Kiandra Cole, MA
Professional Counselor Associate (OR) | Mental Health Counselor Associate (WA)
I bring lived experience and deep commitment to social justice into every session. As a fat, Indigenous, queer, neurodivergent therapist, I understand what it means to navigate systems that weren't built for us. My humanistic, person-centered approach honors your full identity and meets you exactly where you are—without judgment.
Credentials & Professional Background
Education
- • Master of Arts in Professional Mental Health Counseling (Addictions Focus)
- • Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling
- • Continuing Education Certificate in Eating Disorder Treatment (Lewis & Clark)
- • Bachelor of Science in Psychology (cum laude)
- • Portland State University (2015)
- • Minor: Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Licenses & Supervision
- • Professional Counselor Associate - Oregon
- • Mental Health Counselor Associate - Washington
- • Supervised by Anne Cuthbert, MA, LPC, LMHC
- • Working toward full licensure (LPC/LMHC)
Experience
- • 7 years in residential treatment
- • Community mental health experience
- • Work with mandated and complex clients
- • First-generation college student
- • Intersectional advocacy work
"As a first-generation college student who has navigated academic and professional spaces while holding multiple marginalized identities, I understand the unique challenges faced by those underrepresented in mental health care."
My Treatment Approach
My approach is humanistic, holistic, and deeply person-centered. I meet you where you are in your journey from a nonjudgmental and empathic point of view. Therapy with me is about honoring your whole self—your body, your identities, your experiences, and your inherent worth.
Therapeutic Modalities
- Humanistic therapy
- Person-centered counseling
- Gestalt therapy techniques
- Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)
- Mindfulness-based practices
- Somatic interventions
- Addiction-informed approaches
Core Principles
- Health At Every Size (HAES)
- Social justice framework
- Intersectional feminism
- Body liberation
- Fat acceptance
- Trauma-informed care
- Neurodiversity-affirming practice
- LGBTQIA+ affirming care
Clinical Specializations
Eating Disorders & Body Image
- • Anorexia Nervosa
- • Bulimia Nervosa
- • Binge Eating Disorder
- • ARFID
- • Body dysmorphia
- • Chronic dieting patterns
- • Weight stigma trauma
- • Fat acceptance journey
Addiction & Co-Occurring Disorders
- • Substance use disorders
- • Process addictions
- • Dual diagnosis treatment
- • Harm reduction approaches
- • Recovery support
- • Relapse prevention
Identity & Marginalization
- • LGBTQIA+ experiences
- • Queer identity exploration
- • Indigenous identity and heritage
- • Neurodivergent experiences (ADHD, autism)
- • Fat liberation and acceptance
- • Intersectional identities
- • Navigating multiple marginalizations
Trauma & Complex Presentations
- • Trauma from systemic oppression
- • Complex PTSD
- • Mandated treatment support
- • Residential treatment transitions
- • Community mental health needs
- • High-risk populations
Intersectionality, Identity & Lived Experience
Why Representation and Lived Experience Matter
I am a fat, Indigenous, queer, neurodivergent therapist and first-generation college student. These aren't just labels—they're lived experiences that profoundly shape how I move through the world and how I practice therapy. My intersectionality has fueled my passion for social justice and my commitment to serving historically marginalized communities.
Fat & Body Liberation
As a fat person, I've experienced weight stigma in healthcare, public spaces, and daily life. I understand the profound harm of diet culture and the courage it takes to pursue body acceptance in a fatphobic world. In our work together, you'll never experience weight stigma, anti-fat bias, or pressure to change your body. I practice from a weight-neutral, fat-liberatory stance.
Indigenous Heritage & Land Acknowledgment
I was born and raised in Portland on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, and Watalala bands of the Chinook; the Tualatin Kalapuya; and many other indigenous nations of the Columbia River. I acknowledge and honor these lands and peoples. My Indigenous identity informs my deep connection to nature, my understanding of intergenerational trauma, and my commitment to decolonizing mental health care.
