In offices above Vino Veritas Wine Bar, Liberation Institute offers affordable therapy on a sliding scale that often costs between $20 and $30 per session. Most sessions are conducted by training therapists working on their practicum hours. The Institute’s Portland clinic serves people throughout Oregon via online sessions and from two offices at 7831 SE Stark Street. They specialize in making mental healthcare accessible for people without insurance coverage, even offering free group sessions for people who can not afford their already discounted rates.
Steven Dallmann founded Liberation Institute in San Francisco to provide easily accessible professional support for issues related to mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit works independently from insurance providers and public funding, instead relying on donated time and charitable contributions. The first clients were people living on the street, but the demand for mental healthcare access spans all socio-economic situations, and the program grew to treat a wide range of people.
Elizabeth Hoke took a practicum position at the Liberation Institute’s San Francisco location in 2011 as she worked towards a master’s in counseling psychology. Hoke continued to work with the organization as she grew her private practice, even after she relocated to Portland in 2016. Her husband’s work transferred him to Oregon, and they made a temporary move to the region that became permanent. “Originally, we were going to come here and then maybe go back, but we totally fell in love with Portland,” explained Hoke. At the time, the Liberation Institute only supported clients in California. However, COVID-19 changed how people sought counseling and where students could receive practicum hours.
“In 2020, when the pandemic hit, we noticed that a bunch of clinics shut their doors. We’ve never had any kind of government funding, and we’ve never had an organizational structure that relied on anybody else telling us what to do. So we just went online and kept seeing all of our clients,” said Hoke. The organization could transition to online services faster than other clinics waiting for insurance and government guidance. New patients seeking care and students looking to complete their training found the Liberation Institute, substantially expanding the nonprofit. “People were calling us from different places in San Francisco and all over California, saying ‘our clinic shut. We need to get our hours so we can graduate. We don’t know what to do.’ So we got bigger and bigger,” remembers Hoke.
Seeing the same demand in Oregon that the Liberation Institute experienced in San Francisco, Elizabeth Hoke worked with Dallmann to create a Portland clinic. It started slowly with three Oregon-based therapists in 2020. She has grown operations to 15 therapists in the last three years, with four supervisors guiding the students. They have also expanded to offer a half-dozen support groups alongside the one-on-one sessions.
Clients always meet with the same person each week. Some therapists will take their clients to their other practice if insurance becomes available or therapists move on. All the supervisors have private practices that provide financial support, allowing them to donate their time to the Liberation Institute. Students work towards graduation and eventually leave the organization, although some return as supervisors. Continuity of care is part of the profession’s ethics, but students cannot always support every client post-graduation. In those cases, clients can transfer to another therapist at the Institute.
The Liberation Institute takes an approach to therapy that is less focused on diagnosis. Not having to bill an insurance provider gives them leeway to focus on people. “It’s not about what your diagnosis is. There are two ways to do therapy. There’s a scientific way that’s evidence-based. It’s all about following these protocols and checking these boxes. Then there’s more of an art to therapy that’s more relational,” explained Hoke. Although they may take a less clinical approach, they are trained therapists who can work with people on medications prescribed by a doctor or come from another treatment, coordinating with other care providers as appropriate.
Elizabeth Hoke explained that the holidays are hard for people, but often, they only reach out for help in January. She expects to see an increase in need next month but wants people to know that the Liberation Institute is always an option for people with limited resources looking for care and community. To schedule an appointment, people can email info.pdx@liberationinstitute.org or call 503-836-7350 Ext 3.
