Shared Practice Space

History & Overview

Opening our doors in January 2000, Wise Counsel & Comfort was the realization of a two-fold goal.

First, to create a place where community-minded mental health and wellness professionals would work cooperatively, supporting one another and supporting our community by providing professional, affordable services. In Portland, even non-profit counseling agencies rarely charge less than $40 per session, and there are tens of thousands in our community who deserve access to professional mental health care as much as those who are financially stable and/or insured. Wise Counsel & Comfort exists to help insure that those services are available.

Second, to inspire and support professionals to step into private practice without fear, without unbearable financial burden, in lovely, professional space in which they and their clients can feel safe and comfortable. We have supported nearly 500 clinicians begin and build successful private practice, and assisted others with a temporary or second office location. We’re also able to support “new-to-the-Northwest” practitioners in getting their practice here off to a good start, with shared or full time furnished offices.

Almost every professional member of the Wise Counsel & Comfort community, whether mental health or wellness professional, offers sliding scale options for low income and uninsured clients. There are three ‘tiers’ of rent, which differ from one another based on the clinician’s fee scale. Those who make a commitment to hold half of their clinic hours open for clients paying less than $50 per session benefit by a significant discount. A “standard” rent option is available for licensed clinicians who offer some type of discounted options to low-income clients, but are not asked to devote any specific portion of their clinic hours to lower-fee clients.

For those willing to cap their fee schedule at $40 (a great strategy for beginning private practice), an even lower rent plan is available. Please contact us for details about current availability of this option.

Rent schedules are detailed below.

 Location & Space Details

Wise Counsel & Comfort has six metro locations:  three in Portland and three in outlying areas — Beaverton, Lake Oswego and Gresham, Oregon — with 30 individual offices in all.

In North East Portland, we practice at NE 60th & Glisan. We occupy a 2000 square foot suite at this location. There are two front doors, one at 5932 NE Glisan (Entrance “A”) and the second at 423 NE 60th (Entrance “B”). There are ten comfortably furnished offices here, seating three to twelve, with two spacious reception areas. Two of the larger offices here are suitable for groups, massage and energy practice. All of the offices include accessories that support our therapeutic effectiveness — pens, kleenex, white boards, etc. The reception areas offer magazines, soft music, water and a variety of teas for you and your clients. Ample space for display of business cards, brochures and flyers about upcoming events is provided.

The NE Glisan office is fully accessible, just steps from Tri-Met (bus) and MAX (light-rail) stops, and for those driving, we are just three blocks from the on/off ramps for Interstate 84. On-street parking is easily available, and we’re delighted to be next door to the “Seven Virtues” coffee shop.

In South East Portland, we have a four office “storefront” suite (with private restroom) at 4431 SE Woodstock in a large shopping block anchored by Safeway.

In North Portland, in the center of the thriving, “bike-centric” Williams neighborhood, we have a suite just a few blocks from the New Seasons store at N. Williams & Fremont. This location has a unique, alternative vibe with a garden entry, a checkerboard tile floor and antique theatre seats in the reception area, and six individual and group offices.

Our Beaverton location is a large suite (Suite 249)  at 4900 SW Griffith Drive, just off the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway and Interstate 217. We have a spacious reception area, and six offices – four with large windows to the east and north, seating five to seven, and two interior offices, one of which is particularly suitable for serving children and families. There is plenty of free on-site parking for clinicians and clients.

Our east Multnomah county office is in Gresham, near the corner of SE Powell and SE 182nd Avenue. We have two windowed offices adjacent to a small waiting area, with restroom and kitchen.

Our Lake Oswego location is in the Westlake Village neighborhood shopping center, about 1/4 mile off of the Kruse Way exit from Interstate 5. We share three lovely, ADA accessible offices at this location, seating 4 to 6. We occupy the center of the main floor and our neighbors are bodyworkers (massage and chiropractic). Each office at the Westlake office benefits from natural light, with large windows opening to a beautiful grove of trees.

We make every effort to have the sessions spaces feel comfortable and safe. The comment we hear most often from visitors to any of the Wise Counsel offices is “It feels so good in here!”

 Marketing & Practice Building

Cooperative marketing is an enormous benefit of practicing with the Wise Counsel & Comfort community. Fifteen dollars per month from each colleague’s rent is devoted to supporting the marketing efforts including our websites, Oregon Public Broadcasting ads, video clips on the website, and display ads in local newspapers.

Our website, Portland-Therapist.org  receives an average of 11,000 hits and more than 600 unique visitors each day. The websites are a proven and consistent path for clients to find us. Your photo, telephone, email, and a more comprehensive description of services will be added to the website with a one-time-only cost of $100 — no further monthly fees for the websites.

Your credentials and contact information are included in our monthly publication of a brochure detailing all of the professionals at Wise Counsel. The brochure is available at each location, and can be broadly distributed as part of your marketing effort.

New colleagues at Wise Counsel are provided with complementary design and printing of your first 200 business cards, and assistance is available for design of flyers for groups or special events. Colleagues regularly have the opportunity to participate in special marketing and community networking efforts.

We co-sponsor of International Women’s Day at Portland State University each February, and the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) “Walk for the Mind of America” in May. We participate in community and professional events, tabling to share information on the services available at Wise Counsel & Comfort. Seasonally, we seek opportunities to purchase ad space in other high-profile environments – health clubs, concerts, etc. and support youth events, choral groups and theatre performances with our advertisements.

We advertise regularly on Oregon Public Broadcasting / NPR with radio ads.

