Finding Purpose and the Stars

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When: Mid-September (exact date TBD)

Time: 5:30 pm – 6:30pm

Where:Google Meet

Length of Each Session: 60–90 minutes

Format: Closed group (limited spots available)

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: milka@liberationinstitute.org

This therapy group blends insights from Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning with reflective tools from astrology to help participants explore their sense of purpose, direction, and meaning in life. Using the astrological birth chart, especially the North Node, and optionally Chiron, Lilith, Saturn, we will reflect on inner strengths, life challenges, and potential barriers to fulfillment. Astrology is used symbolically as a prompt for exploration, not as a rigid or predictive system.

Grounded in person-centered therapy and logotherapy, the group emphasizes freedom, authenticity, and meaning-making. Participants will be encouraged to share experiences, reflect on personal values, and support each other in clarifying life direction in a safe, collaborative space.

 About the Facilitator:
Milka Engelke, MSc. (she/her) is a Therapist Trainee at the Liberation Institute, a Brazilian expat, and a lifelong seeker. Having lived in Europe for four years and walked spiritual pilgrimages such as the Camino de Santiago in Spain and sacred trails in Japan, Milka brings a deep, lived understanding of transformation, connection, and cross-cultural challenges. A licensed Psychologist in Brazil with a M.Sc. in Management of Operations from Ireland, and currently pursuing M.A. in Mental Health Counseling in the USA, Milka blends clinical insight with a global, heart-centered perspective. She is passionate about helping others find meaning, especially in times of transition. Her personal journey through migration, nature, and introspection inspires her therapeutic work.

Milka believes in the healing power of purpose, and through Frankl’s teachings and her own life experiences, she invites others to explore what truly gives their lives direction and depth. Milka is supervised by Elizabeth Hoke LMFT #T1440.


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


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

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Book Club- Pleasure Activism 

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When: Online every other Monday starting October 20th, 2025

Time: 5:30 pm – 6:30pm

Where: Google Meet

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: sophiam@liberationinstitute.org

In Pleasure Activism, author and activist adrienne maree brown asks the questions, ‘How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life?’ This 12-week book club invites you to explore these same questions by engaging deeply with adrienne maree brown’s work, reflecting on your own experiences and practices of pleasure, and building community connections — all with the goal of expanding your access to and experience of pleasure in your own life. This group is facilitated by Sophia Moss, a therapist under supervision at The Liberation Institute (supervised by Elizabeth Hoke, #T1440). Contact Sophia at sophiam@liberationinstitute.org for more information and to sign up for the group.

 About the Facilitator:
Sophia’s (she/they pronouns) counseling work is informed by the various identities she holds as a queer, biracial woman, auntie, and sister; by her professional background as an elementary educator over the past seven years; and by her own journey of coming home to herself through the difficult gift of therapy. Sophia is a poet and creative, deeply inspired by the environment and queer ecologies, and she loves incorporating art and ecotherapy interventions into her counseling work. Sophia is also trained in EMDR, which is one of the most evidence-based therapeutic approaches to healing trauma, and is accepting new clients interested in exploring this work together.


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


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

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Exploring Waking the Tiger by Peter A. Levine – An Interactive Journey into Healing and Self-Discovery

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When: Online every Sunday from starting September 7th, 2025

Time: 5 pm – 6:30pm

Where: Google Meet

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 destinee@liberationinstitute.org

Join us for a unique, interactive book club centered around Peter A. Levine’s groundbreaking work, Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma. This isn’t just a reading group—it’s a supportive space for discussion, reflection, and gentle exploration of how trauma lives in the body and how it can be released.

Each week, we’ll delve into key chapters and themes, unpacking Levine’s insights through guided conversation, shared experiences, and practical exercises. Whether you’re reading the book for the first time or revisiting it with new eyes, this club offers a chance to connect deeply—with the text, with yourself, and with others on a similar path.

 About the Facilitator:
Destinee 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 Shelly Stratton LCSW #7252


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


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

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Conectando las Américas * Unity in Diversity – Healing Together*

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When: Mondays, Starting Monday, May 26th, 2025:

Time: 1 PM – 2:30 PM (PT)

Where: Zoom

Facilitators fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and English

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 milka@liberationinstitute.org

Unity in Diversity – Healing Together

We’re launching a new online support group for expatriates from Central, South, and North America who are living in Oregon and looking for a safe, welcoming space to share, reflect, and grow.