Queer & Neurodivergent Experiences
As a queer, neurodivergent person, I understand the unique challenges of navigating systems not designed for us. Whether it's masking to fit neurotypical expectations, navigating heteronormative spaces, or finding community and belonging, I bring personal understanding to these experiences. My practice is fully LGBTQIA+ affirming and neurodiversity-celebrating.
First-Generation Journey
Being a first-generation college student meant navigating academic and professional worlds without a roadmap. I understand imposter syndrome, class barriers, and the unique pressures of being the "first" in your family. If you're navigating educational systems, professional spaces, or upward mobility while carrying the weight of being a trailblazer, I see you.
What This Means for You
My lived experiences aren't meant to suggest our paths will be identical—every person's journey is unique. Rather, I share them to offer:
You deserve a therapist who understands the full context of your life—including the systems of oppression that shape our experiences of food, body, identity, and mental health.
Body-Based & Emotional Healing
Integrating Mind, Body, and Emotion
Eating disorders live in the body as much as the mind. My training in mindfulness-based somatic practices and Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT) allows us to work with the wisdom of your body and the messages of your emotions—not just your thoughts.
Mindfulness-Based Somatic Interventions
Somatic work helps you:
- • Reconnect with body sensations and signals
- • Develop interoceptive awareness (recognizing internal cues)
- • Release trauma held in the body
- • Practice grounding techniques during distress
- • Build body trust and safety
- • Notice patterns of tension, holding, and protection
- • Integrate mind-body connection
These practices are especially powerful for eating disorder recovery, where disconnection from the body is common. We'll move at your pace, always respecting your comfort and boundaries.
Emotion Focused Therapy (EFT)
EFT recognizes that emotions are messengers, not problems to fix. Together we'll:
- • Identify and name emotions with compassion
- • Understand what emotions are trying to tell you
- • Work with primary emotions beneath eating disorder behaviors
- • Transform maladaptive emotional patterns
- • Develop emotion regulation skills
- • Access adaptive emotions that facilitate healing
- • Build emotional resilience and flexibility
Many eating disorder behaviors are attempts to manage overwhelming emotions. EFT helps you develop healthier ways to meet those emotional needs.
Gestalt Techniques
I also incorporate Gestalt therapy approaches that emphasize present-moment awareness, personal responsibility, and authentic contact. These experiential techniques can unlock insights that talk therapy alone might miss.
Experience with Complex & Mandated Treatment
Seven Years in Residential & Community Mental Health Settings
I've spent seven years working in residential treatment at a community mental health facility, often with mandated clients facing complex challenges. This experience has given me deep skills in meeting people where they are—even when they didn't choose to be in treatment.
Residential Setting Skills
Working in residential treatment taught me:
- • Crisis intervention and de-escalation
- • Working with high-acuity clients
- • Building trust with resistant clients
- • Managing complex co-occurring disorders
- • Collaborating with multidisciplinary teams
- • Creating structure while honoring autonomy
- • Transitioning clients to lower levels of care
Non-Judgmental Approach
Experience with mandated treatment means:
- • Meeting resistance with curiosity, not judgment
- • Building alliance even when trust is difficult
- • Respecting autonomy within constraints
- • Finding intrinsic motivation
- • Navigating dual relationships (therapeutic + reporting)
- • Balancing accountability and compassion
- • Understanding systems involvement
Serving Diverse Populations
Community mental health experience includes:
- • Working with underserved populations
- • Addressing systemic barriers to care
- • Cultural humility and adaptability
- • Resource navigation and advocacy
- • Trauma-informed, harm-reduction approaches
- • Supporting clients facing multiple stressors
- • Building community connections
What This Means for You:
Whether you're in treatment by choice or requirement, whether you're ambivalent or motivated, whether this is your first attempt or your tenth—I will meet you where you are without judgment. Change happens when we feel understood, not when we're shamed or coerced.
