Biography
After several years in college and university mental health, Don joined Willamette University in 2007 as the Director of Counseling Services, in 2015 assumed the role of Director of Bishop Wellness Center, and in 2022 became the Associate Dean for Health and Well-being. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon, and has served for several years as both the Chair and Vice Chair of the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists. He also enjoys teaching in an adjunct role in our regional professional training programs.
He worked for many years in non-profit agencies serving marginalized populations in the Willamette Valley, specializing in dual-diagnosed adolescents and adults. His theoretical orientation is primarily an integrative, strengths based, humanistic, cognitive behavioral approach, with a focus on acceptance, balance, values clarification, and authenticity as primary goals. Clinical areas of interest include anxiety, depression, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, interpersonal violence and sexual assault prevention and response, identity development, men and masculinity, and supervision of interns and trainees.
Committed to social justice, Don works hard to make Willamette and Bishop Wellness Center an affirming and inclusive environment. He actively serves on several standing campus committees charged with the support and retention of our amazing Willamette students.
When not at work, he can usually be found knee deep in a local trout stream with a flyrod in hand, storm watching at the coast with family, or protecting his backyard garden from weeds, slugs, and gophers.