Serena Sterling, PsyD
Psychologist Resident
Daniel Schiff, PhD: Supervisor
www.serenasterlingpsyd.com

Dr. Sterling believes in the power of the mind to heal physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds. Her goal is to empower her patients to ignite their own inner healer in order for insight, growth and transformation to occur on all levels and promote lasting change.

Dr. Sterling views pain, whether physical or psychological, as a messenger. It is a way for our minds and bodies to communicate and assess the areas in our lives that are not working optimally. She understands how emotions affect physiology. People process things all the time; it is necessary to have a way to account for what happens. Writing and speaking are the most common examples of how we make sense of the events in our lives. However, when these lines of communication are unavailable, when we are unable to process certain feelings or reactions, the body suffers. How and what we hear, think, feel and believe all have consequences not just in the ways in which we relate to others, but in the ways in which we relate to ourselves.

Psychotherapy allows healing to occur by uncovering hidden stresses, enabling emotional disclosure, and examining inhibitions and defenses.

Dr. Sterling received her master's and doctorate in clinical psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Her dissertation on the role of anger and alexithymia (difficulty identifying and expressing feelings) in rheumatoid arthritis allowed her to delve deeply into the topic of how emotions and physical health are interconnected.

Although psychology was not her first career or major in college, she always held an interest in how people make meaning out of their various conditions. As an English Literature major at Reed College, she wrote her thesis on illness as a means for self-definition in three literary works. She went on to pursue a master's in International Journalism at City University in London before moving to New York City to work as an editor at Spirituality & Health magazine. While in NYC, she realized that her true calling would be to assist people in understanding the connection between emotions and health and illness on a more personal level and help people find meaning from pain, both physical and psychological.

Dr. Sterling's fields of specialization include chronic health conditions, alexithymia (difficulty identifying and expressing feelings), stress related physical disorders (psychosomatic disorders), anxiety, depression and relationship issues. She works with adult individuals, couples, and groups and combines psychodynamic, humanistic, transpersonal, relational, somatic, and cognitive behavioral modalities in her work with clients.

In her free time Dr. Sterling enjoys traveling, exploring Portland and the Pacific Northwest, hiking, skiing, windsurfing, and spending time with her friends and her dog, Glinda.

Find out more about Serena through her personal website: www.serenasterlingpsyd.com