DORA PARYS, LCSW

I have worked Eugene area for over 25 years starting my career at New Roads/Looking Glass program working with homeless and runaway youth and their families. Later I transitioned to work as a medical social worker at Sacred Heart MedicaI Center. There I worked with oncology patients admitted to the hospital who were receiving curative or palliative care treatments.  

After my work at the hospital I began work with  Hospice of Sacred Heart to work with patients and their families coping with end of life. I became a team member of the pediatric Hospice and Palliative Care Program called Little Stars and co-facilitated development of that program.  I worked with children and their families who were adjusting to most challenging part of their life caring for their children living with life threatening illnesses.  

I began my private practice over 10 years ago and have transitioned to working with individuals and couples.  Over the years I have developed an interest in with working with somatic, IFS, attachment based therapies and emotionally focused therapy for couples and individuals.  I am currently studying psychedelic assisted therapies and work towards integrating these therapies into the work with clients.  I am passionate about working with other therapists to assist in their learning and growth and offer supervision and consultation for therapists interested in learning Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)  model. 

Location of self statement: I am a white, heterosexual and cisgender woman.  I immigrated to United States from Poland as a teenager and experienced privilege as a white immigrant.  I chose education as a way to improve my life and attended Hunter College in New York City where I received a masters degree in Anthropology.  I later attended Portland State University to advance my education as a social worker.  I grew up in Poland and was raised in Catholic religion and presently choose to create my own personal spiritual practice. I am married to a white man who is my life partner and inspiration for growth. I am a mother to a daughter who has taught me about bravery and following dreams.  I strive to keep challenging myself to understand how white privilege has benefited my life.  I want to be aware how my blind spots get in a way of challenging my privileges and work towards humility in understanding experiences of others.  

I received Masters of Social work degree from Portland State University and Masters of Arts in Anthropology from Hunter College in New York City.  I have been licensed as a clinical social worker in Oregon since 2005.