PHC will have space for 30 Healers in 2025.
What is the Portland Healing Center?
Next summer the Portland Healing Center’s Coworking Space will open its doors in inner SE Portland to 30 founding members working to help, heal or support others. While we will reserve our first available coworking spaces for licensed mental health professionals we use the word “healer” to honor the many different ways of helping different people.
Who are we looking for?
We’re seeking healers passionate about helping people and interested in new tools, research, and ways to bring people together. People who want to use every resource they can to help their clients and strategize to grow the number of people accessing therapy in Oregon. People who want to be a part of a high-visibility, ambitious and audacious experiment: bold enough to try something new, but humble enough to know we all need to. Our founding members will be a special group, with openings for participation in a variety of ways. Naturopaths, wellness professionals, and mission-aligned organizations may also inquire about locating in PHC.
Why Work Together?
Healers spend their lives helping others navigate life’s complexities and hardships, yet often struggle themselves. Many work as sole proprietors, finding it hard to meet medical and professionals costs – a nurturing, beautiful office can feel like a luxury.
The Portland Healing Center wants to support 30 founding Healer Members with offices, tools, classes, and opportunities. Get in touch with us to learn more, and please – fill out our surveys and questionnaires to help us get this right.
priority access
classes & Workshops
How can we help?
Help the Healers, and We Help Everyone
Healers commonly encounter challenges such as burnout, feelings of isolation, or financial strain. Studies estimate that between 41% and 61% of mental health practitioners experience prolonged periods of burnout.
Mental health professionals also have one of the highest rates of attrition compared to others professions. According to large-scale surveys as many as 55% of mental health professionals leave the profession within 5 years. A 2022 survey by the American Psychological Association in 2021 revealed that 46% of psychologists felt unable to meet the increased demand for services.
Feelings of isolation among mental health professionals stem partially from the confidential nature of their work, leading to limited opportunities for peer support. The high burnout rate in the profession leads to a deficit of mentors and experienced professionals available to help younger healers navigate these challenges.
We believe PHC can help mental health professionals by them with nurturing and stable space, a community of peers and mentors, as well as access to cutting-edge tools.
Will PHC Provide Therapy Services?
Growth and Support, Not Competition
PHC does not plan to hire therapists directly. We will not compete with the mental health professionals housed in PHC; we see our role as growing the number of people seeking care in Oregon through advocacy, public awareness campaigns, and by providing support to healers already doing their good work. To this end we are especially hoping to support professionals interested in growing their practices, and in growing into, or providing, mentorship roles to associate counselors. PHC has extensive campaign plans to build wide-spread support for therapy and mental fitness in Oregon. Whether or not people become members of PHC, we want them to consider reaching out to someone to talk to.
What about Patient Privacy?
Let’s be Proud to Improve
Some guidelines and best practices for the design of therapist offices, especially ones from 20-30 years ago, recommend offices be designed so that patients have private entrances, and don’t share lobbies, or suggest even designing spaces so no one can ever be seen entering or exiting doors directly. Rather than people passing casually in halls and lobbies anywhere else they would receive care, we believe this approach to the design of therapeutic spaces perpetuates today’s cultural legacy of shame and isolation.