What We Offer:
✅ A safe space to discuss challenges
✅ Opportunities to learn effective coping strategies
✅ A supportive community for sharing experiences and resources
✅ Help reducing feelings of isolation
✅ Tools to improve mental health outcomes
✅ Support in enhancing cultural adjustment and integration

Take the first step toward healing. Let’s grow – together. ❤️

Meet Our Facilitators

Milka Engelke, a Therapist Trainee at the Liberation Institute, will be facilitating ‘Conectando las Americas’ Group Therapy. As a Brazilian expat who has also lived 4 years in Europe, Milka brings wide personal experience and cross-cultural understanding of challenges when migrating to a new country. With a background as a licensed Psychologist in Brazil, MSc in Management of Operations from Ireland, Milka is passionate about helping others find meaning, especially in times of transition. Her personal journey through migration, nature, and introspection inspires her therapeutic work. Milka believes in the healing power of purpose, and through her own life experiences, she invites others to explore what truly gives their lives direction and depth. 

Kristina Oxford, Therapist in Training at Liberation Institute, was born and grew up in Oregon. Kristina has made and maintained connections within the Hispanic/LatinX community since adolescence. Having learned about hispanic culture and to communicate in Spanish by cross-cultural immersion, Kristina has valuable experience and perspective that can be useful for assisting and supporting the transition to life in the United States. Kristina has a wide range of life, academic, and professional experience which will be useful for connecting others with resources, information, and skills to use while building a brighter future. 

Both Trainees are Supervised by Elizabeth Hoke LMFT # T 1440


#GroupTherapy #LatinoSupport #ImmigrantMentalHealth #PortlandOregon #TherapyForExpats #HealingTogether #LiberationInstitute


To RSVP/Get Details: Email milka@liberationinstitute.org

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Exploring No Bad Parts Together – A Community Journey into Self-Compassion and Healing

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When: Online every Sunday from starting June 1st, 2025

Time: 5 pm – 6:30pm

Where: Google Meet

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 destinee@liberationinstitute.org

Join us in a warm, inclusive community as we read and explore No Bad Parts by Dr. Richard Schwartz, the founder of Internal Family Systems (IFS). This transformative book invites us to look within and discover that every part of ourselves—even those we may have rejected or feared—deserves compassion, understanding, and healing.

Together, we will move through the book chapter by chapter, reflecting on its insights and integrating the practices into our personal and collective lives. This group is not a therapy group, but a safe and supportive space to grow in self-awareness, share experiences, and support one another in the spirit of curiosity and acceptance.

Whether you’re new to IFS or already familiar with the model, you are welcome here. Bring your whole self—there are no bad parts.

What to expect:

  • Weekly gatherings with guided discussions and reflections
  • Opportunities for personal sharing (always optional)
  • Experiential exercises based on IFS principles
  • A compassionate, confidential, and community-oriented atmosphere

Our intention is to co-create a space where each person feels seen, heard, and valued as we journey together toward inner wholeness.

 About the Facilitator:
Destinee 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 Shelly Stratton LCSW #7252


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


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

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Joy as Radical Resistance

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When: Weekly on Sundays beginning on May 11th 2025

Time: 10 am

Where: Google Meet

Suggested donation: Suggested donation: $10 per weekly 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.

Joy As Radical Resistance is a healing-centered support group designed for individuals from marginalized communities and accomplices who want to cultivate joy not just as a feeling, but as a revolutionary act. We will explore the importance of collective joy, pleasure, and celebration in the face of structural violence and everyday microaggressions. This group offers tools for reclaiming joy, nurturing resilience, and transforming pain into powerful acts of resistance and solidarity.

 Facilitator: Abeytax (Ah-Bay-Tosh)  Barana (they/them) is an Afro-Indigenous, queer therapist trainee in their second practicum term, writer, and community educator committed to creating spaces for radical healing and cultural reclamation. With a background in clinical psychology, Abeytax draws on Indigenous and earth-based practices, liberation psychology, and trauma-informed approaches to support clients and communities in decolonizing their minds, spirits, and relationships. Supervised by: Elizabeth Lenkeit Hoke, LMFT – License # T1440 & Shelly Stratton, PhD, LCSW – License # 7252, Liberation Institute. 


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


To RSVP/Get Details: Email Abeytax@liberationInstitute.org

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The Path Home: Decolonizing Hearts and Minds

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When: Weekly meetings on Wednesdays, beginning on May 7

Time: 5:00 pm

Where: Google Meet

Suggested donation: Suggested donation: $10 per weekly 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.

