Kelly Goodman, LCSW

Kelly Goodman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who has worked as a social worker for 30 years and has held her clinical license for 17 years. She brings deep experience supporting people through trauma, loss, medical challenges, housing instability, and the practical barriers that can block healing. Based in Oregon, she offers compassionate advocacy alongside clinical care, grounded in decades of community-focused practice.

Her background includes extensive work in community mental health using models such as Housing First, Intensive Case Management, and Assertive Community Treatment, as well as teaching peer counseling classes and working in public health settings. She staffed a Federally Qualified Health Clinic serving people experiencing houselessness, where she taught chronic pain management classes and managed medical respite beds. Those roles reinforced her belief that meeting basic needs like housing and benefits is essential before deeper therapeutic work can proceed, so she frequently helped clients secure housing and apply for social security benefits while also offering steady support and advocacy.

Later work involved outreach to frequent utilizers of emergency services, and she currently practices part time in an emergency department conducting mental health and risk or suicide assessments, while also serving as an on-call family therapist in an adolescent psychiatric unit. Over the years she has developed a particular interest in how trauma affects people across the lifespan and in helping clients build tools to heal and find greater enjoyment in life.

Kelly draws on personal experience from a large, diverse family and life events that include unexpected deaths, divorce, interracial marriage, open adoption, global travel, engagement with plant medicines for healing, and supporting a loved one through long-term cancer. She is committed to social and racial justice and advocacy, and believes individuals have an innate capacity to heal with thoughtful guidance and support. She welcomes contact to explore whether she might be a good fit.

Therapeutic Approaches for Online Support and Care

Kelly Goodman draws on several evidence-informed approaches to tailor care to each person. Attachment-Based Therapy looks at how early and current relationship patterns shape emotional responses and coping - it can be especially helpful for people working through attachment issues, abandonment, or relationship challenges. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes empathy, acceptance, and the client’s own goals; it creates a supportive space for exploring self-esteem, life transitions, and personal growth. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) focuses on identifying and adjusting unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, and it is often used to address anxiety, depression, and stress-related problems.

Finding the right approach is part of the therapeutic process, and Kelly works collaboratively with each client to determine which methods best fit their needs, goals, and preferences. She adapts strategies over time as clients gain insight and skills.

Online therapy options such as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging offer flexibility for people with busy schedules, caregiving responsibilities, mobility limits, or geographic constraints. These formats allow licensed professionals and therapists to provide consistent, timely support while making it easier for clients to access care from wherever they are.