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Lesley Burke, LPC, ATR
Psychedelic Integration/Art Therapy/ Supervision/Consulting
Please visit my updated site www.lesleyanneburke.com
Service Offerings
Art Therapy
My approach to art therapy is a blend of “art as therapy”for assisting relaxation and attaining flow states, psychodynamic (using art imagery for self discovery) and somatic (moving energy through the body by through art making).
Supervision/ Consultation
Clinical supervision for OR registered counseling associates, and consultation for mental health professionals in clinical practice and business management
Classes & Workshops
* Paint Your Feelings: A monthly drop in painting group focused on emotional processing through art making (currently on hold but will be back soon. Please sign up for newsletter to get updates)
Psychedelic Integration
The immediate days/weeks following a psychedelic journey are a time when we are more open to making changes to our patterns and expanding our awareness. Getting support can be crucial to help healthy changes to properly integrate. While therapy can help with integration, so can creativity, connecting with loved ones and community, movement, and spending time in nature.
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy
Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy can be effective for treatment resistant depression. Please reach out for a consultation to learn more.
Counseling
Individual psychotherapy to address your mental health goals. Some areas of focus include anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, life transitions, relationships, stress, skill building, existential questions, spirituality, feeling stuck or blocked, managing sensory issues and neurodiversity
About Me
Hi, I’m Lesley
Initially drawn towards art therapy after reading “The Mission of Art” by Alex Grey and becoming interested in psychology during my undergraduate studies, I moved from my hometown of New Orleans to Portland OR in 2005 to attend the art therapy MA program at Marylhurst University and graduated in 2007.
Psychedelic therapy has also been intriguing to me since I first learned of it in the early ’00s. Although unable to pursue it academically at that time, it has been a long term interest leading to my current involvement in the field. I am trained in MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and although it is illegal for me to use this with my therapy clients, I am hopeful that within my lifetime this powerful therapeutic methodology will be accessible to all who can benefit.
Before deciding to become a therapist I worked in the service industry (grocery store, retail, restaurant, bar, hotel, coffee shop…) and although it was years ago those experiences have been important for my growth as a person as well as extremely educational about the human condition.
I have always made art in my spare time but in the past 5 years I have had a dedicated art making practice which has led to an increasing number of opportunities to share my art in galleries and at festivals. Art has always been a way for me to process emotions and explore the unconscious. I also enjoy creating art for others and collaborating on creative projects. Something I love about art therapy is the capacity for creative practice to facilitate healing and awareness.
Here is more about me as an artist, to get an idea of what type of work I create, and who I am as a person:
Experience and Perspective
How I approach my work
Starting out in community mental health care, i have extensive training in conventional evidence-based approaches to therapy. I have worked in residential and outpatient addiction treatment, an outpatient eating disorder clinic, a program focused on healthcare professionals in recovery, and my own private practice.
The longer I practice as a therapist, the more I realize that I have so much to learn! The human psyche is complex, dynamic, multi-faceted, reflecting internal experience and narratives, collective processes and unconscious shadows.
In addition to art therapy I have training in EMDR (through EMDRIA in 2015 and ongoing continuing education) which assists the nervous system to process and release stored traumatic memories, somatic based approaches to bypass deep seated but unhelpful inner narratives, and transpersonal therapy which acknowledges collective, ancestral, and spiritual processes impacting our relationships with ourselves, each other, and our communities.
As a long term yoga practitioner, I completed teacher training programs in 2012 and 2016. Yoga is one of the pillars of my understanding of somatic therapy as well as other approaches I have studied including Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems, Hakomi, and Process Work. I also have training as a death doula, psychedelic therapist and in a few different energy work practices including Theta Healing. I am not certified in any particular system and work from a place of deeply studying and practicing the methods I have learned from others and synthesizing them into my own way of working.
Art therapy being a more direct way to access the unconscious as well as to heal the nervous system through activation of flow states is one of my preferred methods of working. Art therapy is easily combined with talk therapy to access more of the full spectrum of expression
Frequent topics for therapy
grief and loss
Life transitions
relationships
trauma healing, PTSD
skill building
anxiety
depression
spiritual emergency/ psychospiritual crisis
nervous system regulation
emotional expression
self-awareness, shadow work
What to expect:
A safe and supportive environment to be with your grief
A neurodivergent-friendly space and approach
Gentle but direct communication
Non-judgment towards your spiritual experiences including psychedelic-induced
Creative approach to psychedelic integration
Formal training in evidence-based approaches to mental health care combined with intuitive and energetic awareness
Supervision for registered associate counselors in Oregon
If you are looking for a clinical supervisor please reach out to me for a free consultation to see if we would be a good fit. I have been licensed (LPC) since 2011 and supervising professional counselor associates since 2018.
My approach to supervision is developmental: for a new therapist I will be more directive and didactic in my approach, and will be available to you as a supportive mentor to help guide you as you develop your confidence.
If you are more experienced, supervision often feels more like professional consultation.
Group and individual supervision are both available.
Professional Consultation- Clinical and Business
Many therapists and healers struggle with balancing empathy with boundary setting, navigating burnout and recovery, and showing up for our own clients when dealing with grief or other difficult life transitions.
In addition, logistical challenges, including getting your private practice started, and creating a financially and energetically sustainable practice, are topics I can offer support with.
As someone who has been in the psychedelic/plant medicine world for many years, I offer professional consultation on the topic of psychedelic integration and psychedelic therapy.