelic Society https://www.meetup.com/psychedelic/events/299239325/

RSVP to elizabeth@liberationinstitute.org

Facilitators:

Elizabeth Hoke is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California and Oregon who has over a decade of personal and professional experience with addiction recovery.  She is dedicated to helping people in need receive mental health services through Liberation Institute where therapy is provided for all on a sliding scale. Elizabeth also works with Dr. Rosonke at Rainfall Medicine, sitting with patients as they explore their relationship with addiction through the use of ketamine and psychotherapy. https://www.liberationinstitute.org/our-clinic/team/

Pryor Shade is a therapist trainee at Liberation Institute, veteran, educator, and artist who understands the struggles that we as humans can experience, trying to fit in, earn a living, access resources, develop relationships, and appreciate our own value as creative beings. Along the way he has learned a great deal about humility, about the need for curiosity and a desire to acquire new knowledge and skills. It’s not so much about having the right answer, but to help people share their story and feel heard, seen and valued. One of the greatest lessons he has acquired is to get out of his own way: to let go of his agenda, and be an active participant in the process. No matter what the task, a collaborative approach tends to be far better than a mission executed by an army of one.