Colleagues are welcome to schedule pro-bono (no-fee) services or initial consultations without any additional fee or rent, and our largest offices are available to you at NO cost if you offer community/educational events for which you charge no fee. This is an excellent marketing strategy. If you have a specialty (EMDR? DBT? EFT? Gottman? What’s that?), just reserve the room, post a flyer, send a press release to the local media, and you’re on your way.

 Training & Support

Because the task of beginning and building a successful private practice is a demanding one, and the process can be isolating, Wise Counsel & Comfort offers regular opportunities for clinicians to support and learn from one another. Monthly peer consultation / networking groups, facilitated by seasoned mental health professionals, are available at no cost. We enjoy regular social gatherings, and have an ongoing professional book study group. Mini-trainings are offered several times each year.

 Mentoring & Supervision

We are grateful to have these credentialed supervisors among our Wise Counsel colleagues who are available to establish formal supervisory relationships with pre-licensed professionals to make the process of moving toward licensure more convenient and affordable. A number of them offer particularly low supervision fees to counselors whose fee scale is capped at $40. Many of the seasoned clinicians at Wise Counsel & Comfort are glad to provide informal mentoring, answer questions and help those new to private practice jump through the necessary hoops (forms, HPPA, guidance on setting fee structures, etc.) call at 503-961-4535.

Laurie Pearson, L.C.S.W. ~ Clinical Supervision for LPC and LCSW Interns ~ 404-862-6763

A positive supervisory relationship is essential to developing confidence and competence as a mental health professional. I invite therapists to facilitate their personal growth by reviewing current cases to develop awareness of their strengths and limitations. I utilize CBT, and am psychodynamically trained. I have experience with addictions, trauma, and chronic mental illness. I look forward to hearing from you.

Janis Crawford, L.P.C. ~ Clinical Supervision for LPC Interns ~ 307-321-3212

I have been providing clinical supervision for 14 years and nearly 20 years working with patients who encounter addiction, criminality, and mood and personality disorders. My approach is a motivational psycho-dynamic style, which evokes your strengths and learning edges. Individual and group supervision available, with reduced fees for beginning counselors. I have been a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers since 2007 and provide MI coaching with feedback, workshops, and seminars.

Rents & Policies

Offices are offered both full time or part time (5/10/15/20/30) hours per week.  Hourly rent is between $4 and $8.50 per hour.  Full time rent is generally $450 to $750 per month, depending on the office. Please call our director, Lynne Joy Nesbit at 503-282-0182 for information on current full-time offices available.

Part-time colleagues at Wise Counsel & Comfort reserve regular clinic hours at one location, and are able to schedule additional hours outside that schedule as needed for urgent appointments or consultations at a cost of $10 per hour.  (As noted above, hours reserved for pro-bono clients are available to you at NO additional rent.)

The initial term for sublet at Wise Counsel is twelve months, and continues month-to-month following the initial term. Payment to begin the lease include first month’s rent, $100 web set-up fee, and $100 key/damage deposit which is entirely refundable. We’re glad to create ‘payment plans’ over the first few months if it would be tough for you to come up with the entire up-front costs — we’re here to help you make it work!

Standard Rent

Requires only that clinicians offer some discount to uninsured clients suffering financial hardship.

Discounted Rent

To take advantage of the “discounted” rent option, providers make a commitment to hold half of their clinic hours available for clients paying $50 or less. 

“Nearly-Non-Profit” Rent

All session fees must be below $40.  The name of this rent option is light-hearted but not literally true! It can, in fact, be very profitable, and is a terrific strategy to “kick-start” a new practice.

Weeknight evening schedules require a minimum 3 hour time slot, 6-9 pm or 7-10 pm

Space for workshops, classes, seminars or group therapy is available by arrangement.

Wise Counsel & Comfort is NOT an agency or a group practice.

This protects us from exposure to the substantially greater financial risks and obligations associated with a group practice. It also serves to protect us from potential liability for one another’s professional practice, given that each and every clinician practices independently maintaining personal control over records, etc. The offices addresses may not be used as a mailing address for business, insurance, payment or any other important documents. Counselors are urged to register (with their professional boards and insurance companies) home or post-office-box address for important/confidential mail, and use the office address only for identification of practice location.

All those in practice at Wise Counsel & Comfort are required, as a part of their association with Wise Counsel, as well as their professional and legal obligations detailed by state law and their respective professional boards, to practice according to the highest ethical standards of their profession. Unless practicing under a specific exemption from licensure, Wise Counsel & Comfort clinicians must be in a formal relationship with their licensing board. We welcome licensed clinicians in good standing, as well as registered interns who practice under the license of a credentialed clinical supervisor. For those who are specifically exempted from Oregon’s licensure laws, minimum academic credentials must include completion of a graduate degree or comparable professional training.

We also are pleased to welcome alternative providers – coaches, consultants, spiritual guides, hypnotherapists, etc.

In addition, every practitioner will release Wise Counsel & Comfort, and the building owners in writing for any liability for any injury you or your client might experience while they are on our premises (“slip & fall”), or provide a property liability policy naming Wise Counsel & Comfort, Lynne Nesbit, and the building owners as co-insured. These are available through professional associations (American Counseling Association, etc.) at modest rates above the cost of your professional liability insurance premiums.

Contact

For more information, and if you’re interested in practicing at Wise Counsel or need details about current availability, please call Lynne Joy Nesbit, our founder/director at 503-282-0182, or email: lynnejoy@gmail.com

We look forward to hearing from you.