Everyone struggles with life at one time or another, and I am no different. I want to be my best self but fail at times. I care about other people and am very focused on relationships and how I can successfully interact with those whom I encounter. Relationships with God and others are the cornerstone of our humanity. Broken relationships can cause isolation and pain for the individuals involved. Healthy relationships can be extremely challenging to sustain. Many times, experiences from one's past negatively influence the building or maintaining of important relationships. Previous trauma, abuse, abandonment or never being loved are just a few examples of issues that can disrupt one's path to a loving relationship.

I have struggled with some of these issues from my past and continue to work on them. Through my experiences, I have developed into a caring person who has great empathy and a sensitive heart. I have a keen sense of listening that allows clients to be heard. My goal is to help people address their personal and relationship issues so they can look beyond what is to what could be. That means at times I will ask the tough questions to help people dig deeper to achieve a greater degree of freedom in their lives.

Christians are not immune to the negative influences of the world. Many times, Christians do not have a safe outlet to discuss the hard issues in their lives. The church often reinforces the misconception that, "If you are a Christian, then you should not be experiencing that particular problem or struggling to overcome that particular behavior." As humans, however, Christians can find themselves in painful situations with no one and nowhere to turn. It can be confusing and frustrating to grapple with a destructive pattern that you have submitted to Jesus for healing or deliverance, only to fail and give in to it once again.

It is my desire to help Christians who are unable to overcome unhealthy or outright harmful practices. For example, domestic violence and pornography plague society at large and every church community, yet few church leaders are willing to openly address these hot-button issues. My goal is to enable hurting members of the Christian community to successfully resolve their past and present personal and family conflicts by providing a comfortable, supportive environment conducive to frankness and transparency. My role as a counselor is not to impose cookie-cutter solutions on clients but to facilitate changes through healing and growth that clients seek.

I have been working in service related jobs most of my life. God continues to lead me down a path of serving others as a counselor. I have over 20 years' experience working as a sign-language interpreter with Deaf people and five years interacting with people who have various physical and mental disabilities. I have worked with people from different cultures, here and overseas, and feel that I am open to hearing and learning about where a person is coming from.

I obtained my interpreting certificate along with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Psychology and Special Education from Western Oregon University (formerly Western Oregon State College). I earned my Master's of Counseling degree from George Fox University.

I work with individuals, couples, and families. I also facilitate group sessions dealing with improving communication, developing healthy relationships and learning effective parenting skills. I have a private practice in Woodburn, Oregon, which is located halfway between Portland and Salem.

I welcome a chance to answer further questions you might have. Please do not hesitate to contact me by phone or e-mail. 503.980.5322 or johnnie.burt@portlandchristiancounseling.net