relationship therapy with gabriel trees

Gabriel Trees, MA

Are you struggling with relationship issues?

Do you sometimes find yourself engaged in the same conflicts over and over, without really knowing how they started?

Are you looking to strengthen your relationship and improve communication?

I help people with the tools necessary to create more satisfying relationships

Whether you are in a committed relationship and experiencing challenges, navigating a new relationship, or want to be in a relationship and don't know where to start - there is hope.

I provide honest dialogue, creative solutions, and a path forward

Relationship struggles can feel insurmountable, and it can feel intimidating to reach out for support. I understand this deeply. I welcome your truth, your feelings, and your unique lived experience. By using research-based approaches and a wide range of experience, I can help you deepen your connection and bring back joy & intimacy to your relationship. 

Together we can support you to make shifts in your relationship that have a real and lasting impact

Although many of the clients I work with are romantic couples, I also work with any type of relationship, like family members, coworkers, friends, or individuals with relational concerns.

Relationship Therapy can help you:

  • Identify interpersonal patterns you want to change; interrupt and reconstruct them 

  • Expand your capacity for empathy with yourself and others

  • Develop a greater appreciation for your differences and how they add value to your lives 

  • Explore what motivates you both, and what brings your lives meaning and purpose 

I specialize in helping people to:

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Create More Satisfying Relationships

Let’s strengthen your relationships by understanding disruptive patterns, learning new skills for connection, and offering you tools to create greater intimacy. Relationship struggles are real. I offer a wide range of expertise to help you create balance, clarity, and fulfillment within your relationships.

Improve Communication within Relationships

All communication operates on multiple levels (Meta-communication). Let me help you to identify the more elusive messages you’re sending and receiving about how you feel about your relationship. Let’s explore the differences between what is being said and what is being heard.

Gain Emotional Clarity & Intimacy

Emotions are the way we communicate with ourselves. Our emotions provide important information about how well we’re doing. Emotional expression and understanding takes practice. Let me support you in exploring, identifying, and communicating how you really feel.

Understand Relationship Expectations

Whether we align with them or defy them, we have all absorbed messages about what we should and shouldn’t be. These “rules” are often so ingrained we aren’t even conscious of them. Let’s look closely at what you expect from yourself and your partner, and decide what you wish to keep or discard.

Envision Goals and Potential Futures

Sometimes, we can get so focused on coping with the trials of our lives that we end up settling for less than we need to. Let’s create a safe space to dare to dream about what progress might be possible for you as an individual and in relationship

Engage with Men’s Issues

These days understanding what it means “to be a man” can be full of mixed messages. Typically, these "rules" of masculinity come from the environments men developed in but were internalized so young that it can seem like they are the natural or correct way. I work with men to examine many of the expectations they contend with and decide what should be embraced or left behind.

Approach and Influence

emotionally-focused therapy

Emotion-focused therapy (EFT) founded on the evidence that emotions are not accessories to human experience but organizing principles of our lives. By being able to more fully experience our emotional range, our relationships can thrive. Let’s dig in and support you and your partner’s emotional well-being.  

Gottman therapy

With over 40 years of evidence-based research, Gottman Therapy can offer a path forward to understanding relationship barriers as well as increasing respect, empathy and intimacy. Let’s support you in strengthening your relationships through approachable tools for success.

solution-focused approach

Even the worst problems can be improved upon in some way. Let’s work together to find the areas where things are working and expand them. Like dieting, the consistent incremental improvements are what creates significant long-lasting change.  

attachment-based

The attachment styles we develop early in life can have a profound impact on the way we relate to others in adulthood. Awareness and appreciation of this has been shown to lead to a greater understanding of ourselves and our partners. Let’s work towards creating better relationships with yourself and others.

Credentials

    • Master of Arts in Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy from Lewis & Clark College School of Education.

    • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Portland State University Honors College.

    • Undergraduate Thesis: “Music Education as a Potential Mediator for Social Decline”

    • Marriage and Family Therapy Associate with the Oregon Board of Licenced Professional Counselors and Therapists.

    • Graduate Internship with Lewis & Clark College Counseling Clinic

    • Graduate Externship with William Temple House Counseling Clinic

    • Gottman Method Level 1 Certification

    • Apprenticeship with the Oregon Prison Project

    • Mentorship with Rose City Nonviolent Communication

    • Speciality training in Acceptance & Commitment Therapy at Lewis & Clark College

    • Speciality training in Engaging Boys & Men at Lewis & Clark College

    • Speciality training in Play and Family Therapy at Lewis & Clark College

    • Speciality training in Death & Loss at Lewis & Clark College

    • Graduated Summa cum Laude

    • President’s List for academic excellence

    • The National Society of Collegiate Scholars: NSCS

    • American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

    • Psychology Today

    • Good Therapy

    • Portland Therapy Center

    • Portland Therapy Den

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member of therapy den logo saying this practice is inclusive and welcoming to all
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"Love is a friendship set to music." 

― Joseph Campbell

Frequently Asked Questions

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  • We do not accept insurance, however, we can provide a receipt for out-of-network reimbursement.

  • $140 Individual 50-minute sessions for Mental health Therapy

  • Most sessions are currently being held via Telehealth. Occasionally, walk and talk and/or outdoor therapy may be an option.