After 4 years and 2,000 post-degree clinical contact hours, the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists has conferred my Professional Counseling license. Many thanks to my clients, supervisors, peers, and colleagues! I’m really looking forward to continuing this work and supporting our community.
Interview about Trans Buddhist Book Chapter
Tonio at WGDR (Goddard College) kindly interviewed me for their radio show, which aired November 1st, 2019. We talked about Buddhadharma, meditation, social justice, contemplative psychotherapy, gender creativity, and a bunch of other stuff. Check it out if you’d like!
Trans* Buddhist Anthology- Book Reading on November 8th
We’re hosting a book reading at Two Rivers Books on November 8th at 7pm. Sasha Strong (they/them) and Michaela McCormick (she/her) will be reading from the chapters they contributed to Transcending: Trans Buddhist Voices, which is out this month from North Atlantic Books. As far as we know, this is the first anthology of trans and non-binary Buddhist authors. Please …
Upcoming cycle of non-binary/genderqueer adult group
Kaden and I will be starting another 12-week cycle of the Monday night non-binary/genderqueer support group for adults later this month. If you’re interested, we’d love to hear from you!
Submitted Manuscript on Non-Binary Competency in Counseling
We submitted a chapter for publication in the book Trans Health: Global Perspectives on Care for Trans Communities. (It’s supposed to be published sometime in 2022.) These findings also appear in the blog post on improving cultural competency with non-binary people. In case you’re into academic/activist stuff, here’s the abstract: Cultural Competency with Non-Binary and Genderqueer Individuals: A Participatory Action …
Completed META’s Advanced Clinical Maps training
This summer I completed an Advanced Clinical Maps training with Mindful Experiential Therapy Approaches, which is also the Hakomi Institute of Oregon. In this 60-hour training, we got into a deeper examination of character theory and its relationship to human development. Because of the ways that difficult experiences at a tender age promote a defensive response to the environment, understanding …
Nonbinary / Genderqueer Competent Counseling video
This presentation on Nonbinary and Genderqueer Competency in Counseling covers a brief trans* 101, an introduction to nonbinary/genderqueer/gender-expansive identities, and gives guidelines for cultural competency in counseling with NBGQ folks. Recorded March 2018 at the M.E.T.A. Counseling Clinic, Portland, Oregon.
Contemplative Psychotherapy video
In July 2017, I presented at the World Conference of Psychotherapy in Paris. This presentation, “Contemplative Psychotherapy: Integrating Mindfulness, Buddhism, and Humanistic Counseling,” discusses the roots of contemplative psychotherapy and 3 of its core principles: brilliant sanity, maitri, and mindfulness-awareness. The video includes a suggested reading list and information on where to train in Contemplative Psychotherapy.
Self-Care, Resourcing, and Pleasant Events
©2017 Sasha Strong, M.A., www.brilliancycounseling.com Healing is hard work. Establishing safety, building healing relationships, going through unpleasant feelings and memories, and changing painful patterns all take a lot of energy. People need to create balance in their lives, so that there are plenty of chances to relax, resource, and have positive experiences. Rather than making recovery a 24/7 marathon project, …