About Rita
Rita Downs is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) practicing in Oregon with 25 years of combined clinical and administrative experience in behavioral health. She draws on long experience helping people manage stress, anxiety, depression, and substance concerns. Rita emphasizes strengths and practical steps so people feel less stuck and more able to cope.
She believes the person in therapy is the expert on their own life. Sessions focus on clear goals and building on what already works.
How Rita works
Rita uses straightforward strategies to reduce overwhelm and improve day-to-day functioning. Her approach blends client-centered listening with techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and solution-focused work. That means she listens closely, then helps people test new ways of thinking and acting that lead to better results.
Motivational interviewing is used when someone wants help with addiction or behavior change and needs practical encouragement. Rita also works with trauma-related concerns using trauma-focused methods adapted to each person's pace. She helps people handle grief, anger, relationship stress, parenting strains, and life transitions.
She supports those facing co-occurring challenges such as mood disorders, ADHD, or caregiving burdens. Sessions aim to be practical and manageable. Rita helps clients set achievable steps, track progress, and adjust plans that aren't working.
The focus is on small changes that add up to noticeable relief and clearer choices.
Rita lists 5 ways of working on the entry:
What Rita works with
The areas below are the ones Rita selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Parenting issues
Also listed
- ADHD
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Autism and Asperger Syndrome
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- First responder issues
- Grief
- Impulsivity
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Training and background
| Register | LPC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 25 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Oregon |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches that work well online
Client-centered therapy focuses on listening and building on each person's strengths. In online sessions this means the therapist follows your lead, asks reflective questions, and helps you clarify goals so work feels relevant and doable. Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, teaches practical skills to change unhelpful thinking and behavior patterns. It is often used for anxiety, depression, and mood concerns and translates well to video or phone work through worksheets and between-session practice.Finding the right approach is part of the process and will be decided together. Rita will talk with you about your goals, preferences, and what has or hasn't helped before. Then she will suggest methods to try and adjust them over time based on what feels most useful for you.
Online therapy allows flexible ways to connect. Video calls are good for more in-depth sessions where visual cues matter. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or you prefer not to be on camera. Live chat and text-based messaging are useful for quick check-ins, tracking progress, or when shorter, more frequent contact helps maintain momentum. These options make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life while keeping the focus on practical change.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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