Therapist
After receiving her B.A. in English literature from the University of Montana, Justine began her career working at a therapeutic wilderness program in 1997. She quickly developed a love for working with adolescents in the outdoors after observing the accelerated changes and insights catalyzed by spending time in nature. She spent years leading backpacking trips and later worked as a therapeutic counselor. Her experience led Justine to become interested in pursuing graduate studies in psychology in order to educate herself about the struggles she witnessed in the field and learn how best to help get student’s lives back on track. In 2003, Justine entered a doctoral program in clinical psychology at Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. During this time, she was exposed to and learned a variety of treatment approaches, including: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Exposure Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Social Skills Training, Insight-Oriented, and Psychodynamic theories. Justine has learned different models for treating substance abuse issues (e.g. harm-reduction), having led various substance abuse groups and completed an internship at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center utilizing the 12-step model. She received extensive training in evidence-based practices, treatment approaches found to be effective in treating a variety of disorders (anxiety, depression, etc) through research studies, and combines these skills with families goals and objectives in order to get student’s lives back in balance.
During graduate school and after completing her doctorate, Justine worked at Lewis and Clark College and California Polytechnic State University in their counseling centers. She concurrently worked with educational consultants in Portland, Oregon for four years who helped place students with special needs in appropriate therapeutic and academic settings.
Throughout graduate school she focused her research and completed her dissertation on the topic of relational aggression, or the covert ways females can affect one another through their relationships, which has greatly helped inform her understanding of the importance and complexities of peer relationships in the lives of teenagers.
Prior to beginning with True North, Justine worked at a non-profit organization in Seattle providing individual and family therapy. She has come full-circle back to work at a wilderness therapy setting after seeing how many adolescents in the city would have benefited from such an experience to help them reorient themselves.
In her free time, Justine loves to travel, walk, practice yoga, read, cook, write and spend time with friends and family.