107: Russell Chamberlain, Founder of LifeSTREAM Therapy

Dec 15, 2020

Russell Chamberlain is the founder of LifeSTREAM Therapy located in Portland, OR. LifeSTREAM's motto is "Life Success Through Relationship in Experiential & Adventure Modes." Russell has worked in the field for almost 40 years from being a field guide to a field director to an outpatient clinician. He has worked at NOLS, Outward Bound, as well as for programs all over the nation. He shares his journey in the field which includes being a parent of a teen who went to a wilderness therapy program in Oregon.

Russell's bio from LifeSTREAM website: 

My pronouns are he / him

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Who I am is an important consideration as we decide to work together. This doesn’t mean I can only work with folks exactly like me or with similar life experience. Nor that I believe I’m in some way “better than”. Rather these are things I bring to our time together and are part of safety and connection. They also reflect awareness of my privileges in this culture. So I’m:

• White, middle class, heterosexual, cis-gender male (I see myself aligned with the body I was born with)
• Not in recovery from substance use disorders or compulsive behaviors. I do attend Al-Anon weekly.
• I do not have experiences of childhood, complex, developmental trauma
• I struggle as an adult with ADHD (focus related to paperwork only)
• I have done individual, couples and family therapy myself through the years. Therapists who have never “looked under the hood” are probably folks to steer clear of.

Most importantly I am experiencing the joy and occasional challenge of being a single, co-parent, as the Father of twin boy and girl teenagers.

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Education & Licensure:  

• Bachelor of Arts degree from The Evergreen State College
• Master of Social Work degree from Arizona State University
• LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker #5425) in Oregon was first registered in 2001 with the Oregon Board of Licensed Social Workers.
• CADCIII/MAC. Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor III/Master Addiction Counselor. First credentialed in 2001. Mental Health & Addiction Certification Board of Oregon (MHACBO) & NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals

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Certification & Training: specific to current work with LifeSTREAM Therapy & Energy Matters

• Bonnie Badenoch: Nurturing the Heart with the Brain in Mind. 2020-21 training cohort.
• Polvagal Theory in clinical practice — two day training with Deb Dana
• Adoptive & Foster Family Therapy Post Graduate Certificate Program– Portland State University   (70 CE hour program)
• Collaborative Problem Solving — Tier 2 —  Think Kids  (Massachusetts General Hospital)

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  Trauma Focused Equine Assisted Psychotherapy through Natural Lifemanship Institute — Fundamentals training in 2018. Natural Lifemanship Intensive postponed to 2021?

• Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA) as a Mental Health Professional. First in 2000 then renewed in 2017.

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  500 field days — Field Guide/Wilderness Instructor/Field Director:  NW Outward Bound School, programs in Hawaii and Pennsylvania

• National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) Instructors and Outdoor Educators Courses. Wilderness First Responder.
• Trainer & facilitator in using portable, low and high Challenge Ropes courses and experiential therapy activities

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  Acceptance & Commitment Therapy — experiential training with Jason Luoma, Ph.D & Jenna LeJeune, Ph.D

• Functional Family Therapy — While with Lifeworks NW  in 2001 in Portland —  I participated in a year long training and supervision process with FFT) before they had the Functional Family Probation Certification that Multnomah County Juvenile Court uses.