The Path Home: Decolonizing Hearts and Minds is a weekly therapeutic group for people of the global majority and accomplices seeking to challenge, unlearn, and heal from internalized messages of colonization, supremacy, and oppression. Through guided reflection, discussion, and expressive practices, participants will explore how colonizing narratives have shaped identity, self-worth, relationships, and community connection. The group centers Indigenous and ancestral wisdom and honors each member’s unique cultural heritage. Together, we will reclaim narratives of liberation, restore collective dignity, and build tools for ongoing decolonial healing.

 Facilitator: Abeytax (Ah-Bay-Tosh)  Barana (they/them) is an Afro-Indigenous, queer therapist trainee in their second practicum term, writer, and community educator committed to creating spaces for radical healing and cultural reclamation. With a background in clinical psychology, Abeytax draws on Indigenous and earth-based practices, liberation psychology, and trauma-informed approaches to support clients and communities in decolonizing their minds, spirits, and relationships. Supervised by: Elizabeth Lenkeit Hoke, LMFT – License # T1440 & Shelly Stratton, PhD, LCSW – License # 7252, Liberation Institute. 



To RSVP/Get Details: Email Abeytax@liberationInstitute.org

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Dance of Intimacy: Exploring Connection and Autonomy in Relationships – Part 2

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When: Starting Thursday, September 25, 2025 – November 20, 2025

Time: 7 pm – 8:30 pm

Where: GoogleMeet

Suggested donation: $10-$20 per session, no one turned away for lack of funds

Join a group of women as we dive into anger: what it tells us, and how we might best listen to it and learn to dance with it. We’ll be reading Harriet Lerner’s book The Dance of Anger through the lens of our broader group investigation into the tension between the parts of us who long for closeness and intimacy and the parts of us who crave autonomy in our personal relationships, whether with friends, lovers,  parents, siblings, children or other family members. When this tension isn’t consciously felt and explored, anger can definitely arise, so Lerner’s book will fit perfectly with our larger theme.

We will meet for nine weeks, ending the week before Thanksgiving.

Bio: Tamara Yates has been dancing the tension of the opposites within since she discovered Voice Dialogue, a therapeutic modality that works with inner selves or parts, in 2011.  Having worked for over a decade as a Voice Dialogue facilitator, she is currently pursuing a master’s in counseling psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute and is a professional counseling trainee at Liberation Institute. She loves to get her hands in the soil as a gardener and enjoys dancing (literally as well as metaphorically). She lives in Corvallis with her husband and their sweet golden retriever, Finn. Tamara is supervised by Shelly Stratton, LCSW 7252.

Want to Sign Up or Ask Questions? Contact Tamara at tamara@liberationinstitute.org

RSVP to tamara@liberationinstitute.org

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Reading for Reconnection

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When:  Sundays, starting Feb. 2, 2025

Time: 11 – 12:30pm

Where: GoogleMeet

Suggested donation: $20 per weekly session, or what you can afford. No one turned away for lack of funds. 

Join Us!
RSVP: estherb@liberationinstitute.org or call:  503-836-7350 ext. 705

Would you like to . . .
Learn about the nervous system?

Better understand your attachment

style?

Go on an adventure?

Enjoy a sense of community?

About Us
We are a new group of Oregonians who enjoy reading books, both fiction and nonfiction, that give us insight into ourselves, each other, and the world.

Bio:
Hello fellow humans!
My name is Esther and I’m a new intern with Libi. My heart is so excited to learn and grow with this truly special team and I’d like to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m in my final year of graduate school and really resonating with therapies such as parts work, focusing, brainspotting, EMDR, mindfulness, somatics, etc.! I love finding ways to incorporate the body into the therapeutic process since I believe that deep and profound healing can happen when we can come home to the body. This is easier said than done, especially for my fellow humans who also struggle with chronic illness and neurodivergence that can leave our nervous systems feeling fraught with exhaustion and overwhelm. I hope to create a co-regulating space where unmasking and connection can become antidotes to the shame and isolation that so often plague our sensitive souls.

My hope is that this group will be a heart-filling space to breathe deeply, laugh heartily, and feel less alone in our human experiences. 

Esther Bonds, Counseling Intern, Supervised by Elizabeth Hoke, License #T1440

Psychedelic Integration for People in Recovery

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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.