What to Expect in Sessions
Your First Appointment
We'll explore what brings you to therapy, your goals (if you have them), and your story. I'll meet you where you are—whether you're excited, skeptical, nervous, or uncertain. This is a conversation, not an interrogation. We'll assess together whether we're a good fit.
60-90 minutesRegular Therapy
Sessions are typically 50-60 minutes, weekly or bi-weekly. I draw from multiple approaches based on what you need—talk therapy, somatic practices, emotion-focused work, or Gestalt techniques. Therapy is collaborative; you're the expert on your life.
50-60 minutesTherapeutic Presence
I'm genuine, empathic, and nonjudgmental. I'll honor your pace and respect your autonomy. I bring warmth and authenticity to our work together. You won't be pathologized, judged, or told to change—but you will be supported, challenged compassionately, and truly seen.
Person-centeredInsurance & Practical Information
Insurance Accepted
- • Most major insurance plans accepted
- • Out-of-network benefits support
- • Superbills provided for reimbursement
- • Sliding scale available for select cases
- • Associate-level rates (lower cost option)
Please contact us to verify your specific insurance coverage. As an associate under supervision, sessions may be billed at reduced rates.
Session Fees
- • Initial consultation: Contact for rates
- • Individual therapy: Contact for rates (associate level)
- • Payment plans available
Payment is due at time of service. We accept credit cards, HSA/FSA cards, and checks.
Office Locations
Portland, Oregon Office
(Full address provided upon scheduling)
Vancouver, Washington Area
Serving Vancouver, WA clients via telehealth
Land Acknowledgment:
Our Portland office sits on the traditional and ancestral homelands of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Tumwater, and Watalala bands of the Chinook, the Tualatin Kalapuya, and many other indigenous nations of the Columbia River. We honor these lands and peoples.
Office hours:
Monday-Friday: By appointment
Evening appointments available
Telehealth Services
Secure video sessions available for:
- • Oregon residents
- • Washington residents (including Vancouver, WA)
Telehealth provides accessibility and comfort while maintaining the same quality of care. Many clients prefer the privacy and convenience of virtual sessions.
Supervision
Kiandra is supervised by Anne Cuthbert, MA, LPC, LMHC
- • 23+ years of eating disorder treatment experience
- • Regular clinical consultation
- • Quality oversight and support
Contact Kiandra
Phone: (360) 726-4141
Response time: Within 1-2 business days
A Personal Note
I was born and raised right here in Portland, and I have a deep appreciation for the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest—the forests, mountains, rivers, and coastline that ground me. Nature has always been a source of healing and connection for me, and I often incorporate nature-based metaphors and mindfulness into my work.
Growing up as a fat, Indigenous, queer, neurodivergent person in Portland has given me both challenges and gifts. I've navigated systems that weren't designed for people like me—educational systems, healthcare systems, professional spaces—and I've learned to find strength in community, authenticity in difference, and power in resistance.
Being a first-generation college student means I'm acutely aware of the barriers many people face in accessing mental health care and higher education. Earning my bachelor's degree cum laude from PSU and my master's from Lewis & Clark weren't just personal achievements—they represented my family's dreams and my community's resilience.
My intersectionality isn't separate from my clinical work—it *is* my clinical work. Every identity I hold informs how I show up as a therapist: my commitment to social justice, my understanding of marginalization, my belief in body liberation, my practice of cultural humility, and my determination to create space for those who've been excluded or harmed by traditional mental health care.
If you're looking for a therapist who gets it—who won't require you to explain the basics of oppression, who understands that personal struggles are often political, who believes your body is worthy exactly as it is, who sees your neurodivergence as difference rather than deficit—I might be a good fit for you.
I'd be honored to walk alongside you. Wherever you are in your journey, you deserve support, understanding, and compassion.
Let's Connect
I'm currently accepting new clients for individual therapy in Portland and via telehealth throughout Oregon and Washington. Whether you're seeking support for eating disorders, addiction, identity exploration, or navigating marginalization, I'm here for you.
Email us|Portland, OR & Vancouver, WA|Telehealth: OR & WA
