Sandra R. Lucas

Education and Experience

I have a Masters of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from George Fox University in Newberg, OR. I am a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC #208003) and I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with the Oregon Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists. I also subscribe to the Codes of Ethics of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT). For both my license in the state of Oregon and my national certification, I am required to complete 20 hours of continuing education per year to maintain my credentials.

I am a Certified Trainer in the Beyond Consequences Logic and Control Curriculum for severely traumatized children. I am also the Mental Health Consultant for the Oregon Child Development Coalition Head Start program in Marion County. My areas of special interest and experience are working with children, individuals and families who may have been abused or experienced traumatic events in their lives. I also work with issues related to domestic violence, anger management and communication issues in couples and families. I have experience working with children in play therapy, teenagers in school settings, and couples and families in my office.

Approach to Counseling

Unless you live alone on a deserted island, you are in relationship with others.  These relationships with other can be positive, negative, stressful, supportive, conflicted, volatile or rewarding. I view counseling as working out these relationship in our lives and learning how to maneuver in a way that is healthy and beneficial. I find myself resonating with Attachment Theory due to my experience as a therapist, but also from the new cutting edge research in the field of psychology.  Attachment Theory basically states that we relate to the world in ways in which we were taught in previous relationships. Looking at our patterns of behavior in relationships can teach us how to move into healthier ways of functioning.

From a traumatized child who needs to be re-taught unconditional love and acceptance, to couples working out their communication issues, to teenagers trying to establish their identity, all of these are done in the context of relationship. It is the relationship that is at the core of healing. Martin Buber, a famous philosopher, talked about relationships in which both people entrust themselves to a relationship to “be there” with another, without masks, and without pretenses. This relationship that emerges allows that person to become their true self.  It is this relationship of acceptance that I strive to communicate to my clients so they are able to do the tough and raw work involved in therapy and healing.

I firmly believe that when people walk into my office they want two things. They first want someone who genuinely cares and is able to build this relationship of acceptance. Secondly, I believe that clients want the truth. They want to know how they can make their lives better, how they can fix their relationships, how they can heal. This hard and grueling work can only be done if there is trust, and an authentic relationship.