Blessings to you! I have a Christian counseling private practice in Salem, Oregon. I bring to my private practice seven years of experience working with the most challenging youth and families found in the state of Oregon. This experience in the helping profession has inspired me to reach out to the community and provide a service in the form of effective family based therapy. I have received specific training in the fields of professional counseling, marriage therapy, and family therapy. I hold a Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from George Fox University. I have also followed God’s direction in working with young children in a type of therapy known as play therapy.

The word of God teaches that having right relationships with one and another and with God is one of the ingredients necessary for experiencing true joy in life. I believe that people are hard-wired with a need for relationship and that people seek relationship no matter the cost. Ironically, a person's most hurtful experiences occur in the context of wounded relationships. The people closest to us often are the ones that end up hurting us the most. My counseling is focused on helping people restore balance in their relationships and regain their innate claim to relational justice.

Effective counseling centers on helping people and families become increasingly more comfortable with their emotional resources. I help my patients to learn how to resource themselves and others at an emotional level. Stated in other words, as people are hurt in their attempts to relate to others, emotional barriers are built. These barriers must be indentified and lowered at healthy pace, in order restore and rebuild healthy relationships. The bulk of this work is done as I help patients identify and express their emotional needs.

Building on my spiritual development in the Christian faith I am passionate about helping people that struggle in their relationships with significant others, showing couples how to become more effective and loving parents, and helping children overcome unjust trauma. Many times patients will want to rely on their own specific spiritual tradition as source of power and healing. I am prepared to assist my clients in utilizing their spiritual resources in therapy regardless of any specific denomination or religious devotion.

I offer counseling services in a variety of formats including: individual sessions, couples sessions, family sessions, group therapy sessions, and play therapy sessions for children. I believe that my approach in therapy can assist most patients seeking help. I am particularly passionate about helping couples that struggle in their marriages and couples that struggle being effective and loving parents.

Dominique "Nick" Sotelo
734 Hawthorne Ave / Center St Plaza
Salem, Oregon 97302
Phone: 503-910-4165
NSotelo@PortlandChristianCounseling.net