Hi, I’m Skylinn Ortiz-Ramos
(She/her/hers)
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work and a Master’s Degree in Marriage, Couple and Family Therapy. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) through the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapist. I continuously seek out training opportunities to keep my license active and to ensure you receive informed care.
My professional focus and passion is to work with others to help them live more intentional, authentic, and fulfilling lives. This is to enhance your relationships: with yourself, with others, and the world around you. The foundations of these, I believe, are based in love.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines love in a few ways, one of which is a verb, "To thrive in". I'm focused on helping individuals, couples, and families to thrive. Love is more than a feeling. It is an action and a way of living. Without it, it is challenging to heal, grow, or go through life meaningfully. Starting with ourselves, then others, love helps to build compassion, security, and resilience.
The self-love movement can be synonymous with toxic positivity. Self- love and loving others doesn’t mean loving everything about yourself or overlooking harmful behaviors. True love is about taking an honest look at what is causing distress and being compassionate to yourself and others while acknowledging your true feelings as you work toward change, healing and growth.
My professional experiences have always involved working with a diverse group of individuals and families in a variety of environments. It includes Early Childhood Education, Social Work, and in the Mental Health field. I worked with adjudicated youth to develop social/emotional skills as well as life skills, leading to more reliable stability. For many years, at Head Start, I held a variety of roles to train and support teachers to have better quality interactions with their students. (Adult-child dynamics and interactions have a big impact on a child's behavior and ability to learn.) I have worked for different organizations in the Portland metro area providing mental health care, providing individual, family and couple counseling as well as Community Based Intensive Treatment to reduce out of home placements. I also work with those with developmental disabilities to coordinate care.