How to Find a Therapist for Chronic Illness in Portland, Oregon
When we talk about the challenges of living with chronic illness, the physical difficulties are often top of mind: mobility challenges, dietary restrictions, or the wide variety of treatments and medications that can be required to manage day-to-day life. But what often gets ignored is the mental and emotional toll that also comes along with managing a long-term or potentially lifelong illness.
Keep reading to learn more about what it looks like to pursue therapy for chronic illness. And if you’re looking for a therapist who understands chronic illness in Portland, Oregon, our team at Aspire Psychology would love to support you.
What Is Chronic Illness?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), chronic illness is defined as, “Conditions that last 1 year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both.”
Three in four American adults have at least one chronic condition, and over half have two or more. Chronic illness is the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, and while many are caused by preventable choices such as smoking, physical inactivity, or poor nutrition, others are not preventable at all.
Why Is Therapy Valuable for People Living With Chronic Illness?
Chronic illness can affect everything from a person’s mobility and physical functioning to their energy levels and clarity of thought. And while some chronic illnesses exist from birth, others begin at various points throughout a person’s life and may worsen with time. Chronic illnesses can be very dynamic, shifting and changing over the years, and people with chronic illnesses not only have to manage their fluctuating symptoms but also the many emotions that can come with them.
There can be frustration, anxiety, sadness, and even grief that come along with living with a chronic illness, and therapy is a safe space to work through these emotions.
“Therapy can help people adjust to the impacts something like chronic illness can have on their life in areas like ability status, identity, sense of community, and emotional wellbeing,” says Hannah Brassell, PsyD. “The goal of therapy is not necessarily to find a way to ‘think positively’ about the chronic condition, but rather to learn how to cope, reduce unhelpful avoidance, and build a meaningful life alongside the illness as opposed to feeling consumed by it.”
What Does Therapy for People With Chronic Illness Typically Focus On?
Each person’s experience with chronic illness is unique, and thus informs their therapeutic needs. “A large focus is helping people navigate the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that can come with illness,” says Brassell.
Common topics include:
Depression
Identity changes
Relationships
Medical trauma and burnout
Pacing
Self-advocacy
Brassell also notes that “figuring out new ways of continuing to move toward what matters to someone when their abilities or circumstances have changed,” is huge for individuals living with chronic illness. Illness doesn’t erase the things a person cares about, but it can make those things feel harder to achieve. Therapy is a great place to explore those feelings and determine how to best go about making progress toward your priorities in alignment with your physical abilities.
It’s also important to remember that just because someone lives with a chronic illness, that doesn’t mean that every therapy session will revolve around their illness. People with chronic illnesses can live full, vibrant lives, and they often bring topics and conversations to therapy that are no different than what someone without a chronic illness might bring up in a session.
Which Therapeutic Treatment Methods Are Best for People With Chronic Illness?
There is no singular method used in therapy for everyone with a chronic illness. Each person is unique, and requires a personalized treatment plan.
Brassell says that the primary approaches she uses in sessions with patients living with chronic illness are Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). “[These] can be helpful for identifying and adjusting unhelpful thinking and behavioral patterns as well as in moving through pain, uncertainty, difficult emotions, and acceptance of things that are outside of one’s control.”
“The key to meaningful treatment of chronic illness is adapting treatment to the person’s way of thinking about the world as well as their specific abilities and limitations rather than treating the illness as a ‘one-size-fits-all’ or as something they need to overcome or fix about themselves,” says Brassell.
What Matters Most When Choosing a Therapist as Someone With a Chronic Illness?
Finding the right therapist can be challenging. It’s important to establish a therapeutic relationship with a provider you trust and feel comfortable with in order to best promote healing and growth. For chronic illness patients, working with someone who understands their experience is key.
“I would look for someone who understands chronic illness or is open to learning about chronic illness alongside their patient,” says Brassell. “I would also look for someone who validates the reality of living with chronic illness while still helping to identify areas where an individual has choice and agency in their life.”
Finding the Right Therapist for Chronic Illness: Meet the Compassionate Team at Aspire Psychology in Portland, Oregon
Living with a chronic illness comes with its share of challenges, but finding a therapist who leads with compassion and is ready to meet you where you are shouldn’t be one of them. At Aspire Psychology, we have on-staff clinicians who specialize in therapy for patients living with a chronic illness. If leaving the house is difficult or exhausting, we offer telehealth services across Oregon and Washington in addition to our in-person therapy sessions in our Portland, Oregon office.
Want to learn more? Get started with Aspire today.
